Can you believe that comic books, as we know them today, have been in existence since 1933? Well, believe it, because it's true! That's 81 years of history right there, within the pages of every glossy funnybook or newsprint title you hold in your hands. 81 years of evolving genres, panel configurations, word balloons, genre tropes, superheroes, adaptations, stereotypes...It's been a long road to get to where we are now with comic books, and it's still not over. We're heading into a brave new world with digital title, web comics and graphic novels crowdfunded and self-published with the likes of Kickstarter. That's a long way from Famous Funnies #1 which, for the record, cost 10 cents and mostly reprinted the sorts of comic strips you got in the papers. Still, even FF #1 has its place in the pantheon of comic history, being the first magazine-length collection of comic stories, being sold on the newsstand and even being the first ongoing monthly series, eventually reaching the respectable issue number of 218, before it was relaunched as Ultimate Famous Funnies (we may have made that last bit up). So yes, a lot has happened in those intervening eight decades, but which of those events really matters? Which of them helped make comic books what they are today, which helped them evolve into the industry that's recognisable to us readers that lug around longboxes and write long and involved articles about stupid X-Men characters? We've put our historian hats on (they're like safari hats, but dustier) to explore the archives and put together this potted history of the contemporary comic book, in order of importance. If there's anything we've missed, let us know in the comments! In the meantime, let's get educate. Because whatever you say, yes you do need some education. To cease those double negatives, at the very least.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
