comic strip
noun /ˈkɒmɪk strɪp/
/ˈkɑːmɪk strɪp/
(also cartoon)
(British English also strip cartoon)
(North American English also strip)
- a series of drawings inside boxes that tell a story and are often published in newspapers
- He draws comic strips for ‘The Guardian’.
Culture comics and comic stripscomics and comic stripsA comic in the US means a comic strip or strip cartoon. Comic strips are a series of small drawings, called frames, with words that tell a story. Most US newspapers contain comic strips that are read by both adults and children. On Mondays to Saturdays they are usually four frames long, printed in black and white. On Sundays they are longer and in colour. Comic strips are also popular in British newspapers. Many can be found on the internet.Most comic strips make jokes about the characters in them and the things that happen to them. For instance, in the Peanuts comic strips (1950-2000) many of the jokes are about Charlie Brown, who has very bad luck, and his friend Lucy, who is not kind to him. In Calvin and Hobbes (1985-1995) , the humour comes from the relationship between a boy and his imaginary friend, a toy tiger. Comic strips in British newspapers include Andy Capp and The Perishers. In the US, Dilbert is about life in the office while Doonesburycomments on political situations through its characters. Most newspapers also print single frames that comment in a humorous way on politicians and other people in the news. These are known as cartoons.In Britain a comic is a picture magazine, usually for children. Comics contain short stories written as comic strips, and sometimes also competitions and articles. Popular children's comics include Beano, Dandy, and 2000 AD, which features mainly science fiction stories. Comics for very young children are often based on popular television programmes, such as Thomas and Friends (which features Thomas the Tank Engine). Adult comics, such as Viz, are usually very rude.Some of the characters in Beano and Dandy have not changed much over the years and now look old-fashioned. Teachers, for instance, still wear mortar boards (= stiff black hats with a square top), though real teachers stopped wearing them long ago. Many of the most popular comics appear in the form of books, called annuals, around Christmas each year.Comic books are similar to comics. Each book has a set of characters who have adventures. Many of the characters, such as Spider-Man, Superman and Wonder Woman, have powers that ordinary people do not have. Graphic novels are longer stories told in the form of comic strips. Pictures of the most famous characters from comic strips and comic books are used on a range of products, for example they are printed on bed covers, T-shirts, lunch boxes and birthday cards.Topics Literature and writingc1