Improve the Overstreet

[Forbush-Man]

Hi POV,

 

I am guilty of bias toward the Superhero's coming to the Comic Book, this is where the Pulp influence is greatest. The Major, a pulp writer at one time, views the media's potential for new material and begins to publish what will one day become DC Comics. He publishes work done by two teen-agers, Siegal & Shuster, who are greatly influenced by the Science Fiction they read from Pulps. The first draft of "The Superman" is in a Science Fiction fanzine (due to Science Fiction Pulps). They eventually produce "Superman" and, due to the sales of Superman, other Pulp publishers begin to publish Comic Books and establish themselves as some of the major players in the business. Pulp heroes begin to appear in Comic Book form, Pulp writers & artists begin to work in the Comic Book market. Their contributions cannot be discounted.

 

As Arnold stated, the newspaper strip, Big Little Books & the Pulps all are responsible for the Comic Book.(Hi Arnold. )

 

But to say the Newspaper Strip is the direct parent to the Comic Book without giving the Pulps due credit is IMHO a crime! They are both direct parents to The Comic Book.

 

[Forbush-Man]

,.......BUT I JUST DON"T KNOW ABOUT THAT "VICTORIAN" KRAP !!!

 

(That was for you, Arnold! You are a good sport! )

 

 

[ArnoldTBlumberg]

Who, me? I just like watching the dancing bananas!

 

 

 

[Forbush-Man]

Who, me? I just like watching the dancing bananas!

 

 

 

 

[PovertyRow]

But to say the Newspaper Strip is the direct parent to the Comic Book without giving the Pulps due credit is IMHO a crime! They are both direct parents to The Comic Book.

 

Now I never said the pulps did not influence comic books. I actually said Yes, pulps DID bring (first or second hand) the things you speak of to comic books. so no argument there.

 

But we are talking about that which makes comic books - well - comic books. And THAT is the format. The use of panels of art to be the carrier of the story.

 

I believe the term "panelologist" kind of expresses things nicely.

[PovertyRow]

The fact is that all aspects of this discussion - pulps, comic strips, Big Little Books

 

Hey Arnold - I am curious as to what you see the role of Big Little Books was to comics. Now I am not a BLB collector but read them as a kid in the 50's. My memory of them was a lot of text with some 1-page illustrations basically illustrating a piece of the text. Not unlike The Hardy Boys books etc.

 

The panels in the Big Little Books did nothing to further the story. The idea of cheap books "for the masses" was old by then: witness penny dreadfuls and pulp mags. The single panel of art was by no means new.

 

The target audience was, as I remember them, children, but comic books were not children-targeted as they were, even in the GA and before, common fodder for adults.

 

Not arguing against you but trying to understand just what the BLB brought to the scene.

 

Oh - some eye candy.

[Forbush-Man]

The fact is that all aspects of this discussion - pulps, comic strips, Big Little Books

 

Hey Arnold - I am curious as to what you see the role of Big Little Books was to comics. Now I am not a BLB collector but read them as a kid in the 50's. My memory of them was a lot of text with some 1-page illustrations basically illustrating a piece of the text. Not unlike The Hardy Boys books etc.

 

The panels in the Big Little Books did nothing to further the story. The idea of cheap books "for the masses" was old by then: witness penny dreadfuls and pulp mags. The single panel of art was by no means new.

 

The target audience was, as I remember them, children, but comic books were not children-targeted as they were, even in the GA and before, common fodder for adults.

 

Not arguing against you but trying to understand just what the BLB brought to the scene.

 

Oh - some eye candy.

 

You know, while we were going round & round on the pulps Vs Newspaper strips, I started to ask myself the same question! What was BLB's big contribution? I know they're in ther somewhere.

 

(Oh, and Arnold likes three bananas with his questions!)

 

[PovertyRow]

But to say the Newspaper Strip is the direct parent to the Comic Book without giving the Pulps due credit is IMHO a crime! They are both direct parents to The Comic Book.

 

Well, Fuelie! I thank you for that. But what happened to I'm Right and You're Wrong! ?

 

PS - just taking the opp to jerk a favorite chain!

 

Or is it chain a favorite jerk?

