'''漫画'''（まんが）とは、狭義には笑いを企図した絵をいう。これは「戯画（カリカチュア）」の概念と近い。また広義には、必ずしも笑いを目的としない「劇画」「ストーリー漫画」「コミック」（これも元来は、笑いと関係のある語）と呼ばれるものをも含む。

日本語における「漫画」という言葉は、中国語の「漫筆」からの派生であると考えられ、1798年に発行された絵本『四時交加』の序文では、山東京伝により「気の向くままに描く」という意味の言葉として使用されている。1814年の葛飾北斎の北斎漫画により、戯画風のスケッチを指す「漫画」という言葉は広まった。現代的な意味で初めて「漫画」という用語を使用したのは、北澤楽天である。<ref name="Manga no Jiten">清水 勲 『日本 漫画の事典』 p53-54およびp102-103 ISBN 4-385-15586-0 </ref>

外来語である「アニメーション」（アニメ）という言葉が70年代後半に一般化する前には、アニメ作品、テレビアニメ、アニメ映画及び児童向けのドラマ（特撮作品を含む）も「漫画」「まんが」「マンガ」と呼んでいた。（例「東映まんがまつり」「まんが日本昔ばなし」など）このため中高年を中心に今でもアニメや特撮番組を漫画、あるいはテレビまんがと呼ぶ者もいる。

ビジネスの世界では漫画絵のことをしばしば「パンチをもとに日本国内で創刊された、日本最初の漫画雑誌『ジャパン・パンチ』を語源する。

== 漫画の形式 ==
漫画は、現時性と線上性とが複合した一連の絵である。現時性とは「その全てを一望して把握できること」、線上性とは「流れの中で部分を辿り、把握していくこと」である。法隆寺の落書きのような卑俗な笑いから、フランス革命前夜のビラのような体制への嘲笑であったり、また時に、ゴヤのような人間存在を揺るがす鋭いブラックユーモアであったりする。その歴史は長く、時代・地域・社会層によりさまざまな形で存在してきた。形式は極めて多様であり、厳格な定義は殆ど意味をなさない。

漫画は、'''簡略化'''と事象の'''抽象化'''が特徴とされる。

=== 定義 ===
thumb|right|Little Sammy Sneeze strip|300px|right|[[ウィンザー・マッケイ 『Little Sammy Sneeze』]]

少なくともあるメディアが「漫画」と呼ばれるための十分条件は次の4つであると言ってよい。これらを満たすメディアが漫画と呼ばれる事に違和感はないと思われる。

# 視覚情報を絵として提示する（文章による説明ではない）。
# 絵は話の展開を動的に描写し、情報の本質部分を占める（挿絵とは異なる）。
# 聴覚情報は人物のセリフは文字として、音が擬音として表現される。ただし、音楽は擬音ではなく絵やコマの行間のようなもので表現される場合が多い。
# コマやフキダシなど独特の形式に沿っている。

漫画では情報伝達に占める絵の重要性がきわめて大きく、情景や人物の動作などはその絵を提示する事で表現される。視覚芸術の一分野に位置づけられるが、一つの画面で完結しない「時間の継起性」において、時間の一瞬を切り取った（近代以降の）絵画とは区別され、一つの画面（フレーム）がコマを指すのか紙面を指すのか不確定なところに、フレームが一つしかない映画との区別がなされる。

本記事においては漫画と表記されているが、「'''マンガ'''」や「'''まんが'''」と表記される場合、これらの表記は意図的に用いられている場合もある。個々の評論家や研究者によって定義は異なるが、漫画は一コマ漫画のような風刺的なもの、マンガはストーリーをともなうもの、といった区別が見られる場合がある。

