In the United States, the first comic book was published in 1934. Ever since the first comic came out, the leading producer has been the United States. The first comics were similar to the comics found in early newspapers; however, they were published as their own books. The first comic books were mostly about adventure stories and depicted some type of superhero character. Historians break up the history of American comic books into different eras. There are four eras starting with the Golden Age, the Silver Age, the Bronze Age, and the Modern age of comic books. The Golden Age of comics is said to have last from the 1930s to the late 1940s. During this time, comics became main stream and readers were introduced to superheroes such as Batman, Captain America, and Wonder Woman. Superman was the first known superhero and made his debut in 1938. After Superman, almost all comics featured a superhero, and the Golden Age is classified by their appearances. World War II had a big impact on ... [more]

Research shows that the main cause of downfall of the comic industry is the removal of comic books from shops and stores. But this cannot be the sole cause since comic books are now easily available on the internet, in movies and animations.







Another question that comes to mind is why Japanese animation or "manga" is doing better then traditional comic books? The answer is simple. The Japanese write a better story line and their animated movies are made for a wider audience. Often, Japanese comic books are framed as graphic novels containing 70 to 220 pages for a mature audience. The manga holds a more important place in Japanese culture, and is both well respected as an art form and also as a form of popular literature. On the other hand, comic books in Western countries are generally geared towards young teenagers rather than adults. This approach has made it tough for the Western comic industry to attain its dominant position.more]

I had my own comic book store by the age of 7 years. Those were the days before television and the many other distractions that surround us today. My comic book store consisted of over 200 comics, which I read and reread and then when I had enough of re-reads I would get on my bicycle and visit friends to do a comic swap. These were exciting times for we loved our few comic book heroes and when the next edition was at the news store we would often be their waiting to buy them as they arrived.
There was of course Superman and his amazing powers and he had Xray vision which made him seem almost mystical and add to that his ability to fly and lift trains and intercept even aircraft in flight had me locked in as a believer and follower However I felt he lost a bit of class when Lois Lane arrived on the scene.
Superman was the start of the hero era of comics for me and then came Captain Marvel and he was great but then Captain Marvel Junior got into the act and his hero status w... [more]