Comics

Readers were first introduced to Superman in June 1938.

The First Issue of Superman Just Became the Most Valuable Comic Book in the World

An original copy of 1938's "Action Comics No. 1" sold for a record-breaking $6 million at auction

The three-panel artwork depicts a javelin thrower, a skateboarder and a break dancer.

See a Tapestry Commissioned to Celebrate the Paris Summer Olympics

Designed by artist Marjane Satrapi, the enormous triptych depicts athletes competing around the Eiffel Tower

I thought I saw more red foliage this fall. Is that related to climate change?

Does Climate Change Affect Leaves' Fall Colors? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

“There’s something about these characters,” says department store historian Michael Lisicky. “So many of [them] are so wonderfully regional, and that’s why they’re still so powerful.” Featured characters include Uncle Mistletoe, Billie the Brownie, Christopher Candycane and Mr. Bingle.

Meet a Dozen Lesser-Known Christmas Characters, From Mr. Jingeling to Uncle Mistletoe

Created as department store marketing tools, many of these seasonal figures became beloved holiday traditions

Installation view of the Brooklyn Museum's "Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines," on view through March 2024

How Zines Brought Power to Those on the Margins of Culture

A new exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum examines zines' role in art history and community building

Steiner's comic is the most reprinted New Yorker cartoon of all time.

'New Yorker' Cartoon About a Dog on the Internet Breaks Auction Records

The iconic 1993 image by Peter Steiner just became the most valuable single-panel comic ever sold

A staff member holds a copy of Heartstopper, an LGBTQ teen romance, at Lira's shop in Budapest.

Bookstore in Hungary Will Fight Fine for Selling 'Heartstopper,' a Popular LGBTQ Graphic Novel

Officials say the bookseller broke the law by promoting the novel to minors and failing to wrap it in plastic foil

Two panels from Last on His Feet, depicting boxers Jack Johnson and Jim Jeffries

A New Graphic Novel Takes Readers Inside the Fight of the Century

The pages highlight the dramatic, racially charged match between Jack Johnson and Jim Jeffries

A little boy (Jorge Vega) who looks up to Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield) in the 2014 movie The Amazing Spider-Man 2

To Spider-Man, With Love

A new exhibition features letters children sent to the superhero’s address in Queens, where a real-life Parker family lived for decades

Robert Garcia, a newly elected congressman from California, selected several items with personal significance to use at his swearing-in ceremony.

This Congressman Was Sworn Into Office With Rare Superman Comic

California’s Robert Garcia says the superhero embodies values like truth and justice

The colorful Sunday panel published in 1987

Hand-Colored 'Calvin and Hobbes' Strip Sells for $480,000

The cheeky panel, created by Bill Watterson, was a gift to his longtime editor Lee Salem

The silver-screen version of Namor has a reimagined backstory, reigning over Talokan, a Mesoamerican-inspired underwater civilization, instead of the legendary Atlantis. 

The Mesoamerican Influences Behind Namor From 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'

The sequel to the 2018 Marvel blockbuster features a Maya-inspired antihero played by Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta

ONEPIECE by Ilan Manouach

At 21,450 Pages, the Longest Book in the World Is Impossible to Read

Ilan Manouach’s conceptual art project weighs 37.5 pounds and measures 31.5 inches long

The first two panels of "Nazi Death Parade," a six-panel comic depicting the mass murder of Jews at a Nazi concentration camp

The Holocaust-Era Comic That Brought Americans Into the Nazi Gas Chambers

In early 1945, a six-panel comic in a U.S. pamphlet offered a visceral depiction of the Third Reich's killing machine

Many superheroes are orphans. A new exhibition at the Foundling Museum in London explores how parental loss shapes their heroic trajectories. 

Why So Many Superheroes Are Orphans

A new exhibition at London's Foundling Museum explores how growing up without birth parents shapes comic book characters

With the world on the brink of destruction, three of the earliest comic book superheroes (above: an array of 1940s covers from the Smithsonian collections) joined in the war effort, hawking bonds, boosting morale and entertaining troops.

Before the Riddler, Batman's Archenemy Was Hitler

A Smithsonian collection of vintage Golden Age comic books tells a story of WWII propaganda, patriotism and support of the war effort

Belgium has launched new passport designs honoring its comic roots, such as Tintin (above) and the Smurfs.

Belgium's New Passport Spotlights Classic Comic Characters

The design features boy reporter Tintin, the Smurfs and other beloved pop culture figures

Lily Renée helped develop the Señorita Rio comic strip as one of the early woman creators in the industry.

Drawing on Their Escapes From the Nazis, These Artists Became Celebrated Cartoonists

A groundbreaking female comic book artist, a MAD magazine star and a counterfeiter-turned-illustrator share the floor in an exhibit in New York City

Smithsonian gemologist Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig) meets her colleague, Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) in Wonder Woman 1984, which was filmed at three Smithsonian museums.

How 'Wonder Woman 1984' Was Filmed at the Smithsonian

The blockbuster saw the superhero working as a museum anthropologist. But how accurate was its depiction of the Institution at the time?

The original cover design for Hergé's The Blue Lotus(1936) sold at auction for a record-breaking price on Thursday. The gouache and watercolor drawing was kept folded in a drawer for many years, and the lines where the work was folded are still visible.

Tintin Drawing Sold for €3.2 Million Is the World's Most Expensive Comic Book Art

The original cover design for Hergé's "The Blue Lotus" spent decades tucked away in a drawer

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