Martinex1: Newspapers have been a mainstay in the comic book world throughout its history. From the Daily Planet in Superman to the Daily Bugle in Spider-Man, the idea of the newspaper industry, reporters, investigative journalism, and photographers has been glamorized and positioned as a central motif in our favorite medium.
Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olson, J. Jonah Jameson, Perry White, Peter Parker, Ben Urich, and many others have become memorable characters. Along with detectives and the police, the reporter career path for comic characters seems to be a common aspiration.
And physically our comic books (particularly those from the Bronze Age and prior) were published using newsprint paper, with all its limitations and beauty. And let's not forget that many of our favorite characters also appeared in the newspaper funny pages as well.
In modern times, newspapers are dying. With the internet and easy access to 24 hour news cycles, the daily and Sunday papers are disappearing. I am certain that future generations will look at newspapers in the same way we view gaslights and horse-and-buggies. What does this mean for the characters and roles in comic books?
One trope that I always enjoyed in comic art is the use of a newspaper or headline to bring the reader up to speed in a rather dramatic way. The gritty news article or expose was flashed on the splash page to get our interest piqued. Take a look at these images and ponder if this will soon be art from a bygone era. The world is changing; how will comic books keep up?
Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olson, J. Jonah Jameson, Perry White, Peter Parker, Ben Urich, and many others have become memorable characters. Along with detectives and the police, the reporter career path for comic characters seems to be a common aspiration.
And physically our comic books (particularly those from the Bronze Age and prior) were published using newsprint paper, with all its limitations and beauty. And let's not forget that many of our favorite characters also appeared in the newspaper funny pages as well.
In modern times, newspapers are dying. With the internet and easy access to 24 hour news cycles, the daily and Sunday papers are disappearing. I am certain that future generations will look at newspapers in the same way we view gaslights and horse-and-buggies. What does this mean for the characters and roles in comic books?
One trope that I always enjoyed in comic art is the use of a newspaper or headline to bring the reader up to speed in a rather dramatic way. The gritty news article or expose was flashed on the splash page to get our interest piqued. Take a look at these images and ponder if this will soon be art from a bygone era. The world is changing; how will comic books keep up?
10 comments:
Love these panels SO MUCH!
And as you peruse them, you get a sense that the artists did too, 'cause it gave them a chance to do clever things purely with composition (if I'm remembering my artistic elements correctly-). The Scorpio panel, there-- geeze, it's brilliant, isn't it? Down to Fury's subtle shadow on the page itself as he's getting ready for "work" in the morning.
And Ross Andru's flipping of the POV in ASM #181, so that we see Spidey right-side-up in the "photo", and only realize afterward that we're viewing the whole newspaper upside-down.
Although I'm sure it's just as true for the old-guard DC enthusiasts (re: The Daily Planet), BUT--- the prevalence early on of the Daily Bugle across the scrappy Marvel Universe is an element that gave me one of those first This-is-so-COOL! thrills. . . realizing how wonderfully interconnected this place was. Possibly because the Bugle had so much more personality associated with it-- that personality being J Jonah Jameson, of course. It's a prevailing background element that does a surprisingly good job of corralling a ton of titles all together. I think there've been more than a few times a Bugle page has been shown in a non-Spidey book, and in an unrelated sideline there'll be some "Spiderman: Threat or Menace?" reference/Jameson editorial-- and the fact that everyone GETS it (early use of Easter Eggs!) speaks volumes, y'know?
"The Rhino Says No!"-- that's Incredible Hulk #124. Those are the Leader's hands. Sufficeth to say it didn't end well for Bruce, Betty, The Leader, The Rhino, or anyone. . .
Hey-- a second-cousin to this convention? The Wasp/Yellowjacket wedding invitation splash from Avengers #60? And--- didn't we have a similar panel w/ Sue's divorce papers in the Fantastic Four at one point?
HB
Wow, Marti, thanks for these images!
I do get wistful over the thought of the newspaper and how it was so important that you had to have two editions per day. I think there might even have been an extra once (something you really only saw in movies) to my local papers, but I'm not sure.
