Vulgar in Design and Tawdry in Color: The Origin of Comic Books in the Platinum Age
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- Опубліковано 24 сер 2024
- Superman's debut in 1938 marks the Golden Age of Comics. But comic books existed before superheroes. This episode takes a look at the history of comic books and the Platinum Age where conventions like panel to panel storytelling and word balloons came into existence. It focuses especially on the comic strips of the 1890s through 1930s and how newspapers battled each other by trying to carry the most popular comics, like The Yellow Kid.
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“Platinum age” sounds like the most badass title for an era of something.
What about "Age of resistance"?
@@gearmachine8454 Age of the Platinum Resistance
The Palladium age
“The Renaissance”
@@gearmachine8454 not even close. I blame movies for overusing that kind of gravitas.
"Oh, hi guys. You caught me dusting off my platinum album plaques. Speaking of platinum..."
@@OnDavidsBrain "insert butt hurt remark here"
@@Chandasouk wait, when did he say a "butt hurt remark"?
What you said about billboards
Is what the next generation is gonna say about us hating and making fun of online ads
The history of newspaper comics is, strangely, almost entirely ignored by comic book fans.
This is because in the anti comic movement the activist involved seen newspaper comics as cultured and comic books as pop culture trash.
The history of comics in other countries is usually ignored too... unless it's a manga fan, then they know "all about*" Japan and nothing about their own country.
*-Ukyo-e prints started in 1600 and then in 1947 Tezuka published Treasure Island. There were no intermediate stages.
It's because such comics were either aimed politically or for juveniles. Pulp comics were popular with young men too and just predate the Golden Age. In the UK, we had many comics too from DC Thomson (my favourite one still survives: the Beano). Even our bestselling comic 2000AD isn't a superhero comic BUT very close in tone.
@@michaelmartin9022 The thing is that there's less information for comics of certain countries.
@@AA-lz4wq That's why research is important. There was precious little information about British proto-comics until 2013 when a huge new book called "From the Penny Dreadful to the Ha'penny Dreadfuller" was published, giving detailed information on the publishers and run lengths of a whole load of previously-forgotten juvenile publications in the UK. In an article about British comics I once wrote, I said the first British proto-comic came out in 1777, I was actually off by 50 years!
Okay, I can see Yellow Kid Mania flooding your artist inbox: "Chris in a nightshirt." Had no idea that Yellow Journalism was connected to the Y-Kid!
@Shill for Science lolcat can haz superior meme language status plz?
SJW will call him Racist, by saying He's a Wh*te Kid using the Wrong Color as his name.
Fun fact: The first ever comic book released was here in my home town; Glasgow, Scotland. ‘Glasgow Looking Glass’ ran from 1825-1826.
@Clark Bint Not Murican-centric enough for him.
@Clark Bint This video almost ignored the UK that started the comic industry.
@@Gambit771 Chris is a cool guy, he made a lot of episodes about non-american comics. I think it's very possible he might do one on scottish comics
@@Gambit771 Spain had "Auca", moral lessons in pictures with the text in verse, when Britian still had text-only penny dreadfuls (though I count those as part of comics too. Even Ally Sloper was at least half text). The actual origin of comics cannot be nailed down to just one country, many elements flowed together / were invented seperately in different places in a time when long-distance travel was rare.
What about William Blake's works? I guess it isn't really a comic but I think it is.
6:56 Word baloons were commonly used in European medieval art since at least Xth century (in the shape of floating ribbons or scrolls and called "banderoles" or "phylacteries" by art historians).
Clicked the link because of The Yellow Kid. I always found him to be something out of nightmares for some reason.
Love the channel by the way, I've been on a binge since it was recommended to me about two weeks ago. Keep up the awesome work!
@pippin I think the adult-sized hand-marks on his shirt were unsettling. Plus he was always just milling around on the periphery, yet no one seemed to notice him. Like he was a ghost. He reminds me of one of The Doctors in Stephen King's "Insomnia"
@pippin I'm surprised people in the US haven't tried to bring him back in 2020 to appease anyone angry about.5% of the population hoarding the majority of the country's money
All I can think of now is the Yellow Kid showing up in a modern comic book as this mysterious, eldritch being dropping unsettling hints to the other characters about the origins and nature of their reality.
