How Did the Comic Book Get Its Start?

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.

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