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Publication ofcomic strips andcomic books focusing onscience fiction became increasingly common during the early 1930s innewspapers published in the United States. They have since spread to many countries around the world.
The first science fiction comic was thegag cartoonMr. Skygack, from Mars byA.D. Condo, which debuted in newspapers in 1907.[1][2] The first non-humorous science fiction comic strip,Buck Rogers, appeared in 1929,[3] and was based on a story published that year inAmazing Stories. It was quickly followed by others in the genre, such asFlash Gordon,Brick Bradford, and the British stripDan Dare. This influence spread tocomic books, in which science fiction themes became increasingly more popular; one title wasPlanet Comics. With the introduction ofSuperman, thesuperhero genre was born, which often included science fiction elements.EC Comics had success and popularity in publishing science fiction comics of increasing complexity. However, a wave of anti-comic feeling stirred-up among parents and educators byDr. Fredric Wertham's bookSeduction of the Innocent threatened to drive them out of business.[citation needed] In spite of opposition, science fiction in comics continued in the U.S. through the 1960s with stories for children and teenagers, and began to return to the adult market again in the late 1960s with the wave ofhippyunderground comics.
In the UK, the publication ofEagle gave a platform for the launch ofDan Dare in 1950. Dan Dare and other comics in Briton at this time were aimed at children and they were printed on newsprint. Magazines on the other hand were aimed at adults and were printed on better glossier paper these magazines were mostly in black and white.[4] Starting in the mid-sixties,The Trigan Empire, drawn byDon Lawrence (who would later go on to createStorm) was featured inLook and Learn. In the 1970s, publications, such as2000 AD, featured a selection of regular stories putting a science fiction spin on popular themes,[5] like sports or war. Its success spawned a number of spin-offs in imitators likeTornado,Starlord, andCrisis, none of which lasted more than a few years, with the earlier titles being merged back into2000 AD.
The first French comic with a science fiction theme wasZig et Puce au XXIème Siècle (Zig & Puce In The 21st Century), originally serialized in a French Sunday newspaper before being published as an album in 1935; this was one of the many adventures of the teenage characters Zig and Puce first created in 1925. The first French science fiction comics story that was not geared toward the adolescent audience wasFuturopolis, serialized in the comics magazineJunior in 1937-1938; the pseudo-sequelElectropolis followed in 1940. When the Nazi occupation forces banned the import ofFlash Gordon into France,Le Rayon U (The U Ray) was created as replacement in the magazineBravo which had been running the former. Other French science fiction comics which debuted in 1943 includeOtomox, featuring a powerful robot, serialized inPic et Nic, andL'Épervier Bleu (The Blue Hawk), serialized inSpirou magazine. The first French comics magazine exclusively featuring a science fiction hero was in 1947 with the relatively short-livedRadar. A far longer lasting French comics magazine would be the small-formatMeteor, published from 1953 through 1964; its main feature wasLes Connquerants de l'espace (The Conquerors of Space). Subsequent notable French science fiction include publications likeMétal Hurlant and authors likeEnki Bilal (e.g.The Nikopol Trilogy) andMoebius.
A science fiction graphic novel is a full-length book that uses images necessarily to depict a story of a fictional nature that explores different/future time lines, theoretical societies, technology and/or both.[citation needed]
The first recorded usage of the term, according to theOxford English Dictionary (OED), is in 1978 byWill Eisner: "A contract with God: and other tenement stories... A graphic novel", though graphic novels existed for years prior. While predating the term, a graphic novel based on science fiction,Astro Boy, byOsamu Tezuka, was published in 1951, starring a childlike robotAstro Boy who was activated in the year 2003.
^Roberts, Garyn G. (2001). "Buck Rogers". In Browne, Ray B.; Browne, Pat (eds.).The Guide To United States Popular Culture. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press. p. 120.ISBN978-0-87972-821-2.
^Wade, John. The Golden Age of Science Fiction. Pen & Sword History, 2019.
^Rhoades, Shirrel (2008).A complete history of American comic books. New York. pp. 50–51.ISBN9781433101076.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
