Editing Science fiction comics

{{Short description|Comic genre}}
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{{Infobox literary genre
| name              = Science fiction comics
| stylistic_origins = 
| cultural_origins  = 
| features          = 
| popularity        = 
| formats           = 
| authors           =
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| subgenres         = {{plainlist|
*[[:Category:Biopunk comics|Biopunk comics]]
*[[:Category:Cyberpunk comics|Cyberpunk comics]]
*[[:Category:Military science fiction comics|Military science fiction comics]]
*[[:Category:Post-apocalyptic comics|Post-apocalyptic comics]]
*[[:Category:Steampunk comics|Steampunk comics]]}}
| relatedgenres     = 
| regional_scenes   = 
| local_scenes      = 
| other_topics      = [[Science fiction magazine]]
}}
Publication of [[comic strips]] and [[comic books]] focusing on [[science fiction]] became increasingly common during the early 1930s in [[newspapers]] published in the United States. They have since spread to many countries around the world.

==History==
The first science fiction comic was the [[gag cartoon]] ''[[Mr. Skygack, from Mars]]'' by [[A.D. Condo]], which debuted in newspapers in 1907.<ref name="veach20100928">{{cite web | url=http://filsonhistorical.org/2010/09/28/mr-skygak-from-mars/ | title=Mr. Skygack, From Mars. | publisher=The Filson Historical Society | date=2010-09-28 | access-date=16 September 2013 | author=Veach, Michael}}</ref><ref name="holmes20120831">{{cite web | url=http://www.barnaclepress.com/mr-skygack-the-first-sci-fi-comic/ | title=MR. SKYGACK: SCI-FI COMICS START HERE! | publisher=Barnacle Press | date=2012-08-31 | access-date=16 September 2013 | author=Holmes!}}</ref> The first non-humorous science fiction comic strip, ''[[Buck Rogers]]'', appeared in 1929, 
<ref name="guide">{{Cite encyclopedia|author=Roberts, Garyn G. |year=2001 |title=Buck Rogers |editor=Browne, Ray B. |editor2=Browne, Pat |encyclopedia=The Guide To United States Popular Culture |location=Bowling Green, Ohio |publisher=Bowling Green State University Popular Press |page=120 |isbn=978-0-87972-821-2}}</ref> and was based on a story published that year in [[Amazing Stories]]. It was quickly followed by others in the genre, such as ''[[Flash Gordon]]'', ''[[Brick Bradford]]'', and the British strip ''[[Dan Dare]]''. This influence spread to [[comic book]]s, in which science fiction themes became increasingly more popular; one  title was ''[[Planet Comics]]''. With the introduction of ''[[Superman]]'', the [[superhero]] 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 by [[Fredric Wertham|Dr. Fredric Wertham]]'s book ''[[Seduction of the Innocent]]'' threatened to drive them out of business. {{Citation needed|date=November 2016}} 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 of [[hippy]] [[underground comics]].

=== Japan ===
Japanese [[manga]] also featured science fiction elements. In the 1950s, [[Osamu Tezuka]]'s ''[[Astro Boy]]'' was one of the first major manga that centered around science fiction. In the following decades, many other creators and works would follow, including [[Leiji Matsumoto]] (e.g. ''[[Galaxy Express 999]]''), [[Katsuhiro Otomo]] (e.g. ''[[Akira (manga)|Akira]]'') and [[Masamune Shirow]] (e.g. ''[[Appleseed (manga)|Appleseed]]'' and ''[[Ghost in the Shell]]'').

=== United Kingdom ===
In the UK, the publication of ''[[Eagle (comic)|Eagle]]'' gave a platform for the launch of [[Dan 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.<ref>Wade, John. The Golden Age of Science Fiction. Pen &amp; Sword History, 2019. </ref> Starting in the mid-sixties, ''[[The Trigan Empire]]'', drawn by [[Don Lawrence]] (who would later go on to create [[Storm (Don Lawrence)|''Storm'']]) was featured in ''[[Look and Learn]].'' In the 1970s, publications, such as ''[[2000 AD (comics)|2000 AD]]'', featured a selection of regular stories putting a science fiction spin on popular themes,<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Paul |last= Gravett |author-link=Paul Gravett |url=http://www.paulgravett.com/articles/064_nostalgia/064_nostalgia.htm |title=Great British Comics: Nostalgia Ain't What It Used To Be |quote=''[[Action (comics)|Action]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s topicality and extreme images sparked a media furore and distributor crackdown, but from its ashes arose ''2000AD'', the same themes transposed into the 'fantasy' future of science fiction but as dark and disturbing as ever. |magazine=[[Comics International]] |year=2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220194319/http://paulgravett.com/articles/064_nostalgia/064_nostalgia.htm |archive-date=20 February 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> like sports or war. Its success spawned a number of spin-offs in imitators like ''[[Tornado (comic)|Tornado]]'', ''[[Starlord (comics)|Starlord]]'', and ''[[Crisis (Fleetway)|Crisis]]'', none of which lasted more than a few years, with the earlier titles being merged back into ''2000 AD''.