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ style="font-weight: bold;"|漫画と他のメディアの比較
! style="background: #eee;"|メディア
! style="background: #eee;"|視覚情報の表現
! style="background: #eee;"|聴覚情報の表現
! style="background: #eee;"|画像の連続性
|-
! style="background: #ffdead;"|漫画
|絵を提示||声は文字化<br />音は擬音||動的
|-
! style="background-color: #ffdead;"|絵本
|絵の提示と文章での説明||声は文字化<br />音は文章表現か擬音||静的・挿絵的
|-
! style="background-color: #ffdead;"|小説
|文章のみで説明<br />（挿絵が入る場合がある）||声は文字化<br />音は文章表現か擬音||なし（挿絵は静的）
|-
! style="background-color: #ffdead;"|オーディオドラマ
|音声のみで説明||声も音も直接提示||なし
|-
! style="background-color: #ffdead;"|映画・アニメ・ドラマ
|映像を直接提示||声も音も直接提示<br />テロップによって表現されることもある||動的・実時間的
|-
! style="background-color: #ffdead;"|紙芝居
|絵を提示||声は読み手の発声<br />音は読み手の発声による文章表現か擬音||静的・挿絵的
|-
! style="background-color: #ffdead;"|絵画
|絵を提示||なし||静的
|}

== 歴史 ==
漫画発祥の時期と場所については、主に漫画の定義に依存する多数の異なった説が存在する。スコット・マクラウドを含む多くの研究者や文献は、エジプトのヒエログリフ、日本の絵巻物、ヨーロッパのステンドグラス、コロンブス到達以前の中央アメリカ大陸の絵物語、バイユーのタペストリーなどを、漫画の起源として挙げている。

しかしながら、ロジャー・セービンは、この見解は漫画を芸術形式として正当化するために、歴史的資料を漫画の系譜に位置づけようとする企てであると反論している。

=== 古代と中世 ===
時間的な複数のコマの展開を持つマンガは、宗教画として登場する。とくにキリスト教では、イエスの物語を語り継ぐことが信仰の中心となったこともあり、十字架の道(Via Crucis)が多くの教会の内部（巡礼に倣うために、各柱の下）に描かれた。これは、イエスの死刑宣告から復活まで、14コマ＋1コマで描くものであり、イエスやピラト、マリア、シモン、ベロニカなどのキャラクターが定型的に描かれる。一方、仏教では、釈迦一代記曼荼羅が描かれた。これは、釈迦の両親から、像の夢の妊娠に始まって、出家、涅槃までを、中央の釈迦を中心に、左下から反時計回りに展開したものである。これらを原点として、キリスト教でも、仏教でも、さまざまな時間的な物語が、絵や彫刻、ステンドグラスのコマ、ないし連続的展開によって説明される形式が確立されていた。ただし、当時の民衆は文字が読めない場合が多かったために、説明は、宗教家の活弁によって補われる必要があった。

戯画的漫画は、その大衆的性格から（また時に体制批判的な内容から）、美術が権力者や宗教に従事していた古代や中世には、積極的に残される努力はされなかった。それ故に、作例がかなり限られてくる。古代エジプトの漫画としては、権力者を動物化して表現したエジプト版「鳥獣戯画」が広く知られている。これは壁画や壷絵等、複数残されている。古代ギリシアでも、壷絵には、割と多くの戯画的表現を見出すことが出来るが、古代世界から最も豊富な漫画を提供してくれるのは、なんと言ってもポンペイである。この古代ローマ時代の地方都市は、町が、ある日突然に灰に埋もれたことから、普通では残ることのないような極々日常的な絵画や落書きの類まで残されている。日本の現存する最古の漫画の作例は、法隆寺の落書きであり（複数箇所で確認されている）、偶然に残されたこと、庶民的性格、おおらかな性の表現といった点で似ている。

西洋の中世には、美術は宗教の従者であったが、それでも、写本画のごくごく目立たぬ部分に落書きがあったり、また、後期中世を通じて大量に流布していた木版画には、民衆的ユーモアを確認することができる。ゴシック末期の例えば、ショーンガウアーやボッスの作品には、様々な戯画的世界が見られる。日本の仏典の端にも、写学生の気晴らしと思われる男女の性交図などが見られる。また、信貴山縁起、伴大納言絵詞、鳥獣戯画等、絵巻物の傑作が生み出された。これらのうちには、現代でもなお通用する漫画的表現が見られる。