Yes, the yellow kid is creepy.
It's the eyes...
...he eats your eyes.
Thank you for this episode Chris! The Platinum Age is barely talked about and it's hard to find material about it. That's amazing! I really enjoy these more historical driven episodes
I totally agree with MrBowser here, this was a really interesting video and I too love the historical driven episodes =)
Buster Brown (and his dog Tige) later became the spokesman for a children's shoe company that bears his
name that was still going strong in the '80s. Check out the old TV ads here on UA-cam.
Loved this topic, thanks Chris. You're right, the platinum and Victorian age is definitely not discussed as much as it should. Comic history is fascinating and can't wait for your Popeye review. We know it's coming eventually!
I absolutely agree with you. Windsor McCay, in particular, was a very talented visual artist well ahead of his time. His comics such as Little Nemo in Slumberland and Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend are brilliant works of art. For those looking for easy entry, I'd suggest the 1989 animated movie of Little Nemo as a sumptuous visual feast based on his intricate art. ua-cam.com/video/wRs4Y3Kzdt0/v-deo.html
@@bfdidc6604 Thanks for the link! I'm going to check it out in a few.
"Nemo journeying to slumber land to visit Morpheus The Lord of the Dreams"
Why does that sound familiar?
McCay's illustrations are ridiculously good. So full of movement and character...
Great job! I've read many books on the history of the comic strips, and was familiar with the Yellow Kid/Hogan's Alley, but this is the first time I'd seen this many samples of the strip in color, as well as in the strip format. It's also the first time I've been made aware of or seen the "comic book" collection.
Hi, would you ever do a video on the history of Popeye? Been following Comic Tropes since 2018, you're always a breath of fresh air. Your channel's really insightful, entertaining, & educational on Comics as a medium. Thank you!
Blow me down! Popeye debuted in comic strips in 1929 and cartoons were first made with him in 1933. It wasn't until 1946 that original comic books were put out with Popeye. There had been Popeye comic books before, but they generally reprinted old Newspaper Sunday pages.
Popeye part of the Platinum age of comicbooks nice.
Hey Chris! Thanks for covering one of my favorite (an oft-forgotten) eras of comics media! Your work is amongst the best comic-related media on this website and I love and respect you immensely for it. Keep up the good work and you know I'll keep reading comics!
This was by far my favorite episode that I've seen yet. That's not a knock to any of your other videos, but a huge compliment to how concise and informative this video was. Well done!
I've often wondered why the newspaper comic strip never received the Ken Burns treatment. That's a subject he really ought to pursue (I'm serious). He already did documentaries about jazz and baseball. Comics are cerainly as quintessentially American as those two things.
Agree 100% . Characters were so well known that every medium from stage plays , movies , radio and tv presented adaptations of them. Stage plays as far back as the 1920s were produced about them. The first reported cosplay was by a guy attending a masquerade party and going as Mr Skygack from Mars, a popular single panel character that has been called the first science fiction comic strip. Ken Burns would have ample research material to work with to show how comic characters have an impact on society.
YES!
@@anthonyperdue3557 I tried, about 20 years ago, to contact Burns about it, and the closest thing to a bite that I got was an e-mail from one of his associate producers. The man stated that the subject had already received a lot of coverage from other documentaians. True, but they lack Burns' unique, in-depth and intimate style.
Rachel Newstead didn't Burns do one on the civil war?!
@@richpotter Yes, he did. That one is probably his best-known.
At pity that video takes as parameter the existence of word balloons. Works like "Monsieur Jabot" (Switzerland) and "As Aventuras de Nhô-Quim" (Brazil), are both excellent examples of comics platinum age. Ah, they are, both, precedents at Yellow Kid.
Great history lesson. I have a few books on the early beginnings of our favorite hobby and it's nice to see it out there easily accessible to everybody. Thank you again for the awesome history lesson. Keep up the great work.
