COMICS
The “comics medium” includes newspaper comic strips such as Dennis the Menace and
comic books such as Spider-Man. Scholars around the world agree that comics are a
uniquely American art form.
The first commercially successful comic strip was Hogan’s Alley, a comic strip from the
1890s. Hogan’s Alley featured the Yellow Kid, the world’s first popular cartoon
character. This strip and its character marked the beginning of comics and was American
in every respect. Set in a low-income neighborhood in New York City, Hogan’s
Alley dealt with the lives of ordinary Americans. It was written and drawn by American
cartoonist R.F. Outcault. Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, two famous and
influential American publishers, printed the comic strip in their newspapers.
The first popular comic book in the world was also American. Action Comics, a series
that is still in print today, was initially released in 1938. It featured Superman, the world’s
first superhero. Like Hogan’s Alley, Superman was American-created.
Americans invented comic strips, and Americans have exported their unique art form to
the rest of the world. The comics that Americans brought to Japan after World War II
inspired Japanese comics, called manga. Popular European comics series such
as Smurfs and Asterix are influenced by Disney comic books. Today, American-created
Disney comic characters are more popular in Europe than ever.
The comics medium started in America. While it has spread around the world, even
comics that aren’t created by Americans have an undeniable American influence. This is
why so many art and literature scholars recognize the comic strip as a truly American art
form.
Directions: Summarize the main points made in the lecture, being sure to
explain how they challenge the specific points made in the reading passage.
You have 20 minutes to plan and write your response. Your response will be
judged on the basis of the quality of your writing and how well your response
presents the points in the lecture and their relationship to the reading passage.
Sample answer
In the passage, the author argues that comics are an art form that is
very unique to the United States, but has been borrowed by other
countries. The speaker corrects many things the author wrote about
comics being an American art form. Although the writing says all
scholars agree that comics are uniquely American, the lecturer says
that in modern times, very few scholars agree with that.
The speaker then points out that, contrary to the writing, the first
popular comic strips were not American. According to the speaker, 100
years before the first American comic strip, there were popular comic
strips in Europe. The lecture also states that Hogan’s Alley, the 1890s
comic strip described as American in the article, is not completely
American because the comic characters were not Americans.
Moreover, the publisher and creator of the comic were immigrants
from other countries.
Additionally, the speaker disagrees with the article’s claim that
American comic book Superman was the first popular comic book.
Instead, the lecturer says the Belgian comic book Tintin was popular
before Superman. Also, the author points out that Superman’s creator
is Canadian, not American as the article says.
Finally, the speaker disagrees that American cartoon art influenced
international comics, as claimed in the writing. He says that popular
European comics have a uniquely European style. He also argues that
Japanese comics are influenced more by traditional Asian art. Finally,
the speaker notes that even American Disney comics characters are
drawn by European artists.
