Guide Note:The Comic Book is a literary medium consisting of sequential art with written captions. Comics are most often sold as periodicals in specialty shops and convenience stores, with paperback and hardcover collected or anthology editions (often called "graphic novels") available in bookstores and general retailers.

Despite the name, most comics are not literally comic. Tone and subject matter in comics is as varied as any other literary form. In the United States, comics are dominated by the super-hero genre. Internationally, especially in Japan, science fiction, fantasy, crime fiction, and romance are more common.

The earliest comic book is considered to be Histoire de M. Vieux Bois by Rodolphe Töpffer, published in 1837. It was reprinted in the United States as The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck in 1842. The first comic originating in the United States was Richard F. Outcault's The Yellow Kid, which was initially released in 1897. Infrequent and irregularly published comics -- often reprints of newspaper comic strips like The Yellow Kid -- appeared in the years following, but it was the 1929 debut of Dell Publications' The Funnies that marked the beginning of regularly produced magazine-format comics.

Super-heroesThe biggest contribution of comics to Western Culture is the invention and popularization of the super-hero, a mythic archetype characterized by possession of remarkable abilities, a colorful costume, "secret identity," and high moral or nationalistic ideals. The first super-hero, Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster's Superman, appeared in 1938.

Super-hero comics, originally deemed more suitable for children than adults, inspired radio serials, some of the first television shows, hundreds of theatrical films, novels, video games, and an innumerable variety of toys and collectible merchandise. 15 of the 100 top-grossing films of all time feature properties adapted from super-hero and other comics.

Fast Facts:

1. Comic Industry Income: 600 Million (2007)
2. Major Publishers:
   1. Marvel Comics
   2. DC Comics
3. Eisner Awards, Comic Series:
   1. 2007: All Star Superman
   2. 2006: Astonishing X-Men
   3. 2005: The Goon
   4. 2004: 100 Bullets
   5. 2003: Daredevil
4. Pulitzer Prize: Maus, A Survivor's Tale (1992)
5. Noted Comics Creators:
   1. Will Eisner
   2. Joe Simon
   3. Bill Kane
   4. Jack Kirby
   5. Stan Lee
   6. Jerry Seigel
   7. Joe Shuster
   8. Alan Moore
   9. Warren Ellis
   10. Kazuo Koike
   11. Hergé

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