Yeah, this was very interesting. Pulp heroes of the early 1900s that predated Superman and Batman always interest me.
When I was a little kid, my uncle gave mee a giant collection of _Krazy Kat._ Great stuff!
Was that the 1946 hardcover collection? I found that in my grandfather's basement at age 15 and treasure it to this day. ( I have many other Krazy Kat books also,including a hardcover from 1969 and many trade-paperbacks with Krazy Kat Sunday pages.)
@@richardranke7878 It was this one: i.pinimg.com/736x/97/f0/12/97f0127ccd040b164cea87879c33efe7.jpg
The thought of a "Platinum age" of comics never occurred to me. As a kid, I remember my mom used to call my best friend & I Mutt & Jeff but had no clue what it was in reference to.
In the early 20th century in the UK there was a strip in a little kids' magazine called Pip, Squeak and Wilfred, which became the name for sets of three things as time went on. British Soldiers who survived "all of" World War one (or at least from the first major battles to the end) got three campaign medals which gained that nickname, for instance
In 1908 A.Mutt ran for the presidency and Little Jeff was his running mate. I told that to someone who replied,"We've got a Mutt & Jeff government now."
I had to read a lot of these platinum age books last semester in uni. Not what I expected from a comics course, but learning how the medium came to be was fascinating.
Great video Chris!
This episode brings back memories. I remember reading the Yellow kid comics at the public library..
I’d have to say I think this is the most interesting episode of the show as it shows the earliest stuff of comics and I learned something new
Suddenly Bill Watterson keeping such a tight lid on Calvin & Hobbes makes a lot more sense.
HashbrownMashup It does indeed. But, I bet a lot of kids would have loved to have their own Hobbes doll.
Not just comics, but this period of time indirectly led to a career working on traditional schooners. A very insightful video, thanks.
Great video! I had no idea how much of an impact the yellow kid truly had to Comics! (No Wonder he is called the KING!) Also, could you do a video on Little Nemo in Slumberland? I think you'll find his tales very interesting as well as the history behind his animated movie which I still love to this day.
YES, thank you for this. I have a few folks who've recently gotten into comics, and we've recently discussed this very topic. I wish I'd known more about it. Now I do!
Your videos on the history of comic books are always my favorite. This is one of your best episodes yet! Just the amount of research and work into this episode is incredible. I had no idea about the link between comics and the term yellow journalism. Comics really are ingrained in our society. Amazing episode!
Thanks for the video. Most people usually ignore this area in comics, and skip to the Golden age.
Your uploads just keep getting better. You are my & my fiancé’s favorite creator on here by far!
Oh hi! You've caught me wondering what "hully gee" means lol
It's the Yellow Kids way of saying 'golly gee', which is an expression of surprise. Kind of like how Homer says D'oh with disappointment.
An interesting tidbit. You referenced a magazine titled "The Funnies" and wow did it bring back something from my childhood that I have not thought of in decades. My mom loved comic books and the comics in newspapers. I have not thought of it in a long time but she always referred to comics as "funny books" and the strips in the newspapers as "The Funny Papers". This was way back in the 1960's and I now wonder if this came from "The Funnies" or if the title of the book came from the fact that they were already called this.
Another good example of how comic book culture became part of the American lexicon - thanks for sharing this.
"The Funnies" is an example of how people would make familiar certain aspects of popular culture. The moving pictures became "the movies", which evolved into "the talkies" when sound technology was added.
"The funny papers" did specifically refer to the comic strip page, but was also used jokingly to refer to the entire newspaper. Even then, people were wary of the veracity of the news, often advising each other not to believe everything they read in the papers.
The jovial farewell "see you in the funny papers" (famously used in the 1946 film "It's a Wonderful Life") is both a glad tiding that something hilariously straight out of the comic books will come your way, and a softened version of the more ominous "you see in the papers" as in you'll be involved in a crime that get your name printed in the newspapers.
Wonderful episode on what is probably the most overlooked era of comics. Check out Alan Moore's short comic 'In Pictopia' (which can be found online on several blogs): a very sad take on how all the non-superhero comics characters eventually ended up.