=== 近世 ===
ルネサンス美術は、極めて多様な作例を残している。特に、16世紀以降は、美術に従事するものは個性的であることが優れていると考えられ、そのために、表現の幅が広げられた。レオナルド・ダ・ヴィンチは、奇妙・奇怪なものに非常に関心を示し、彼の手稿には、多くの戯画が残されている。レオナルドの興味は、マニエリスムを予感させる。そしてもまた、民衆的な笑いのセンスが、芸術的な形に現れた時代でもあった。後期ルネサンスやマニエリスムには、下卑た笑い、エロティックなもの、世相批判的なもの、そういったまるでフランソワ・ラブレーの世界が、美術に展開し、枚挙に暇がない。それは漫画と密に通じている。代表的な美術家としては、ピーテル・ブリューゲル（父）、ジャック・カロ、ジュリオ・ロマーノ、ルーカス・クラーナハ（父）などがいる。カロや、クラーナハの場合、当時飛躍的に発展しつつあった印刷技術との関連においても重要である。

thumb|200px|right|ウィリアム・ホガースによる連作『The Rake's Progress（道楽者のなりゆき）』（[[1733年）の最後の一枚]]
「コミック・アートの歴史」を著したR. セービンは、漫画は本質的に印刷媒体と関連付けられているという主張の下に、印刷術の発明により漫画の形式が具体化されたとの見解に立っている。したがって、印刷術に先立つすべての漫画のバリエーションは、あくまで漫画の先行形式であり、漫画の系譜に属するものとは見なせないとするのが、セービンの見解であった。

漫画の形式を備えていると見なせる、現在残されている初期の作品はフランシス・バーローによる『A True Narrative of the Horrid Hellish Popish Plot（恐るべき地獄のようなカトリック陰謀事件についての真実の物語）』（1682年）である。ウィリアム・ホガースの『The Punishments of Lemuel Gulliver（レミュエル・ガリヴァーの受難）』（1726年）も漫画と類似した形式を持つ初期の作品であるが、エディ・キャンベルは、これらの作品は漫画と言うよりも、風刺画の連作ではないかと反論している。この時期の特筆すべき制作者としては、トーマス・ローランドソン、ジャン・ヴァンデルフフト、ジェームズ・ギルレイ、ジョージ・クルックシャンクがいる。ローランドソンとギルレイは、それ以前に用いられていた見出しによるセリフの記述から、フキダシによる記述法を生み出したことにより特記される。

一例として、当時の政治を風刺したローランドソンの1782年の作品は、コマ漫画の初期の変化形であると見做せる。ローランドソンの作品により、絵物語としてのコマ漫画の形式が広まった。

=== 19世紀 ===
right|200px|thumb|[[ロドルフ・テプフェールによる絵物語『Histoire de monsieur Jabot（ジャボ氏物語）』（1833年）]]
スイスの画家ロドルフ・テプフェールは、19世紀初期の漫画史における重要人物である。絵画とその下に添えられた説明文から成るテプフェールによる一連の挿絵つき読み物は、ヨーロッパとアメリカの様々な地域で出版された（ただし、この読み物にはまだフキダシは含まれていなかった）。当時の著作権法の不在により海賊出版されたこれらの翻訳版は、両大陸で漫画という形式を持つ作品のための市場を整えた。<ref>Beerbohm, Robert (2003) [http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/scoop_article.asp?ai=2808&si=124 The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck Part III]. ''The Search For Töpffer In America''. Retrieved on May 30, 2005. </ref>

1845年に、テプフェールは自書『Essay on Physiognomics（人相学試論）』の「picture story（絵物語）」で、彼の考えを形式付けている。「絵物語を構築し、しばしば澱となって沈んでいる素材から可能性を余さず引き出してやるのに、名匠の業を身に付ける必要はない。絵物語の構築は、単に鉛筆画で軽佻浮薄なカリカチュアを描き出すことではない。また、単に世間の噂話を物語にすることでも、駄洒落を絵画化することでもない。あなたは実際にある種の演劇を発明し、企画に沿った形で部品を配置し、全体を満足な形に整えねばならない。ただジョークを書き綴ったり、対句を繰り返したりするだけでは駄目なのだ。それが優れたものであるにせよ、劣ったものであるにせよ、真面目なものであるにせよ、馬鹿げたものであるにせよ、狂ったものであるにせよ、正常なものであるにせよ、あなたは『本』を作るのである」<ref>Weiss, E. ''Enter: The Comics'', University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, pp.4. (1969)</ref>

