The comic strip is one of the classic sections of most newspapers. It consists of a reduced number of vignettes in which a short story is told with a humorous tone.
In the two or three vignettes of a comic strip, a cartoonist (or a cartoonist and a screenwriter together) tell something about an aspect of everyday reality. There is no majority theme; It can be a strip with a political approach, of social denunciation or a satire on a current character. On the other hand, it must be taken into account that this format can also be aimed at a child audience and appear in magazines and books.
This journalistic tradition began in the 19th century in the context of the Anglo-Saxon world press (the strips are known as the comic strip). It must be borne in mind that the written press emerged historically as a genuine instrument of freedom of expression.
The comic strip can be understood as a subgenre of literature and it is worth emphasizing that it is related to other genres or creative activities: comics, graffiti, medieval blind romances, satire or popular joke.
Some features
As a general guideline, the comic strip focuses on a singular character (a superhero, a humanized animal, or a child). These comics have traditionally resorted to black and white and the use of color is a minority. Its main characteristic is the combination of two elements: the drawing and the word, dialogue being the most used form in most of the strips. The purpose of the comic strip is obvious: to provoke a smile in the reader. However, that smile has different approaches: inciting reflection on a problem, defending or censuring a position or drawing attention to a matter of general interest. In any of its variants, humor is always the core of the comic.
The success of the comic strips
If the comic strips of the 19th century have become popular throughout the world, one wonders what reasons explain this global phenomenon. Probably the format they present has a lot to do with it (the drawing reinforces the word creating a message that arouses the reader's sympathy). On the other hand, there is a direct and easy to understand communication, so a calm and slow reading is not necessary. The comic strip creates a kind of complicity between the author and the reader, the former seeks to surprise and the latter to be surprised.
Finally, we must insist on the essence of the comic strip: humor as a form of communication. Humor is more than just a resource to entertain and proof of this is its presence in all artistic manifestations (theater, cinema, painting or the circus). In this way, if there are hundreds of serious and worrying news in a newspaper, the comic strip is the only element that alters the dynamics of seriousness and gives a comic touch that contrasts with the tragedies of events, political crises or human dramas. of the daily press.
Photo: iStock - mediaphotos