Caught a glimpse of Lee Falk's The Phantom - hoping for a video about him someday. He is considered the link from the pulp adventurers of the Platinum Age to the masked/caped heroes like Superman. He's also a great example of a character who has enjoyed far more popularity in countries other than the US.
The Yellow Kid was the mascot for Captain George ‘s Whizzbang in Toronto. His shop, Memory Lane, was one of the first comic shops.
This channel's content just keeps getting better and better. Hope you can do this full time and everything works out for you friend.
Thanks for such a thorough look at the early newspaper strips, I learned so much! Would love to see a show highlighting some of the great '30s and '40s adventure stories like Terry and the Pirates by Milton Caniff and Prince Valiant by Hal Foster!
Not financially able to become a Patreon supporter right now, but of all the channels I watch with any regularity, you're the one that I enjoy kicking back and watching the most, so really hope you make your goal.
In this crazy age of unpleasant weirdness online, actual global strife and concern, your channel is a genuinely nice place to chill out in.
Love the channel, thanks for all the hard work!
6:13 I was in Havana, Cuba and the lack of advertising in a major city was very striking. The only thing resembling the signage and billboards we're used to seeing everywhere was propaganda.
I'll never get over how the yellow kid inspired the yellow bastard from sin city
So the did the Yellow Kid inspire Charlie Brown?
I remember checking out some of your videos a few years back when I started developing and interest in comics. Saw this video in my recommended and I’ve been watching a ton of your videos since. I’ve become a huge fan and just wanna thank you for bringing me hours of entertainment that talks about something I love.
Your shows are always informative but I have to say it’s the kind and unpretentious manner you go about these that keep me here.
Great channel mate. No better comic book related channel on the whole of youtube. You're knowledge of comics is superhuman.
I was expecting you to stick to yellow kid, but you went far beyond my expectation by talking, among many things, about Rodolphe Töpffer and Hergé in their proper context. Thank you so much for your hard work.
Incredibly fascinating episode! I've never heard of The Yellow Kid, Buster Brown and Joe Palooka, as comic characters, before, but it's interesting just how much of an influence they had on popular culture and the overall vernacular. My grandparents would call people "big Palookas" or "Buster Browns" all the time! The Yellow Kid also looks so much like an R. Crumb character, it's actually a bit eerie...
I love your intro, the little song makes me happy!
Really nice video! Good to know there is a channel teaching people about comic books!
As a kid in the 80's, I was aware of the names "Buster Brown" and "Joe Palooka", but didn't really know what they meant.
Same here! Although I knew Palooka thanks cartoon characters using the name as insults like Popeye, Tom n Jerry and other cartoons.
I was a 70's kid & yeah, same thing.
The only time I've heard of Buster Brown was in an episode of The Simpsons. It was also in that episode they mention another comic from that era, Mutt and Jeff.
In Pulp Fiction (1994) Vincent Vega (John Travolta) dismissed Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) with the line, "You ain't my friend, Palooka". The name "Palooka" implied that Butch is an inferior boxer, and is anachronistic, since the insult can only be understood by someone from the 50s. Also, it hardly describes the comic character Joe Palooka, who is a heavyweight boxing champion.
I really enjoy your videos. Just wanted to say thanks since this is your side gig and I know you've been struggling. The deep dives into the history and culture of comics is something I for one havent seem done better anywhere on youtube.
perfect way to start my Sunday morning :)
Honestly
SUNDAY MORNING RAIN IS FALLING.
TYVM for covering the platinum age of comics as they are very rarely even known of or even mentioned. I only knew about them because of my grandparents and great uncle having told me and shown me their collections of reprints back in the 1970’s when I was a kid. Also your artworks and lessons are a positive outlet for any person who is interested in creating comics. Thank you for all your great work😀
Chris, have you ever done an episode on Henry? He seems like a character that evolved from the Yellow Kid.
Henry is a perfect example of the archetypical sequential art that is the comics. Minimalist, no word balloons, and narrates through pantomime.
congratulations on having 100K Sub!!!
I really appreciate you making this video. After discovering my ancestor wrote the Happy Hooligan comics for Hearst, I've had a huge interest in this era and believe it is underrated.
