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Article:
How Did the Comic Book Get Its Start? by: Dave Gieber The origins of the comic book are somewhat controversial and perhaps the jury is still out. So lets go back to the cartoonish broadsheets of the Middle Ages, which were parchment products, created by anonymous woodcutters. As mass circulation of these broadsheets became possible, they soon developed a market, particularly at public executions, popular events for centuries (ugh), which drew thousands of happy spectators. Many of these spectators would invest in an artist's rendering of a hanging or burning, and thus making a very lucky day for the broadsheet seller. The broadsheet evolved into higher-level content as humor was introduced. Eventually, all types of broadsheets emerged, which were eventually bound in collections, the prototype of the modern magazine. Magazines formatted like the popular Punch, an elegant British creation, became the primary focus of documentary accounts of news and events, fiction and humor. One can see in Punch, the sophisticated evolution of a comic style, particularly in respect of the evolution of comics in Great Britain. Still and all, from an historical standpoint, the comic strip stood in the alley, waiting to be born. And then some say Great Britain's Ally Sloper's 'Half Alley' was the first comic book. This was a black and white tabloid that had panels of cartoons mixed with a sliver of news; circa 1884. Now while all this was going on in Great Britain, this inching towards the comic book, the United States had its own brand of evolution. Instead of magazines, US newspapers took the lead in creating the comic book industry. Newspapers, with their first steps, took their single image gags and evolved them into multi-paneled comic strips. It was during this period that William Randolph Hearst scored a knockout with the Yellow Kid, which was actually printed in yellow ink. So where did the actual comic book begin? Some say it was with reprints of Carl Schultz' Foxy Grandpa, from 1901 to 1905. Although others say it was Great Britain's Ally Sloper's Half Alley. In '1902
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