美術史家エルンスト・ゴンブリッチは、テプフェールを新たな絵画言語の発明者として認識している。これは読者自身の想像力によって補われる、省略された表現形式であった。

right|200px|thumb|[[ジョン・リーチによる風刺漫画『Substance and Shadow（実体と影）』（1843年）]]
19世紀には、新聞紙上での風刺漫画が人気を博した。1841年、イギリスで風刺漫画雑誌『パンチ』が創刊された。1843年に、『パンチ』は当時フレスコ画の下絵（カートゥーン）展示会を行っていたイギリスの国会議事堂を揶揄して、誌上に掲載された風刺漫画を「カートゥーン（cartoon）」と名付けた。この用語は漫画を表す一般的な英語となり、現代でも使われている。同種の風刺漫画雑誌として、ヨーロッパ大陸ではドイツの『フリーゲンデ・ブレッター』やフランスの『シャリバリ』があり、アメリカ合衆国では『ジャッジ』と『パック』が人気を博していた。

1865年に、ドイツでヴィルヘルム・ブッシュによる『マックスとモーリッツ』が新聞紙上で発表された。この絵物語は漫画の重要な先駆作品であると考えられている。

この頃から中国では漫画の形式が整い始め、1927年には完成した。

1884年にイギリスで雑誌形式により出版された『アリー・スローパーの半休日』は、特定の主人公（アリー・スローパー）による最初の連載漫画として評価されている。1890年には、イギリスで更に二冊の漫画雑誌『コミック・カッツ』と『イラストレーテッド・チップス』が登場した。これらの漫画はアメリカでも新聞連載された。これらの作品により、定期刊行雑誌としてのブリティッシュ・コミックの伝統が確立された。

'''Comics''' (via Latin, from the Greek "", ''kōmikos'', of or pertaining to "comedy", from ''kōmos'' "revel".<ref>"comic adjective"  The Oxford Dictionary of English (revised edition). Ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press, 2005. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Surrey Libraries.  21 April 2008  <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t140.e15358></ref>) is a medium in which  images are utilised in order to convey a sequential narrative.  It is the sequential nature of the pictures, and the predominance of pictures over words, that distinguish comics from picture books, though there is some overlap between the two genres.  Most comics combine words with images, often indicating speech in the form of word balloons, but wordless comics, such as The Little King, are not uncommon.  Words other than dialog, captions for example, usually expand upon the pictures, but sometimes act in counterpoint.<ref> Teresa Grainger (2004).
"Art, Narrative and Childhood" ''Literacy'' 38 (1), 66–67. doi:10.1111/j.0034-0472.2004.03801011_2.x</ref>thumb|Little Sammy Sneeze strip|300px|right|''Little Sammy Sneeze'' (1904&ndash;06) by [[Winsor McCay]] Although historically the form dealt with humorous subject matter, its scope has expanded to encompass the full range of literary genres. Also see: Comic strip and cartoon. 

Comics are typically seen as a low art<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref> <ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref>, although there are a few exceptions, such as Krazy Kat<ref>Gilbert Seldes, ''The 7 Lively Arts'', Harper, 1924, ASIN B000M1MMBC</ref>  and Barnaby.  In the late 20th and early 21st century there has been a movement to rehabilitate the medium.  

Early precursors of comics include Trajan's Column and the work of William Hogarth.  

Around 19th century, the medium as we know it today, began to take form among European and American artists. Comics as a real mass medium started to emerge in the United States in the early 20th century, with the newspaper comic strip, where its form began to be standardized (image-driven, speech balloons etc).

The combination of words and pictures proved popular, and quickly spread throughout the world.  Comic strips were soon gathered into cheap booklets, comic books, and original comic books soon followed. Today, comics are found in newspapers, magazines, comic books, graphic novels, and on the web.

