Concept in Definition ABC

The comic strip is one of the classic sections of most newspapers. It consists of a reduced number of vignettes in which a short story is told with a humorous tone.

In the two or three vignettes of a comic strip, a cartoonist (or a cartoonist and a screenwriter together) tell something about an aspect of everyday reality. There is no majority theme; It can be a strip with a political approach, of social denunciation or a satire on a current character. On the other hand, it must be taken into account that this Format It can also target a child audience and appear in magazines and books.

This journalistic tradition began in the 19th century in the context of the Anglo-Saxon world press (the strips are known as the comic strip). It must be taken into account that the written press emerged historically as a genuine instrument of freedom of expression.

The comic strip can be understood as a subgenre of the literature and it is worth emphasizing that it is related to other genres or creative activities: the

comic, the graffiti, medieval blind romances, satire or popular joke.

Some features

As a general guideline, the comic strip focuses on a singular character (a superhero, a humanized animal, or a child). These comics have traditionally resorted to black and white and the use of color is a minority. Its main characteristic is the combination of two elements: the He drew and the word, the dialogue being the most used form in most of the strips. The purpose of the comic strip is obvious: to provoke a smile in the reader. However, that smile has different approaches: inciting reflection on a problem, defending or censuring a position or drawing attention to a matter of general interest. In any of its variants, humor is always the core of the cartoon.

The success of the comic strips

If the comic strips of the 19th century have become popular all over the world, one wonders what reasons explain this global phenomenon. Probably the format they present has a lot to do with it (the drawing reinforces the word creating a message that arouses the reader's sympathy). On the other hand, there is a direct and easy to understand communication, so a calm and slow reading is not necessary. The comic strip creates a kind of complicity between the author and the reader, the former seeks to surprise and the latter to be surprised.

Finally, we must insist on the essence of the comic strip: humor as a form of communication. Humor is more than a resource to entertain and proof of this is its presence in all artistic manifestations (the theater, the movie theater, painting or the circus). In this way, if there are hundreds of serious and worrying news in a newspaper, the comic strip is the only element that alters the dynamics. serious and gives a comic touch that contrasts with the tragedies of events, political crises or the human dramas of the press daily.

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Themes in Comic Strip