Great video. As an amateur comic historian myself, I love learning more about pre-golden age comics and the history attached. Just a suggestion for a future video, it might be cool to discuss the multiple comic book publishers over the years such as Warren, ACG, Fox, EC, Prize, Atlas, Timely, Fawcett, Charlton, Harvey, Ace, Ajax-Farrel, Avon, Better/Nedor, Comic Media, Key, St.John
Quality, Smaller, Dell , Gold Key and Atlas/Seaboard. I know you have mentioned some of these companies before in your videos but it would be very cool to have them all in some sort of chronological order. Again, your videos are a highlight of my week!
I recently read some of the earliest "Little Nemo in Slumberland" strips, and it was fascinating to see how much the process was refined over just a couple years. There was still plenty that would change, but just the change from long captions under each panel to basically no captions was an interesting development
Man this video is awesome. The details in journalism is worthy of some kind of web award
Congratulations on over 100k subscribers! Love this channel, keep doing your thing
Best episode yet! Congratulations! And here’s hoping for a followup exploring the deep history of “Popeye” you’d hinted at! Or maybe even Windsor McKay! Can’t wait to see what comes next!
A beautiful homage to the evolution of comics.
Although comics in its earliest versions have existed for centuries, the phenomenon of the American comic strip readership is unique in that it has direct ties with the changing face of America, i.e., our Immigrant legacy. This is evident in the early classics Max and Moritz (which was imported directly from the Old Country), Bringing up Father (which illustrated, often with stereotypical slant, contemporary Irish-American life), and Moon Mullins (which depicted the diverse urban population of that era).
Most notable is the lack of dialogue or word balloons in some of the early strips, relying heavily on pantomimed slapstick. For many immigrants, whom are yet to master the English language, comic strips provided the universal language of humor. I think this was also the intended jab of the Yellow Kid on wordy adverts, implying that the average comic strip reader had no use for "flowery" prose. Interestingly, whatever sparse dialogue that was provided in the comic strips became the building blocks for the evolving vocabulary of the New Americans, as many comic strip lines filtered into the English lexicon.
Popeye comes from the same state as me and that makes me proud
Popeye is a god. He didn't get cucked lol.
This is riveting. Fascinating history, particularly the etymology of yellow journalism. Thanks for all you do.
This is honestly one of the most interesting Comic Tropes videos I have ever seen. I love historical stuff like this. Thank you, Chris.
14:01 I believe Popeye was the first superhero too.... I kind of look at his sailor suit as a quasi-superhero costume (especially the red, black and blue uniform) GREAT episode!
Hey Chris,
Again another great episode. You forgot to mention that the roots of comics perhaps dates to the mid-1800's in Japan. Yes, I'm joining Patreon because this is WELL worth it.
Outcault doesn't get enough recognition. He was the first creator to develop his own original character, use him in an ongoing storyline, utilize sequential panels, and employ word balloons. A few artist did some of things previous to Outcault, but no one did ALL of them - he's the one who put it all together - and he created the term "comic book". He created two separate strips that were hugely popular, helping to ignite the comic strip craze that went on to become the comic books we know today. He was an innovator, and should get a little more love.
@ComicTropes congrats. Probably one of the best ever videos on comic books anybody can find in youtube. You really up your game with the research done for this one. After this one, the bar is too high :)
I am sure storyboarding for movies and comics are related. Am I right and if so which had the bigger influence on the other?
Theatre started it first to plan out complicated scenes. then was brought over to film as a tool to reduce costs, as you would could work out any pointless shots. Comics starting to use panels matches the rise in popularity of film and probably because the creators noticed that this would give them more room to tell stories.
Great piece. I discovered the Yellow Kid and Little Nemo, et al., as a little kid through a book called Cartoon Cavalcade. Loved it ever since. I was a little surprised to not see more on Winsor McCay. You should do a deep dive into him at some point. Nemo & Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend are masterpieces!. Solid work as always, Chris.
5:00 yeah, that looks like Cincinnati to me
Christopher Zubin It’s a real photo of Cinci from that year. Just having fun.