Critical discussions of the form appeared as early as the 1920s,<ref>Gilbert Seldes, ''The 7 Lively Arts'', Harper, 1924, ASIN B000M1MMBC</ref><ref>Martin Sheridan, ''Comics and their Creators'', Ralph T. Hale and Company, 1942, ASIN B000Q8QGC2</ref> but serious studies were rare until the late 20th century.<ref>Dez Skinn, ''Comic Art Now'', Collins Design, 2008, ISBN 978-0061447396.</ref> 

Different conventions were developed around the globe, from the anthology comic magazines in Europe. 

Although practitioners can eschew any formal constraints, they often use particular forms and conventions to convey narration and speech, or to evoke emotional or sensual responses. Devices such as panels, layout, text, stylistic elements of art help build a subtext of meanings.<ref>Scott McCloud, ''Understanding Comics'', Harper, 1994, ISBN  978-0060976255</ref> 

==Early narratives in art==
thumb|150px|Sequential depictions on [[Trajan's Column]]

Comics as an art form established itself in the late 19th and early 20th century, alongside the similar forms of film and animation. The three forms share certain conventions, most noticeably the mixing of words and pictures, and all three owe parts of their conventions to the technological leaps made through the industrial revolution. Although the comics form was established and popularised in the pages of newspapers and magazines in the late 1890s, narrative illustration has existed for many centuries.

Egyptian Greek friezes, mediaeval tapestries such as the Bayeaux Tapestry and illustrated manuscripts also demonstrate the use of images and words combined to convey a narrative. However, these works lack the ability to travel to the reader; it needed the invention of modern printing techniques to allow the form to capture a wide audience and become a mass medium.<ref name="ref9">Perry & Aldridge, 1989. p.11</ref><ref name="ref10">McCloud, 1993. pp.11-14</ref><ref name="ref25">Sabin, 1993. pp.13-14</ref>

==The 15th&ndash;18th centuries and printing advances==
thumb|left|''The Rake's Progress'' final image|200px|right|Last image in [[William Hogarth's ''A Rake's Progress'']]

The invention of the religious subjects, but through the 17th and 18th centuries they began to tackle aspects of political and social life, and also started to satirise and caricature. It was also during this period that the speech bubble was developed as a means of attributing dialogue.

William Hogarth is often identified in histories of the comics form. His work, ''A Rake's Progress'', was composed of a number of canvases, each reproduced as a print, and the eight prints together created a narrative. As printing techniques developed, due to the technological advances of the industrial revolution, magazines and newspapers were established. These publications utilised illustrations as a means of commenting on political and social issues, such illustrations becoming known as cartoons in the 1840s. Soon, artists were experimenting with establishing a sequence of images to create a narrative.

While surviving works of these periods such as Francis Barlow's ''A True Narrative of the Horrid Hellish Popish Plot'' (c.1682) as well as ''The Punishments of Lemuel Gulliver'' and ''A Rake's Progress'' by William Hogarth, (1726) can be seen to establish a narrative over a number of images, it wasn't until the 19th century that the elements of such works began to crystallise into the comic strip.

The speech balloon also evolved during this period, from the medieval origins of the ''phylacter'', a label, usually in the form of a scroll, which identified a character either through naming them or using a short text to explain their purpose. Artists such as George Cruikshank helped codify such ''phylacters'' as balloons rather than as scrolls, although at this time they were still referred to as labels. Although they were now used to represent dialogue, this dialogue was still used for identification purposes rather than to create a dialogue within the work, and artists soon discarded them in favour of running dialogue underneath the panels. The speech balloons weren't reintroduced to the form until Richard F. Outcault utilised them as a means of establishing dialogue within his works.<ref name="Speech">Smolderen, Thierry (Summer, 2006) "Of Labels, Loops, and Bubbles: Solving the Historical Puzzle of the Speech Balloon". ''Comic Art'' 8. pp.90-112</ref>

==The 19th century: a form established==
right|thumb|Self portrait of [[Rodolphe Töpffer, whose work is considered influential in shaping the comics form.]] copyright laws at this time allowed such pirated editions, and these translated versions created a market on both continents for similar works.<ref name="ref17">Beerbohm, Robert (2003) </ref>