 

Dang yes I AM kidding on that last one. Just niticed the twist and could not resist!

[Forbush-Man]

But to say the Newspaper Strip is the direct parent to the Comic Book without giving the Pulps due credit is IMHO a crime! They are both direct parents to The Comic Book.

 

Well, Fuelie! I thank you for that. But what happened to I'm Right and You're Wrong! ?

 

PS - just taking the opp to jerk a favorite chain!

 

Or is it chain a favorite jerk?

 

Dang yes I AM kidding on that last one. Just niticed the twist and could not resist!

 

 

Actually, the "I'm Right and Your'e Wrong!" worked in both our favor, depending on who was posting at the time to take the credit!

 

Now, Who let Arnold out !?!

[PovertyRow]

Actually, the "I'm Right and Your'e Wrong!" worked in both our favor, depending on who was posting at the time to take the credit!

 

Well that was danged gracious of you to say that! You betcha!

 

And seriously? Such a debate has been just great! Helps get back to the ideas behind comics as opposed to the comics themselves!

[Forbush-Man]

Actually, the "I'm Right and Your'e Wrong!" worked in both our favor, depending on who was posting at the time to take the credit!

 

Well that was danged gracious of you to say that! You betcha!

 

And seriously? Such a debate has been just great! Helps get back to the ideas behind comics as opposed to the comics themselves!

 

You are sure correct about that! It's made me want to go back through all my reference material and do an indepth study of Pulps and Comics for 1933-1938.

I love em both!

[Forbush-Man]

Hey, did you ever get that book about ACG ?

 

Oops, I remember now that you got this book awhile back. My bad.

[PovertyRow]

Hey, did you ever get that book about ACG ?

 

Oops, I remember now that you got this book awhile back. My bad.

 

Jeeze I even did a mini-review too.

 

If you want to borrow lemme know.

[Aman619]

I couldnt read the whole thing having discovered it just tonight, BUT -- - -

 

MY umble opinion, is that Pulps and Comics are two very different animals. As POV says, comics are sequential art that uses words and pictures to tella story, words actually being unnecessary. Pulps contained short stories, plus splash page pictures. Pulps were of th eliterary tradition. Comics have different roots entirely.

 

Fuel, you seem to place inordinate importance on the fact that the Pulp publishers later published comics. Great. But that has little bearing on the 'the source of comics. That is, just because the pulp guys switchyed to comics does not mean that comics descended from pulps.

 

I cant think of the perfect analogy, but a company that starts selling a new product from theor original wares doesnrt make their original line the antecedent of the new one.

 

If this was argued out after I stioppd reading, sorry.

[Forbush-Man]

[PovertyRow]

...I cant think of the perfect analogy, but a company that starts selling a new product from theor original wares doesnrt make their original line the antecedent of the new one.

 

If this was argued out after I stioppd reading, sorry.

 

Hey aman - I alluded to this when I said So your saying that if the first automobile was manufactured by a former fountain pen maker that the fountain pen was the parfent of the automobile?

 

[ArnoldTBlumberg]

The BLBs were a parallel evolution along with the "comic book" format as we came to know it in 1930s America of taking these pop culture icons and newspaper comic strip characters and coming up with a way to deliver them to young readers in an efficient and affordable format. Where the comic book pamphlet format took things down a more visual route, BLBs went for a more verbally based approach, but both of them fed off each other by encouraging more interest and consumer activity based on popularizing cartoon, radio, film, and later TV characters, as well as cementing the notion of easily obtainable collectible artifacts that also happened to contain some fantastic stories.

 

Arnold

[Forbush-Man]

The BLBs were a parallel evolution along with the "comic book" format as we came to know it in 1930s America of taking these pop culture icons and newspaper comic strip characters and coming up with a way to deliver them to young readers in an efficient and affordable format. Where the comic book pamphlet format took things down a more visual route, BLBs went for a more verbally based approach, but both of them fed off each other by encouraging more interest and consumer activity based on popularizing cartoon, radio, film, and later TV characters, as well as cementing the notion of easily obtainable collectible artifacts that also happened to contain some fantastic stories.

 

Arnold

 

 

 

 

[Forbush-Man]

Arnold will come a running once this thread gets bumped!