@@ComicTropes I am being _totally_ serious :)
not much has changed
Buster Brown also helped in the shoe industry. The Mary Jane style of shoe came from a shoe the character Mary Jane wore in the Buster Brown comics. The shoe company eventually became what is now called Calares Footwear.
So happy your doing this. Pretty much all docs start with Superman and ignore what happened before
This was such a fascinating episode! I always kinda forget comics existed as its own medium before Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman and ushered in superheros so it was really cool to learn that history
I also remember when I was high school, learning about the yellow kid and my teacher was like "he's got words on his shirt for some reason that is probably lost to time"
So glad u did this. Agreed some of the stips and artists mentioned are so innovative, and despite anachronistic humor-form (and yes regretable depictions of women, race, etc), historically and creatively they're paramount. I'd argue Segar and McKay deserve their own episodes. Kudos to taking a risk on this, and exposing younger folks who otherwise would not know about this period.
*ONE OF YOUR BEST VIDS, HANDS DOWN CT!!!*
THIS SHOULD BE YOUR HIGHEST VIEWED VID! THE TRUE TRUE ORIGINS OF COMICS
This video wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but I wanted to let you know how much I enjoy the videos you have made. I only recently discovered your channel and I have had a blast going through older videos you have made. Keep up the great work!
I can't overstate how much I love your intros.
Great video. I love all the history and I am a huge fan of the TwoMorrows Comic Chronicles series which breaks things down by decade. There is also the “Comic Book Implosion” about the DC Comics and comics in general, collapse in 1975. Super interesting stuff.
It was kinda weird hearing you say 1890 instead of 1990 lol. Another informative, fascinating episode as always.
Thanks Chris! I was not aware of this period that preceded Superman's 1938 debut.
This episode was fantastic.
On top of historical topics being inherently fascinating, your enthusiasm enhances it.
This was interesting episode, I'd love you to do episodes on Phantom, Mandrake the Magician and Flash Gordon.
I thought it was an excellent video, but then again I'm old AF, so what do I know? I used to be a huge fan of vintage comic strips... would love to see you do a video on either or both of Little Orphan Annie or Popeye!
This is fantastic, thank you! I'm a huge Windsor McCay fan, so seeing similar works and artists of the era is greatly appreciated. My only complaint is your pronunciation of Tintin!
I wonder if anyone has cosplayed as yellow kid at a comic convention.
In the 70's in San Diego there were a few Yellow kids, and in France the famous Angouleme Comic Con tthere's always a yellow kid too
@@patjanus0069 Interesting.
difficultbastard If anyone did I doubt many people would recognize the character. Not unless they are seriously into comics. It would be an easy costume though.
@Frizzurd How?
You can try and risk facing the gulag
Wow, you can really see the channel growth on how much more fan art there is lately. Congrats Chris, it couldn't happen to a better channel.
The '90s must have been the iron pyrite age of comics; it fooled a lot of speculators into thinking they were hoarding gold.
Good show! I wish you had mentioned the Clock, created by George Brenner for Comics Magazine Company. He was one of if not the first masked vigilantly in a comic book. His first appearances, (Funny Pages #6 and Funny Picture Stories #1; November 1936) are public domain now so give them a read!
I like how there is Inception in this... because you keep going deeper and deeper in the history of comics.
What an awesome episode! Great content right there!
Thanks, Chris!
I love how Chris can make amazingly informative videos like these and then immensely funny videos when he dives into tropes.
Great show today. Love comic book history. I love magazines such as Alter Ego and Back Issue and books about their history
Loved the video. Also, my all time favorite video of yours is the one about lettering. Keep doing what you like!
my grandfather used to read popeye comics and i can remember talking to him about them when i was watching the cartoons as a little kid. i would definitely watch a deeper dive into the comics of the early 1900's.
My wife thought I was listening to JP Sears, you two do sound similar 🤣 thanks for the trip down comic book history lane!
Little Nemo! I love when you cover weird, random and oft-ignored topics like this one Chris. After finding your channel a while ago it's quickly become one of my favorites!