History Of Science Fiction Comic Book Authors

By Marissa Velazquez


The fist ever comic strip in the sci-fi genre was Mr Skygack from Mars, which was written by AD Condo and could be seen in the newspapers in the 1900s. Mr Skygack from Mars was a comedy, and the first non-humerous sci-fi comic strip was Buck Rodgers in 1928. Shortly after this Flash Gordon appeared followed by Dan Dare from the UK. Sci-fi comic books have become increasingly sophisticated ever since and the science fiction comic book authors have produced more and more imaginative concepts.

A high proportion of the first comics contained elements of sci-fi. Planet comic's "Superman" series brought in the super hero sci-fi sub-genre. EC Comics published sci-fi comics to great success in the 1950s and the storylines and concepts became more and more sophisticated. US sci-fi comics continued into the 1960s with comics aimed at both children and adolescents. Young adults became interested in the genre in the late 1960s with the wave of hippy underground comics.

Japanese Manga appeared in the 1950s amd Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy is considered to be the first major sci-fi Manga comic. In the following decades many other creators of Japanese sci-fi comics would appear, including Leiji Matsumoto with Galaxy Express 999, Katsuhiro Otomo with Akira and Masamune Shirow with Ghost in the Shell.

Sci-fi graphic novels first appeared in the 60s and comic strips with a longer and more developed storyline. Graphic novels have the advantage of being able to portray specific concepts that would be difficult to put into words. Robots, time travel, virtual reality and mecha are popular concepts in sci-fi graphic novels. The graphic novel has become increasingly sophisticated in it's artistry and storylines and tend to be aimed more at adolescents and adults.

The USA sci-fi comic scene tends to mainly be in the superhero genre, and DC comics and Marvel comics are among the most successful. They have produce the most well known superheroes, such as Superman, Spiderman, The Incredible Hulk, Thor and many others. These superheroes all have elements of sci fi, although plots tend to be set on earth in the modern time rather than in the future.

Manga comics from Japan tend to be set in a futuristic setting. The famous sci-fi Manga comics include, Akira that was the inspiration behind The Matrix films and Ghost in the shell is set in a futuristic dystopia.

The most successful and popular sci-fi comic books tend to reflect the technological zeitgeist of the time they were written. The older comics were hand drawn and coloured by the artist, but modern sci-fi comics and graphic novels now employ computer generated images with the help of corel, photoshop, illustrator and paintbucket.

Science fiction is a very loose genre and there are many sub-genres. New concepts in sci-fi comics are being created all the time and there are certain science fiction comic book authors that have revolutionised the medium. This includes the graphic artist Warren Ellis who created the concept of the Cyberpunk with his Transmetropolitan series of comics. Also, Alan Moore enjoy a huge following around the world with his V for Vendetta graphic novel, which has a social commentary and is set is a dystopian future.




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