Video Games

A lot of comic books have now been made into video games. Some are good and some are just bad. The best being Freedom Force and the worst being Superman 64.

To the Big Screen

Comic books have been for long been made into movies and have done pretty well. Some are Spiderman, Batman, Superman, The Hulk, Iron Man, Fantastic Four, Captain America, Hellboy, Punisher, and X-Men.

DC Comics

Founded in 1934 as National Allied Publications, the company that would one day become DC Comics virtually created the comic book, publishing the first comic of all original material. Then, in the spring of 1938, the first super hero story appeared in Action Comics #1, introducing Superman. Other soon-to-be icons would follow, including Batman,Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash and many others.

Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics was originally founded in 1939 and was then known as Timely Comics. With World War II Timely introduced what would be a mega-hit, Captain America. Captain America and other Timely heroes of this time were often confronting Nazis and other worldwide evil and enemies. During the 1950s Timely became known as Atlas Comics. Following this period, super heroes began a major reemergence into the comic book scene. The Silver Age featured bright, exciting new artwork and creative story lines. Comic books surged in popularity and Marvel Comic books emerged from its ashes. Stan Lee introduced the Fantastic Four in 1961, following a path paved by DC Comics and their own super heroes. Superman, the Hulk, X-Men and Iron Man were all created in subsequent years and would of course go on to great critical acclaim and long lasting popularity.

Brenda Starr

On June 19, 1940, "Brenda Starr" the first cartoon strip written by a woman was published in Chicago.

Richard Outcault

The 1895 "Yellow Kid" created by Richard Outcault has often been cited as being the first comic strip. The reason being is that Richard Outcault was the first artist to use the balloon, an outlined space on the page where what the characters spoke was written.

Wilhelm Bush

In 1859, German poet and artist,Wilhelm Bush published caricatures in the newspaper Fliegende Blätter. In 1865, he published a famous comic called "Max und Moritz".

Rudolphe Topffer

In 1827, Switzerland's Rudolphe Topffer created a comic strip and continued on to publish seven graphic novels. In 1837, "The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck" was published by Rudolphe Töpffer and it is considered the earliest known comic book. In 1842, "The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck" became the first comic book published in the United States. "Obadiah Oldbuck" was a forty page book. Each page had several picture panels with accompanying text underneath.