In 1845 Töpffer formalised his thoughts on the ''picture story'' in his ''Essay on Physiognomics'': "To construct a picture-story does not mean you must set yourself up as a master craftsman, to draw out every potential from your material — often down to the dregs! It does not mean you just devise caricatures with a pencil naturally frivolous. Nor is it simply to dramatize a proverb or illustrate a pun. You must actually invent some kind of play, where the parts are arranged by plan and form a satisfactory whole. You do not merely pen a joke or put a refrain in couplets. You make a book: good or bad, sober or silly, crazy or sound in sense."<ref name="ref18">Translated by Weiss, E. in ''Enter: The Comics'', University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, pp.4. (1969)</ref><ref name="ref18a"> [http://www.amazon.fr/dp/2841620751 Original French, extract]</ref><ref name="ref18b">[http://www.lekti-ecriture.com/editeurs/Essai-de-physiognomonie.html Original French, extract]</ref>

In 1843 the satirical drawings which had regularly been appearing in newspapers and magazines gained a name: Punch'', launched in 1841, referred to its 'humorous pencilings' as cartoons in a satirical reference to the Parliament of the day, who were themselves organising an exhibition of cartoons, or preparatory drawings, at the time. This usage became common parlance, lasting into the present day.<ref name="ref21">Varnum & Gibbons, 2001. pp.77-78</ref> Similar magazines containing cartoons in continental Judge'' and ''Puck'' were popular.<ref name="ref22"></ref>

1865 saw the publication of ''Max and Moritz'' by Wilhelm Busch by a German newspaper. Busch refined the conventions of sequential art, and his work was a key influence within the form, Rudolph Dirks inspired by the strip to create ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' in 1897.<ref name="ref23"></ref>

It is around this time that Chinese form of comics, started to formalise, a process that lasted up until 1927.<ref name="Wendy"></ref> The introduction of lithographic printing methods derived from the West was a critical step in expanding the form within China during the early 20th century. Like Europe and the United States, satirical drawings were appearing in newspapers and periodicals, initially based on works from those countries. One of the first magazines of satirical cartoons was based on the United Kingdom's ''Punch'', snappily re-branded as ''"The China Punch"''.<ref name="Wendy" /> The first piece drawn by a person of Chinese nationality was ''"The Situation in the Far East"'' from Tse Tsan-Tai, printed 1899 in Japan. By the 1920s a market was established for palm-sized picture books like Lianhuanhua.<ref name="Lent">Lent, John A. [2001] (2001) Illustrating Asia: Comics, Humor Magazines, and Picture Books. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0824824717</ref>

In 1884, ''Illustrated Chips'', establishing the tradition of the British comic as an anthology periodical containing comic strips.<ref name="ref25">Sabin, 1993. pp.17-21</ref>

thumbnail|150px|[[Richard F. Outcault, creator of the influential ''R.F. Outcault's work in combining speech balloons and images on ''Hogan's Alley'' and The Yellow Kid has been credited as establishing the form and conventions of the comic strip.<ref name="ref27">Sabin, 1993. pp.133-134</ref> Although this view is being revised by current academics, who are uncovering many other works which combine speech bubbles and a multi image narrative, the popularity of Outcalt and the position of the strip in a newspaper is credited as being the driving force of the form.<ref name="ref26">Marschall, Richard (February, 1989). "Oh You Kid". ''The Comics Journal'' 127, p. 72-7</ref><ref name=Walker">Walker, Brian (2004) ''the comics: Before 1945''. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (United States). ISBN 9780810949706</ref>

==The 20th century and the mass medium==
The 1920s and 1930s saw further booms within the industry. In China a market was established for palm-sized picture books like Tintin'' newspaper strip for a comic supplement; this was successfully collected in a bound album and created a market for further such works. The same period in the United States had seen newspaper strips expand their subject matter beyond humour, with action, adventure and mystery strips launched. The collection of such material also began, with ''The Funnies'', a reprint collection of newspaper strips, published in tabloid size in 1929.