Even if printed newspapers have waned, though. Reporting sure hasn't, and the headline as form isn't going away anytime soon either (I don't think). Heck, when it comes to fighting for truth, justice and the America way, Clark's vocation may regarded now as an even closer mirror to his Superman activities in it's importance and scope.
So I guess I kinda wonder if there would be any substantive change if one illustrated all these headlines and photos as on a phone as opposed to the ole wood pulp.
But thanks again to you for making everything old news again,
Cheers!
Great research! I do recall HB’s reference to the Wasp and Yellow Jacket too since it’s one of my first Comics I received as a little kid!
Comics are going the way of news papers and magazines with perhaps one exception? There is far, far more product being released with no end in sight though single-issue sales aren’t high at all. My OlC tells me they get 100+ new issues weekly!
Yeah, I love this convention; and it seems that it was more prevalent in the various Marvel titles - and in turn, as HB noted, it was usually the Daily Bugle.
Going forward, I think Selenarch is right that news web-sites/portals can be used to the same effect, although it won't have the same feel to me.
By the way, I thought of two more that aren't included among your examples: the last page of Daredevil #165 features the front page of a newspaper (surprisingly, not the Bugle) with a banner headline: "Black Widow Leaves NY" (this was the definite break-up between her and DD).
Also, there's Spider-man Annual #15, which, staring with the cover showing Doc Ock's arms holding an 'extra' edition of the Bugle, is dedicated to this trope. There's front pages or major articles in the Bugle, as well as editorial meetings between JJJ, Robbie and a few other staffers, featured throughout the book.
Ha-- here's a nit-pickerish thingy---!
Although there are only four or five instances shown in this collection, it's kinda funny that the. .. whattaya call'em. . .Impact Bursts?. . . that pencilers always use to indicate FORCE in punches and things. . . seem to be VISIBLE in newspaper photos-!! Look at Colan's Black Widow "photos" there, eh? Maybe this is one of those laws-of-physics things where the Marvel U does indeed differ from our own? Eh? Yeah?? Impact yields visible light energy in the MU. . . ? (Which, when reversed would at least explain Dazzler's hard-to-swallow powers. . . )
Still lookin' for a No-Prize. . .
HB
Good observation, HB. I'd give you that No-Prize. See also the cover to Spider-man Annual #15 that I linked. The little ovals with lines extending from them, used by comics artists to indicate gunshots and the trajectory of the bullets (in this case fired by the Punisher) are also visible - to a camera at least.
Thanks all for commenting. I also should add that I like a couple of the specific touches on the newspapers shown -
1) I like how on the Iron Fist article there is a blurb “Is Spider- Man Involved?”
2) I like knowing that The Daily Bugle was around back in WWII for the Invaders.
3) On the Black Panther splash - there is a pack of Camels on the desk. Doubt you would see that nowadays.
I always liked when they had a montage of front pages from different newspapers ... I guess J. Jonah Jameson and Perry White liked to keep up with what the competition was putting out.
As you said, newspapers used to be ubiquitous, even after radio and TV came along; I think the prevalence of papers in comics reflects the high esteem in which the creators held journalism. Didn't Crimson Avenger own a newspaper in his civilian identity of Lee Travis? Nice way to get people interested in his costumed exploits. I think maybe the Green Hornet owned a paper too, but he went the opposite way, running articles denouncing his costumed identity as a way of helping his cover as a criminal.
Edo, you beat me to the punch on that Amazing Spider-man annual! After seeing today's posts I had to pull that issue out to reread it. Oh, and it seems like DC's reboot of Vigilante in the mid 80's had a cover background of newsprint.Only thing I can actually remember about that book...
Just remembered another, more recent one: the Batman story in the larger Judas Coin graphic novel by Walt Simonson. The story itself is done in the style of a black & white newspaper comic strip (you even have to turn the book on its side), and the background on every page has newspaper clippings that are partially obscured by the comics, even though they all relate, in some way, to what's going on in the comic itself. Really worth a read - not just the Batman bit, but the whole book.
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