"All art worthy of the name is religious. Be it a creation of lines and colors, if it is not religious, it does not exist. If it is not religious, it is only a matter of documentary art, anecdotal art, which is no longer art."
-Henri Matisse

"Of making many books, there is no end."
-Bible, Ecclesiastes 12:12

"O! for a muse of fire, that would ascend The brightest heaven of invention!"
-Shakespeare, Henry V, prologue

: Hi, my name is Tom Pugh and it would seem that you've arrived at our little niche on the vast expanse of information we prefer to call the internet. Isn't it a great place to be? Think of it, limitless ideas and resources are at our very fingertips ! The only boundaries of the place are those we, ourselves, create. Even its own laws and physics are under constant consideration and reconstruction. In many ways, it truly is cyber"space", an entire world and culture of its own, recieving this from t he mass of radically different people, philosophies, and tastes. For this reason, some are wary of venturing through this jungle of data; both meaningful and useless. : My name is Phil Nguyen and, in a way, we ARE what the whole definition of what the world wide web is, a coming together of uniquely different people who have a specific similarity between them. We like comics, that's our reason, plain and simple. From there we branch out into several styles, genres, and trends. Each of us has certain knowledge in certain areas, neither is exactly the same. We've seen many comic strip and book-related pages; some were focused only on one topic, others had little hard information other than praise and a lot of pretty pictures, still others displayed only one point of view. Comics: The Language of the World is a group effort, a collaboration of methods and perspectives. No one person has total control of what you see before you. : I am Chin-chuen "Stephen" Lin and you can call me Stephen. This web page is one that won't stop growing as long as we're around. And we plan to have that be a good, long time to come. When mentioning comics to others, you might get three respo nses: some are interested in it's possibilities and accept it as an art form, others would tell you it is nothing but cheaply drawn kiddie material, while still a few might not really care at all. This page is for all three. For the believers, it is a p lace for them to learn more about this artistic form and discover new vistas they have not yet explored. On the other hand, we may convince the nay-sayers to change their minds regarding comics, but we won't lose any sleep over it. Finally, those who ha ve never truly given comics much thought could come out of visiting this page pleasantly surprised, that is our hope. : When asked such a question, comic fans who are a bit more knowledgable of the art than their fellow cohorts would bring up a host of names such as "Jack Kirby", "Osamu Tezuka", "Herge", "Walter Kelly", "Robert Crumb", "Stan Lee", or "Masamune Shirow. " The list would fill a web page ten times over. When thinking of styles, they may say: "manga" or "cartoon." These are too narrow as they describe only a small portion of the whole. What we need is a definition that encompasses all of the diverse and special components that make up this massive universe. Comics legend and guru, Will Eisner, defined his craft as sequential art. The panels in comic art are not only used for the purpose of telling a story (strips like The Far Side have told an ent ire tale in only one caption), but to display the passage of time. Between the mysterious white area of the panels the reader can progress through a matter of seconds to an entire millennia. Lives can begin, find success or failure, and end in the blin k of an eye (literally!). Scott McCloud, a guru in his own right, broadened Eisner’s original into a more definitive and lengthly version. According to the good Mr. McCloud, comics are, in a nutshell: Juxtaposed (side-by-side) pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence,intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer. : That is quite a mouthful. : It is, and don’t feel bad if you’re a bit confused. We hope that by reading on, you should discover exactly what it means through visiting the others areas of Comics. Assorted definitions aside, a more important question is what makes comics tick? The general answer would have to be that it is essentially a hybrid between two quite different forms. Art, the first ingredient, is the oldest medium of personal expression known to man, he creates it with his hands and only a simple vision is required . When viewing a work of art, the idea has already been put on canvas (so to speak) and our part in the experience is to react. To map this phenomenon, it begins at the moment of visualization and then travels through our eyes to the brain, where the re action begins. If we were to compare a series of patterns and Van Gogh’s Starry Night , both would be art, if they were created with a story, message, feeling, or all, in mind (criticism by so- called laymen , aside). : That makes sense, now let us move on to the second reason, shall we? : The second piece is writing, the ultimate form of abstraction. Words differ from drawings in that they don’t bear a physical resemblance to anything. You are required to take action in order to make sense of words by reading. Words demand concen tration. I takes intelligence to decifer words, where art is (usually) universal. Finally, you have the language barrier which is not an easy thing to break or bend. Comics are where the two merge and become one single entity. Both essences: art with its mental simplicity and visual appeal, writing with its many complex formats and overall aestheticism are crucial. Our result is the potential for both a powerful and moving or soft and satirical method of storytelling. : For too long, comics have been regarded as junk or commercialized art. Some of the early creators (and some still today) worked long hours for little pay. Superman co-creator Joe Shuster developed serious eye problems from working on that v ery book he held so dear to him. Most comic strip and book creators became servants to their publishers or syndicates. Once cartoonists were given entire newspaper pages each day to create their stories, now we see only a thin slice of what they could tell us. In Japan, comic art is much more accepted, but ardent manga and anime (animation) fans, called Otaku ( obsessed fan ), are frowned upon slightly by others; much like trekkies or deadheads in the United States. It is our hope that this p age will contribute in giving those men and women their long-awaited and due respect. : You may not be aware that comics are a powerful educational tool. With their rich artwork and words (usually, everything can’t be rocket science, you know), are definitly not limited as a means of entertainment. I’m