A market for such comic books soon followed, and by 1938 publishers were printing original material in the format. It was at this point that Action Comics#1 launched, with ''Superman'' as the cover feature. The popularity of the character swiftly enshrined the superhero as the defining genre of American comics, and although the genre fell out of favour in the 1950s, the 1960s saw it re-establish its domination of the form until the late 20th century.

In Japan, a country with a long tradition for illustration and whose language evolved from pictures, comics were hugely popular. Referred to as manga, the Japanese form was established after World War II by Osamu Tezuka, who expanded the page count of a work to number in the hundreds, and who developed a filmic style, heavily influenced by the Disney animations of the time. The Japanese market expanded its range to cover works in many genres, from juvenile fantasy through romance to adult fantasies. Japanese manga is typically published in large anthologies, containing several hundred pages, and the stories told have long been used as sources for adaptation into animated film. In Japan such films are referred to as anime, and many creators will work in both forms simultaneously, leading to an intrinsic linking of the two forms.

During the latter half of the 20th century comics have become a very popular item for collectors and from the 1970s American comics publishers have actively encouraged collecting and shifted a large portion of comics publishing and production to appeal directly to the collector's community.

thumb|left|[[Alan Moore, whose works have done much to popularise the medium.]]Writing in 1972, Sir Ernst Gombrich certainly felt Töpffer to have evolved a new pictorial language, that of an abbreviated art style, which worked by allowing the audience to fill in gaps with their own imagination.<ref name="ref19"></ref>

The modern double usage of the term ''comic'', as an adjective describing a genre, and a noun designating an entire medium, has been criticised as confusing and misleading. In the 1960s and 1970s, underground cartoonists used the spelling ''comix'' to distinguish their work from mainstream newspaper strips and juvenile comic books; ironically, although their work was written for an adult audience, it was usually comedic in nature as well, so the "comic" label was still appropriate.<ref name="ref37">Arnold, 2001.</ref> The term ''graphic novel'' was popularised in the late 1970s, having been coined at least two decades previous, to distance the material from this confusion.<ref name="ref38">''Var.'' (2003-4) </ref>

In the 1980s comics scholarship started to blossom in the U.S.,<ref name="ref39">Taylor, Laurie; Martin, Cathlena; & Houp, Trena (2004) </ref> and a resurgence in the popularity of comics was seen, with Frank Miller producing notable superhero works and Bill Watterson's ''Calvin & Hobbes'' being syndicated.

In 2005 Robert Crumb's work was exhibited in galleries both sides of the Atlantic, and ''The Guardian'' newspaper devoted its tabloid supplement to a week long exploration of his work and idioms.<ref name="ref40">''Var.'' (March 7-11, 2005) </ref>

==Forms==
Comics have been presented within a wide number of publishing and typographical formats, from the very short satirical or humorous content in the manner of those seen in ''The New Yorker'' or ''Private Eye'', originate from the mid nineteenth century. This form of comics is still popular, although the last few years has seen a reduction in the number of editorial cartoonists employed in the US media.<ref>Chris Lamb, [http://www.dmoma.org/lobby/exhibitions/presidentially_speaking/lamb_essay.html Save the editorial cartoonists], Feb 18, 2004. The Digital Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 2007-06-06.</ref> Although there is some dispute as to whether the cartoon constitutes a form of comics, a precursor or a related form, it has been argued that since the cartoon both combines words with image and constructs a narrative, it merits inclusion as a form of comics.

The Harvey, R.C. (1994). ''The art of the funnies: An aesthetic history''. 2000 AD'' or ''The Beano''.

===Publication formats===
Over time a number of formats have become closely associated with the form, from the comic book to the webcomic. The American comic book originated in the early part of the twentieth century, and grew from magazines which repackaged comic strips. Eventually, original material was commissioned, and the material developed from its humorous origins to encompass adventure stories, romance, war and superheroes, with the latter genre coming to dominate the comic book publishing industry in the latter parts of the twentieth century. Although referred to as comic books, these publications are actually more akin to magazines, having soft covers printed on glossy paper, with the interiors consisting of newsprint quality paper or higher grade. In Europe, magazines were always a venue for original material in the form, and such comic magazines or comic books soon grew into anthologies, in which a number of stories would be serialised. In continental Europe a market soon established itself to support collections of these strips. All of these publications are generally referred to as "comics" for short, with typical American and British comic books or magazines running 32 pages, including advertisements and letter column. (These are sometimes known as 36-page books, counting the covers.) European comic magazines have wildly varying page numbers, currently ranging mostly between 52 and 120 pages, while European comic albums traditionally had between 32 and 62 pages.

right|thumb|[[Graphic novels on display for sale in a specialist shop.]]

