CHAPTER 1
Where do comics come from? Ancient cave paintings in Font-de-Gaume, France, are some of the oldest paintings that we can still see. They are more than 14,000 years old. Sometime in the far past, the first human artists decided to tell stories of dreams and hunting by painting representations of things on the walls of the cave.
The artists used simple lines to represent what they saw in the world and in their dreams. Humans on cave walls look a lot like the stick figures of today. Other animals are easy to recognize, such as reindeer and saber-toothed tigers.
WORDS TO KNOW
representation: showing things in pictures or other forms of art.
THESE PAINTINGS DON’T JUST SHOW PEOPLE AND ANIMALS STANDING STILL—THEY TELL A STORY.
The humans are often shown hunting, throwing spears, and running. It’s easy to imagine the artists sharing their stories with members of their tribe, pointing at these moments in the action to illustrate their story.
Until humans invented writing, most stories were passed along orally. The stories of the cave paintings of Font-de-Gaume were told to generation after generation, long after the original artists and storytellers had died. These paintings are some of the first examples of humans using images to tell a story!
WORDS TO KNOW
tribe: a large group of people with common ancestors and customs.
ancestor: someone from your family who lived before you.
custom: a way of living and doing things, such as food and dress.
orally: spoken out loud.
generation: all the people born around the same time.
indigenous: native.
depict: to create a representation of something experienced or seen.
symbol: a physical representation of a thing or idea.
spiritual: religious, relating to the soul or spirit.
MODERN DAY CAVE PAINTINGS
In Australia, many tribes of indigenous people use representational paintings to tell their stories. These stories often depict the dream countries claimed by each tribe. Using symbols for animals, rivers, trees, and rocks, the artists pass along the stories of their tribe to each generation. They also use their paintings when meeting with members of other tribes who have stories of their own. Most tribes use symbols from these dream paintings to distinguish themselves. By studying these dream country paintings, we can better understand how early humans used pictures to represent the spiritual dreams of their tribes as well as actual events in their lives.
ANCIENT EGYPT
The Egyptian empire (3050–332 BCE) was one of the most powerful and advanced civilizations in the ancient world. It was famous for its monuments, such as the Sphinx and the Great Pyramids of Giza. We know more about the Egyptians than many other civilizations because they loved to tell stories about themselves. These stories included words and pictures!
The ancient Egyptians began to develop a pictographic language around 4000 BCE. A pictographic language is one that uses common images and sounds to help form words. Their letters look like the things they describe.
WORDS TO KNOW
BCE: put after a date, BCE stands for Before Common Era and counts down to zero. CE stands for Common Era and counts up from zero. These non-religious terms correspond to BC and AD. This book was published in 2014 CE.
civilization: a community of people that is advanced in art, science, and government.
community: a group of people who live in the same area.
monument: a building, structure, or statue that is special because it honors an event or person, or because it is beautiful.
pictographic: a picture of a word or idea.
The term for this Egyptian form of written language is hieroglyphics. If you were to look at hieroglyphics you would see birds, eyes, snakes, and many other familiar images.
WHEN ANCIENT EGYPTIANS COMBINED THESE SYMBOLS THEY FORMED WORDS AND SENTENCES.
Egyptians loved to use hieroglyphics on the walls and pillars of their buildings. They told stories using images too. One reason we know so much about how Egyptians mummified their pharaohs is because of these ancient “comics.”
Egyptians often told the stories of their pharaohs inside their tombs. These stories were read in sequence and had images to help the viewer understand what was happening. The process of mummification was usually depicted, showing how the body was prepared for the afterlife. Mummification began with cleaning the body and removing the organs and ended with wrapping the body and placing it in a sarcophagus.
WORDS TO KNOW
hieroglyphics: a writing system that uses pictures and symbols called hieroglyphs (or just glyphs) to represent words and ideas.
mummify: to preserve a dead body so it doesn’t decay.
preserve: to keep something from rotting.
decay: to rot.
pharaoh: the title for ancient Egyptian kings or rulers.
tomb: a room or place where a dead person is buried.
process: an activity that takes several steps to complete.
afterlife: the ancient Egyptian belief in life after death.
sarcophagus: a large, stone box containing an Egyptian king’s coffin and mummy.
MAYA: CREATORS OF THE FIRST COMIC BOOK
It may be a stretch to compare a Maya codex to a comic book, but the similarities are there. The Maya codices were created between 200 and 900 CE by the Maya people. Hundreds of years later, many experts are working to decode the Mayan written language. Thanks to the Maya codices and other artifacts, we are able to understand many things about their civilization.
