Comic book facts for kids

A comic book

Comic books are exciting books that tell stories with lots of pictures. These pictures are often drawn in a sequence, like a movie, to show what happens next. Comic books first became popular in the 1900s. Many famous characters you know, like Spider-Man and Batman, started in comic books. Big companies like Marvel Comics and DC Comics create many of these stories. While many comics feature superheroes, lots of them are about other fun topics too! Sometimes, characters from books, video games, movies, and television shows appear in comics. And often, comic book characters become stars in movies, TV shows, or video games.

Different Kinds of Comic Books

There are a few main types of comic books you might find. The most common type is a single issue. These are usually about 32 pages long. They are printed and put together like a magazine, with pages folded and stapled in the middle.

If you collect several single issues of a comic series, they can be put together into a trade paperback. These books have a spine, just like a regular book, and their pages are glued together. They are a great way to read a whole story arc at once.

A graphic novel is another type of comic book. It's also bound like a trade paperback, but it tells one complete story from beginning to end. Graphic novels are usually longer and often contain all new material, instead of just collecting older comics.

How to Read Comic Books

In English-speaking countries, you read comic books from left to right. You read the speech bubbles in each panel from left to right first. Then, you move to the next row of panels and read them from left to right as well. This is a bit different from Japanese comics, which are called manga. Manga are usually read from right to left.

Popular Comic Book Characters and Series

Many comic books have become very famous around the world. Here are some well-known examples:

• Superman
• Batman
• Spider-Man
• Wonder Woman
• Captain America
• Fantastic Four
• X-Men
• Spawn
• The Beano
• The Adventures of Tintin
• Sailor Moon
• Naruto
• Death Note

Images for kids

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  Comic books on display at a museum, depicting how they would have been displayed at a rail station store in the first half of the 20th century.

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  A common comic-book cover format displays the issue number, date, price and publisher along with an illustration and cover copy that may include a story's title.

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  René Goscinny (1926–1977), writer of the Astérix comic book series.

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  Cover to 27 December 1884 edition of Ally Sloper's Half Holiday. Ally Sloper is regarded as the first recurring character in comics.

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  Statue of Minnie the Minx, a character from The Beano, in Dundee, Scotland. Launched in 1938, The Beano is known for its anarchic humour, with Dennis the Menace appearing on the cover.

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  Hugo Pratt (1927–1995), author of the Corto Maltese comic book series.

See also

In Spanish: Revista de historietas para niños