Intro to Comics: What are Comics?

Last updated January 3, 2024

Note: there was no Intro to Comics event in December 2023 but for the originally scheduled topic Comic Book Resolutions, there is an update to the comic book resolutions page on this site! I expect to make additional edits for January 2024, which also has the topic Comic Book Resolutions. The last scheduled Intro to Comics events are for January and June 2024.

This is part two of the summary of the November 5, 2023 event What Are Comics? (Scroll or click here to go to part one!)

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud is all about what comics are!

Summary of and notes related to the presentation slides

Becoming familiar and becoming a fan

I say that I “got into” comics in 2021 but I’ve been enjoying comics since I was a kid. I loved comic strips, especially newspaper comics, and especially the color comics in the Sunday paper. My family would get a Sunday paper often enough for me to know to pull the comics, the coupons (there might have been Chuck E. Cheese coupons!), and Parade magazine. Other than that, I have very specific memories of other comics at the time, like: a collection of Kudzu comics I got at a second-hand store, a copy of a Disney Adventures magazine I recall convincing one of my parents to buy for me at the grocery store (with some Duck Tales or Darkwing Duck comics strips), one Spider-Man comic book (which I’m sure included the death of Gwen Stacy but not 100% sure), and the one panel comics in Reader’s Digest (which is probably one of my most consistent source of comics in addition to the newspaper).

In college, I started reading comics online. I was a fan of The Meaning of Lila, I gather, because I do remember the strips, I remember posting it on Facebook, and I remember being sad when it ended. I also remember that it was one of the comics I read on a comics site, comics dot com, which was an era that had an end. Comics dot com was where I read those daily and weekly strips I enjoyed in the newspaper and magazines as a kid, as well as new-to-me comic strips, but online. I remember it being so convenient, so entertaining. But then comics dot com was bought out and became gocomics dot com and you know what? I stopped reading comics online like that afterwards. May 2011: the end of a comics era. I stopped catching up with the newspaper comics I read beginning in childhood. However, I did continue reading comics online–and specifically webcomics.

I’ll mention that I also read comics directly on the comics creators’ sites or social media pages. From the Diesel Sweeties website (where a place may have been established for me to take in other romantic robot-human relationships ahem ahem WandaVision) to xkcd dot com (via tumblr). While I wasn’t regularly reading syndicated comics from a distribution point like gocomics dot com, I did begin aggregating these online comics in Google Reader and then Feedly. 

I continue to read comics online–comics that are originally published online, as well as digital versions of print comics. Most of the comic-strip-type comics I read on social media and/or directly from the creators (mostly Instagram, less often on Patreon and the site formerly known as Twitter) and physical or digital collections (I’ve been reading a lot of Garfield collections lately).

What I like to read

What comics might I like? Might you like? What do I already like? Comics is a medium, not a genre, and so once I applied what I already liked and explored what’s out there a bit, I came up with this list:

  • Science Fiction 
  • Mythology
  • Low fantasy
  • Clowns 
  • Graphic medicine
  • Comic strip compilations
  • Slice of life
  • Adaptations and parallel novels
  • Horror
  • Editorial/political cartoons
  • Books about comics

Tip x 2: Exploring comics by looking for ones in genres you already enjoy is great. But. BUT. But! You may find something… You may find that you enjoy other genres more in comics form. You may find that you don’t like your regular favs in comics form. Or something in between! As an example, I have found it easier to approach horror in comics than in movies or television or in prose.

What I want to learn about

I read a lot of comics. I would say so (just did!). My 2024 comic book resolutions include streamlining how much I read! All that being said, there’s a lot out there and only so much time and attention i have been able to give, so I haven’t read everything and still want to learn more. Here’s a list of some areas I’d like to spend more time with:

  • Manga
  • DC comics
  • Comic strips
  • Old/syndicated/long-running comics
  • Self-published comics

What do you want to know more about?

What are comics?

Comics are/is:

  • A medium
  • An art form
  • Sequential art
  • Illustration
  • Writing
  • Physical
  • Digital
  • Fiction
  • Nonfiction
  • Entertaining
  • Informational
  • Historical 

Comics come in different formats:

  • Single issue/floppy
  • Volume
  • Trade paperback
  • Graphic novel
  • Digital
  • Collections

Where are comics?

As of January 2024, this is how I break down where you can get comics:

  • Buy
    • New
    • Used
  • Borrow
    • Library
    • People you know
  • Stream

Discovering something new

How do you find something to read? Something new? Something familiar? There are ways you can more passively and more actively discover comics. You can search by, on, through:

  • Writer
  • Illustrator
  • Publisher
  • Genre
  • Publishing news
  • Goodreads
  • Library, book club, etc.
  • Comics shop
  • People you know

What can you do individually?

Want to jumpstart your comics interest? Practice being more aware of comics around you?

  • See if you notice comics in places you already read (like magazines)
  • See if a meme you like is “sequential art”
  • Read a book outside of what your go-to
  • Read a book then read the graphic novelization 
  • Watch the movie, or watch the show (and vice versa)
  • Get a library card
  • Go to local comic con
  • Look for comics at a store
  • Buy a newspaper
  • Use Silly Putty to pick up color comics

Ideas for comics and community

You can discover, read, and enjoy comics alone/individuallt and with a group. That group may even be in or become your community. Try:

  • A regular comics meet up
  • A graphic novel book club
  • A silent reading party
  • Attending and/or organize a comic con
  • Requesting books at a library or bookstore
  • Viewing or providing a demonstration of reading apps

Last updated November 12, 2023

This is part one of the summary of the November 5, 2023 event What Are Comics?

HERE ARE SOME OF YOUR ANSWERS FROM THE REGISTRATION QUESTION ABOUT WHAT COMICS YOU’RE DRAWN TO. SOME ANSWERED THAT THEY WEREN’T SURE YET!
Based on the types of comics you’re drawn to! Usually, I recommend books that I’ve read before. However, as we learn how to discover new book, I listed recommendations of books that look interesting to me and are based in your interests.

Open-book trivia

Directions during the event

Read the question asking about how the list of items are connected to comics. Since this is “open-book trivia”, feel free to look up the answers! Search online, talk with someone you’re with, phone a friend, etc.

Then, you’ll report your answers/findings to the group!

Take a look at all the questions post-event!