The codices are brightly colored and use the inner bark of wild fig trees as paper. Some are the size of modern books with the pages folded together to be read. Other codices unfold into huge stories that could easily cover a wall. Each codex used words and pictures to tell stories about the Maya people.
One of the most common themes in the Maya codices is the stars. The Maya were famous for their ancient astrologers, who recorded the movements of the stars to help the Maya figure out the best time to do things. For example, the movement of the planet Venus was used by Maya astrologers to help their rulers decide when to go to war.
THE WORD “MAYAN” REFERS TO THE LANGUAGE OF THE MAYA PEOPLE. THE WORD “MAYA” IS USED TO DESCRIBE EVERYTHING ELSE.
WORDS TO KNOW
codex: another name for a book. Plural is codices.
artifact: an object made by people in the past, including tools, pottery, and jewelry.
astrologer: a person who studies how the movements of the sun, moon, and planets affect humans.
Modern astronomers study the observations recorded in the Maya codices. It helps them understand events that happened in the ancient night sky!
The largest Maya codex is known as the Madrid Codex. It is one of the most complete codices we have from the Maya people. The book was probably written by more than eight scribes.
While the Mayan written language is still a mystery, the way the images are presented in sequence have helped modern archaeologists understand what they were trying to say. The Madrid Codex contains many astronomical observations, just like the other codices, but it also shows religious rituals, how to keep bees, and the art of Maya weaving.
WORDS TO KNOW
astronomer: a person who studies objects in the sky, such as stars and planets.
observation: something you notice.
scribe: a person who copies writings by hand.
archaeologist: a scientist who studies ancient people through the objects they left behind.
ritual: something done as part of a religion.
TAPESTRIES: COVER YOUR WALLS IN STORIES
In Europe during the Middle Ages (350– 1450 CE), lords and kings lived in huge drafty castles made of stone. To help keep the castles warm and to tell tales of brave royal family members, the walls were covered in brightly colored tapestries.
The second-earliest known European tapestry is 1,000 years old and is called the Cloth of St. Gereon. It shows bulls and griffins fighting, but no clear story. One of the earliest known tapestries to depict a story is from the cathedral of Halberstadt in Germany. It was made in 1175 and tells a story from the Bible.
TAPESTRIES BECAME MORE AND MORE DETAILED AS WEAVERS LEARNED NEW TECHNIQUES.
Many tapestries made for castles tell stories of the kings, lords, and knights who lived there. They tell stories without words and show scenes of war and daring. In many ways they look like modern superhero comics.
WORDS TO KNOW
tapestry: a colorful, woven fabric that hangs on a wall. It often shows a scene.
cathedral: a large important church.
You can follow the story of St. George fighting a dragon or see King Charlemagne battle invading armies in Spain. Few tapestries have words on them, and even fewer show the lives of common people. Unlike the Maya codices, medieval tapestries focus only on the lives of the wealthiest people.
One of the largest and most detailed tapestries is the Bayeux Tapestry. It is 230 feet long and 20 inches tall (70 meters by 51 centimeters). The tapestry tells the story of the Norman invasion of England in 1066 CE by William the Conqueror. Told from left to right, the story gives details about the battles and struggles that resulted in the fall of King Harold of England. Some scholars think he was the basis for King Arthur.
The visual storytelling in tapestries helped inspire the artists behind the next evolution of comics. Enter the broadsheet!
WORDS TO KNOW
medieval: describes the Middle Ages, the period of European history after the fall of the Roman Empire, from about 350 to 1450 CE.
WHERE DID “CARTOON” COME FROM?
During the Renaissance (1300s–1600s CE), many master painters created large paintings on ceilings and walls called frescoes. These paintings were so enormous that a single artist couldn’t do all the work. The process of creating these masterpieces led to the invention of the terms cartoon and cartoonist.
Michelangelo began the process by sketching out a pencil or charcoal version of the complete painting. The sketched images had to be much smaller than they would be on the finished wall or ceiling. He would then hire other artists to help him paint the work on the wall. These hired artists drew larger versions of Michelangelo’s sketch on big pieces of cardboard. These cardboard drawings, or carta, were used as models for the fullsized image on the wall.
Afterward, the cardboard drawings were thrown away or reused. The artists who did this work called their drawings “cartone,” which would come to be known as cartoons today.
WORDS TO KNOW
Renaissance: a period of time in Europe after the Middle Ages, from the 1300s to the 1600s.
GET YOUR BROADSHEET
Humans have always loved stories with pictures. Until the invention of the European movable type printing press in 1430 by Johannes Gutenberg, books were all written and copied by hand. The only places that had books were castles and cathedrals. Most people couldn’t even read!