In the United States, when a publisher collects previously serialised stories, such a collection is commonly referred to as either a Kingdom Come'' by Tintin''' series in the 1930s. These are referred to as '''comic albums''',<ref name="ref31">Ferguson, Andrew (1999). </ref> a term which in the United States refers to anthology books. The United Kingdom has no great tradition of such collections, although during the 1980s Titan publishing launched a line collecting stories previously published in 2000 AD.

The graphic novel format is similar to typical book publishing, with works being published in both hardback and paperback editions. The term has proved a difficult one to fully define, and refers not only to fiction but also factual works, and is also used to describe collections of previously serialised works as well as original material. Some publishers will distinguish between such material, using the term "original graphic novel" for work commissioned especially for the form.

Newspaper strips also get collected, both in Europe and in the United States, and these are sometimes also referred to as graphic novels. In the UK it is traditional for the children's comics market to release comic annuals, which are hardback books containing strips, as well as text stories and puzzles and games.<ref>Ezard, John (Dec 24, 2005) "They dealt with Dan. Now Dana and Yasmin target Dennis" ''The Guardian''. p.7</ref><ref>Jones, Gwyn (Feb 18, 2006) "Beano! It's just Dandy to have an Eagle eye...". ''The Independent''. p.20</ref><ref>Brown, Michael (Dec 7, 2002) "Review: Children's history: Real life" ''The Guardian''. p.36</ref> In the United States, the comic annual was a summer publication, typically an extended comic book, with storylines often linked across a publisher's line of comics.

Internet. Many webcomics are exclusively published online, while some are published in print but maintain a web archive for either commercial or artistic reasons. With the Internet's easy access to an audience, webcomics run the gamut from traditional comic strips to graphic novels and beyond.

Webcomics are similar to self-published print comics in that almost anyone can create their own webcomic and publish it on the Web. Currently, there are thousands of webcomics available online, with some achieving popular, critical, or commercial success. ''The Perry Bible Fellowship'' is syndicated in print, while Brian Fies' ''Mom's Cancer'' won the inaugural Eisner Award for digital comics in 2005 and was subsequently collected and published in hardback.

The comics form can also be utilized to convey information in mixed media. For example, strips designed for educative or informative purposes, notably the instructions upon an airplane's safety card. These strips are generally referred to as instructional comics. The comics form is also utilized in the film and animation industry, through storyboarding. Storyboards are illustrations displayed in sequence for the purpose of visualizing an animated or live-action film.
A storyboard is essentially a large comic of the film or some section of the film produced beforehand to help the directors and cinematographers visualize the scenes and find potential problems before they occur. Often storyboards include arrows or instructions that indicate movement.

Like many other media, comics can also be photocopied and stapled or with a handmade binding. These are a common inexpensive way for those who want to make their own comics on a very small budget, with mostly informal means of distribution. A number of cartoonists have started this way and gone on to more traditional types of publishing, while other more established artists continue to produce minicomics on the side.

==Artistic medium==
===Defining comics===
''Note: Although it takes the form of a plural noun, the common usage when referring to ''comics'' as a medium is to treat it as singular.''

Scholars disagree on the definition of comics; some claim its printed format is crucial, some emphasize the interdependence of image and text, and others its sequential nature. The term as a reference to the medium has also been disputed.

thumb|100px|left|[[Will Eisner, who established the term sequential art and is considered to have popularised the balloons in sequence, particularly in comic books."<ref name="ref4"></ref> Eisner's earlier, more influential definition from 1985's ''Comics and Sequential Art'' described the technique and structure of comics as ''sequential art'', "...the arrangement of pictures or images and words to narrate a story or dramatize an idea."<ref name="ref3"></ref>