sure many would find them a more attractive idea than pages of words with a few uninspiring pictures on the side. Better even than a majority of the educational shows on television, if, that is, you can learn while sleeping. : I wish some of my teachers in the past had considered that. he he... : I’m with you on that one. : In America, people tend to have preconcieved thoughts about the idea of using educational comics to introduce the fundamentals of different fields of knowledge. Two particular problems make them as rare as a snow day. 1) School and science journals have never or rarely mentioned them. Traditionally, adults believe that comics are something that will distract students’ attention from class; basically, students reading them under their desks during lectures. Some see comics as a bad influence on children or strictly consisting of humor-related material. I’m sure more than one teacher, parent, or even student has said: Real students, GOOD students read books, not comics. Pretty bleak point of view, isn’t it? 2) When educational comics actually are published in the United States, the art is generic and good storytelling non-existent. Personally, after seeing a few such comics, my only reaction was a quick sigh. They were pretty much text books with panels a nd the main characters reminded me more and more of certain teachers I didn’t like. Come to think of it, those educational TV shows are starting to sound more appealing by the minute. How can I possibly convince you that comics can do a much better job than text books or televsion? Hmmmm. I’ve got it. Try to remember those old school films you saw in history, math, art, science, music, and so on. Exactly who was it that did the storytelling? Some guy in a cheap suit? A woman with a frightening hai rcut? Probably so. Were those people interesting to look at? Most of all, did they make you laugh or leave you with a definite impact? Probably not, or you would have paid more attention in class. What comics CAN do is provide an enjoyable, more comf ortable environment with interesting characters and stunning visual graphics. What if you had a choice between another of those people mentioned above or a cartoonish hero who who uses science to save the Earth? Sort of an Ultra McGuyver. How about a tiny angelic character who will lead you on a historical tour through dreams? The vote would probably lean toward that latter, I’m sure. If only we could get real writers and artists to create real and fantastic stories, applying subjects (science, his tory, anything!) to adventurous or every-day experiences. Entertaining and informative. Many have tried and few (if any) have succeeded. Essentially, it’s learning from recreation. : Sorry to interrupt, but there have been a few exceptions to this. When I was younger, my mother (an English teacher, mind you) realized that I enjoyed comics immensely and decided to buy me versions of well-known books in comic form. I was hooked. Soon, I’d read works by Verne, London, and Wells. Some might say that these could never replace the originals. In truth, of course they can’t! Comics have their advantages, as do text books have theirs. One should never read strictly one type. In fa ct, these comic books only made me want to read the text versions more. One of my favorites was The Bank Street Book of Science Fiction which featured stories by Isaac Asimov and Andre Norton, among others. : Sounds interesting. : It does. Anyways, for the above reasons, I suggest that if proffesionals can be hired to create educational comics for students, a good deal of the nay-sayers would probably change their minds. No matter what, text books can always deliver more information, but comics would make a great assistant. Let’s move on to the other side of the Earth, though. In the Far East, educational comics are everywhere. There are entire series of comics teaching history, with huge volumes as numerous as encycl opedias. It’s not limited to history, as there are biographies of famous (and infamous) people and short sci-fi stories introducing science in various science magazines. My question to America is, why don’t we provide our students with something informa tive and above all, interesting? What is holding us back? : Of course the value of comic art is not merely limited to the above reasons. : Very true, Phillip, very true. Long ago, I once heard heard someone say: Being a teacher, do you know what’s the best way to make kids quiet? I must tell you, yelling at them is not the best way, not even a good way. I always draw my own com ic characters on the board. This trick always gets their attention. It seems to me that exam scores might even go up if teachers put cartoons in the corner. : My English would do this. I can’t say that it actually raised my IQ a few points, but it did help me relax, which is just as important. Comics truly are a versatile art form. Perhaps people will realize this sooner than we think. : The title says it all folks. You’ve entered our world and we don’t expect you to leave without learning something. Just click on any of the titles below and be whisked away to another section of Comics: The Language of the World. : But before you go, there’s a few things I want to add. This page was created with the idea that it would be constantly changing and expanding, like comics. If you could refer us to any information regarding the topics expressed on this page, pl ease e-mail. We’d greatly appreciate it. Also, if you know anything about the following topics, we’d like to hear from you: 1.European comics 2.Information on the lives of any important comic artists, writers, or creators of any style or genre 3.Comics relating to popular culture (movies, television, music, merchandising, etc.) All are areas we plan on adding to Comics in the near future. Or if you just want to tell us what you thought of our page, we want to hear from you! E-mail to either: Stephen--> slin@garfield.msms.doe.k12.ms.us Phillip--> pnguyen@garfield.msms.doe.k12.ms.us Tom--> Tom_B._Pugh@freenet.medina.org The museum: from then ‘til now (Venture deep into the misty depths of the past and discover the little-known history of the art form...) Where The Sun Never Sets: Manga Explained (The Land of the Rising Sun is our desitination to discover just what this unique style is all about...) Myths, Misinterpretations and Misconceptions: Censorship (Censorship has played a menacing role throughout history. Here you can see just how it affected the American comics industry in the form of a certain Dr. Fredric Wertham...) FLAME ON!: COMICS DISCUSSION FORUM (Here on our own personal FAQ, fellow comic fans from around the world can unite and talk. We provide the topics, you keep the fire burning...) Upcoming: The Invasion of Europe: Comics of the Continent The Cultural Revolution: Comics Become Trendy In the Mind’s Eye: The People Behind the Panels