But people loved to sketch funny scenes on scraps of paper or on walls. Someone with a funny drawing to share had to pass around the original or have someone copy the drawing by hand. This made telling stories through writing or drawing really time consuming.
Then came the printing press. The first book to be printed on Gutenberg’s new press was the Bible. Gutenberg began to print picture stories too, known as broadsides. Broadsides got their name from being printed on one side of a large sheet of paper. They were then either folded and passed around or plastered like a poster on a door or in a town square for everyone to see. Broadsides were fairly cheap to make and very popular.
SINCE MOST PEOPLE DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO READ, MOST BROADSIDES WERE PRINTED LIKE COMICS.
WORDS TO KNOW
printing press: a machine that presses inked type onto paper.
Broadsides often told stories from the Bible or showed the martyrdom of a saint. They used the visual storytelling found in the tapestries of the rich, but told stories anyone could enjoy.
Broadsides eventually became broadsheets, the early form of what we know as newspapers. As more and more people became literate, the pages of broadsheets were filled with words. Eventually, the picture stories were pushed into smaller and smaller spaces on the page.
THROUGH BROADSHEETS, THE MODERN political cartoon WAS BORN.
WORDS TO KNOW
martyrdom: the death of a person for his or her beliefs.
saint: a Catholic Christian who has performed miracles as confirmed by the pope.
literate: having the ability to read.
political cartoon: a comical or critical depiction of a political figure or event.
pamphlet: an informative book or brochure.
American Revolution: the war during which the 13 American colonies fought England for independence. It lasted from 1775 to 1783.
Boston Massacre: a riot in Boston that took place on March 5, 1770. Five colonists were shot and killed by British soldiers.
THE COMICS ARE COMING!
Broadsheets were popular throughout Europe and the American colonies. Printers had power because they could make pamphlets and broadsheets containing new and different ideas. One of the most famous illustrations printed in a broadsheet before the American Revolution was one of the Boston Massacre, drawn by Paul Revere. The drawing shows British troops opening fire on unarmed Boston colonists. If you were a colonist, how would this picture make you feel?
The cartoon doesn’t tell the whole story of what happened, but Revere’s image was burned into the minds of American colonists. The American Revolution may not have happened if it wasn’t for these brave printers and the work of their presses.
Paul Revere continued to make political cartoons and sketches during the American Revolution. He wasn’t the only American cartoonist to create political drawings during this time, but his were among the most popular.
Political comics are usually shown in a single panel and use exaggeration and symbols to tell their stories. Often they are meant to influence their readers’ thoughts about a political party or country. Paul Revere found that if he showed the British as the bad guys in his comics, he could get more Americans on the side of the revolutionaries.
American newspapers continued to print political cartoons after the revolution. Instead of the British, the bad guys in the comics were whomever the artist disagreed with. This could even include the president.
PAMPHLETS AND BROADSHEETS OFTEN EMPLOYED ARTISTS TO CREATE DRAWINGS THAT INFLUENCED THEIR READERS TO ACTION.
WORDS TO KNOW
revolutionary: someone committed to fighting a ruler or political system.
PAUL REVERE: PATRIOT CARTOONIST
Paul Revere was made famous by the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride.” We all know the famous ride Paul Revere took through the Massachusetts countryside to warn everyone by calling, “The British are coming! The British are coming!” What many of us don’t know is that Paul Revere was also one of America’s first cartoonists.
WORDS TO KNOW
content: the written material and illustrations in a story, article, book, or website.
A famous silversmith in Boston, Paul Revere often doodled funny drawings on scraps of paper in his spare time. He was known as a supporter of independence who met with other revolutionaries to plot how they could get the British out of the colonies. His skills as a doodler were needed when revolutionary broadsheet printers wanted to include more visual content for their readers.
Besides the Boston Massacre, Paul Revere drew comics during the American Revolution that depicted the British soldiers, the colonists loyal to the king, and the king himself as bad guys. The single panel form was Paul Revere’s favorite way of making his drawings. He was one of the first American cartoonists to use a form of the word balloon. Characters were shown to “talk” with ribbons of words coming out of their mouths.
JAPANESE MANGA
In 1812, a Japanese artist named Hokusai began creating sketchbooks he called manga. These quick drawings often told stories of traditional Japanese life, from local fishermen to powerful military leaders called shoguns. Hokusai drew very quickly and captured the movement and expression of people going about their everyday lives. He saw his sketchbooks as a good way to develop skills for his full-time job creating stories on tapestries, scrolls, and silk divider screens.