=== France ===
The first French comic with a science fiction theme was ''[[Zig 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 was ''Futuropolis'', serialized in the comics magazine ''[[Junior (French magazine)|Junior]]'' in 1937-1938; the pseudo-sequel ''[[Electropolis]]'' followed in 1940. When the Nazi occupation forces banned the import of ''Flash Gordon'' into France, ''[[Le Rayon U]]'' (The U Ray) was created as replacement in the magazine ''[[Bravo (Belgian magazine)|Bravo]]'' which had been running the former. Other French science fiction comics which debuted in 1943 include ''[[Otomox]]'', featuring a powerful robot, serialized in ''[[Pic et Nic]]'', and ''[[L'Épervier Bleu]]'' (The Blue Hawk), serialized in ''[[Spirou (magazine)|Spirou]]'' magazine. The first French comics magazine exclusively featuring a science fiction hero was in 1947 with the relatively short-lived ''[[Radar (French magazine)|Radar]]''. A far longer lasting French comics magazine would be the small-format ''[[Meteor (magazine)|Meteor]]'', published from 1953 through 1964; its main feature was ''[[Les Connquerants de l'espace]]'' (The Conquerors of Space). Subsequent notable French science fiction include publications like ''[[Métal Hurlant]]'' and authors like [[Enki Bilal]] (e.g. [[The Nikopol Trilogy]]) and [[Jean Giraud|Moebius]].

=== Webcomics ===
With the invention of the Internet, a number of science fiction comics have been published primarily online. Among the earliest science fiction [[webcomic]]s was ''[[Polymer City Chronicles]]'', which first appeared in 1994. Other notable comics include ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'', and ''[[Starslip Crisis]]''. {{Citation needed|date=November 2016}}

==Graphic novels==
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|date=November 2016}}

The first recorded usage of the term, according to the [[Oxford English Dictionary]] (OED), is in 1978 by [[Will 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'', by [[Osamu Tezuka]], was published in 1951, starring a childlike robot [[Astro Boy]] who was activated in the year 2003.

==List of science fiction comic books==
The following list is based on ''A complete history of American comic books''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rhoades |first1=Shirrel |title=A complete history of American comic books |date=2008 |location=New York |isbn=9781433101076 |pages=50–51}}</ref>

* [[Planet Comics]] (1940)
* [[Weird Fantasy]] (1950)
* [[Weird Science (comics)|Weird Science]] (1950)
* [[Strange Adventures]] (1950)
* [[Strange Worlds (Avon Comics)|Strange Worlds]] (1950)
* Flying Saucers (1950)
* [[Mystery in Space]] (1951)
* [[House of Mystery]] (1951)
* Weird Thrillers (1951)
* Earthman on Venus (1951)
* Space Detective (1951)
* [[Space Adventures (comics)|Space Adventures]] (1952)
* Space Busters (1952)
* Space Western Comics (1952)
* Mysteries and Unexplored Words (1956)
* Alarming Tales (1957)
* Outer Space (1958)
* Race for the Moon (1958)
* [[Tales to Astonish]] (1959)
* Space Man (1962)
* Outer Limits (1964)
* [[The Trigan Empire]] (1965)
* [[Star Trek (comics)|Star Trek]] (1967)
* Outer Space (1968)
* UFO Flying Saucers (1968)
* [[Planet of the Apes (comics)|Planet of the Apes]] (1968)
* [[Worlds Unknown]] (1973)
* [[Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction]] (1975)
* [[List_of_Space:_1999_books_and_other_media#Comics|Space: 1999]] (1975)
* [[Doomsday + 1]] (1975)
* [[Star Reach]] (1975)
* Imagine (1976)
* Starstream (1976)
* [[2001: A Space Odyssey (comics)|2001: A Space Odyssey]] (1976)
* [[2000 AD (comics)|2000 AD]] (1977)
* [[Heavy Metal (magazine)|Heavy Metal]] (1977)
* [[Star Wars comics|Star Wars]] (1977)
* Space War (1978)
* [[Micronauts (comics)|Micronauts]] (1979)
* [[Starblazer]] (1979)
* [[Alien Encounters (comics)|Alien Encounters]] (1981)
* [[Alien Worlds]] (1985)
* [[The Men in Black (comics)|Men in Black]] (1990)

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |title=Science Fiction Comics: The Illustrated History |last=Benton |first=Mike |year=1992 |publisher=Taylor Publishing |series=Taylor History of Comics |isbn=0-87833-789-X |pages=153 }}

==External links==
*[http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/comics Comics] on The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

{{Comics}}
{{science fiction}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Science fiction comics| ]]
[[Category:Comics genres]]