Artists employed by his studio were required to make their own manga using Hokusai’s techniques. Hokusai’s drawings were kept and passed on to other Japanese artists, influencing the development of Japanese comics.
Today, Japan has one of the most lively comics cultures. Comics are made about everything, from funny stories to serious lessons about doing business.
HOKUSAI’S NAME FOR HIS DRAWINGS ARE WHAT THE PEOPLE OF JAPAN CALL COMICS TODAY—MANGA.
WORDS TO KNOW
manga: a term for Japanese-style comics.
culture: the beliefs and way of life of a group of people.
SIDEWALK CAVE PAINTING
SUPPLIES: long dry sidewalk, colored chalk
Ancient humans used simple drawings on cave walls to tell stories about hunting, dreams, and daily activities. You can draw stories just like the ancient cave people!
1Think of a story from your life you would like to tell a friend. Did your family go on a special vacation or a fun adventure?
2Break your story down into sections. It should have at least three sections: a beginning, middle, and end. Your story might have more. A story about learning to ride a bike might have five sections. Can you think what they would be?
3Find a length of sidewalk with as many spaces as you have sections. If your story has five sections, you will need five sidewalk spaces.
4Starting with the first sidewalk space on the left, use the chalk and begin to draw your story. You can use stick figures and simple drawings to show what is happening. Continue drawing your story on the other spaces of sidewalk.
TRY THIS! How could you tell stories like this using different materials? What if you were on a beach or in the snow? What’s the longest story you could tell? Try getting some friends to tell a story together. Have each person add a different detail to each section and take turns telling the story to each other.
MANGA-STYLE SKETCHBOOK
SUPPLIES: several sheets of 6-by-12-inch (15-by-30-centimeter) white paper, stapler, glue, 2 squares cut from cereal boxes each 6 by 6 inches (15 by 15 centimeters), 1 sheet of 8-by-14-inch (20-by-36-centimeter) colored paper, markers
Hokusai made sketchbooks and filled them with drawings of what he saw each day. You can make your own manga-style sketchbook.
1Stack the white paper. Fold the stack in half to make a square, unfold, and put three staples along the fold.
2Glue the cardboard squares to each side of the colored paper. Leave ¼ inch (½ centimeter) of space between them. Fold the excess paper around the cardboard and glue it down.
3Glue the first and last pages of your stapled pages to the left- and right-hand cardboard squares so that the glued edges are covered.
4Decorate the cover. Add a title and the date you start. You can make more sketchbooks as you fill them up, numbering each as you go. Include a start and finish date on each cover.
TRY THIS! Can you make sketchbooks in different shapes? Try using different colors of paper for the cover and different types of cardboard to make your cover more durable! How would you make a pocket-sized sketchbook?
DRAW LIKE AN EGYPTIAN!
SUPPLIES: paper, pencils, blue painter tape, large pieces of cardboard, scissors, paint, paintbrushes
The ancient Egyptians loved to tell stories about everything their civilization did! They used the walls of their pyramids, palaces, and temples to tell their tales. Popular themes were palace life, beliefs, and even farming! Follow in their footsteps and use words and drawings to tell future generations about something you do everyday!
1Think about something you do every day that takes several steps to complete, such as getting ready for school. On a piece of paper, draw out the steps, starting on the left side. If you need more space, tape on another piece of paper until you have finished with your steps.
2Cut up the cardboard boxes into large pieces of cardboard. Find an empty wall where you can tape up your pieces of cardboard. Make sure there is room to fit everything you drew on the paper. If you needed to use more than one piece of paper in step one, make sure you use at least that many pieces of cardboard on the wall.
3Just like the early cartoonists of the Renaissance, draw big versions of your steps on the cardboard. Use words above your images to tell your audience what is happening in that step. For example, if you drew yourself putting on your shoes you might write, “put on shoes, tighten Velcro straps.”
4After you have drawn large versions of all of your steps, go through and add color with your paint. You now have a step-by-step record of something you do every day!
THE ROSETTA STONE
The Rosetta Stone was a carved tablet that translated hieroglyphics into other known ancient languages. Long before the Rosetta Stone was discovered, archaeologists were able to understand a lot about the Egyptian people because of their use of images in sequence. While they were still closer to ancient cave paintings than they were to the modern comic strip, these Egyptian stories were another step to what we now know as comics! But, as you’ve seen, the ancient Egyptians weren’t the only ancient civilization to use images in sequence to tell important stories.
WORDS TO KNOW
Rosetta Stone: a stone tablet written in 196 BCE telling the same decree using hieroglyphics, Egyptian Demotic script, and ancient Greek. The stone was fully translated in 1822, leading specialists to understand hieroglyphics better in the nineteenth century.