Art Central
Comic Book Characters
Where did Tintin's creator get his unusual name? Why do some comics read backwards? Let's peek behind the panels of your favourite comics!
Did you know?
Tintin's creator, Hergé, was really named Georges Remi. Take his initials, G.R., flip them to R.G., and say them the French way: 'air-zhay'. That is how 'Hergé' was born!
Amar Chitra Katha was started in 1967 by Anant Pai. He got the idea after a TV quiz in which contestants easily answered questions on Greek myths but could not say who Lord Rama's mother was!
Manga, the comics of Japan, are traditionally read from right to left and top to bottom, the opposite of English books! Most manga are printed in black and white.
Try this: Make a Four-Panel Comic
Fold a sheet of paper in half, then in half again, and open it to get four boxes. Draw one short story across them: a beginning, a problem, a funny twist and an ending. Give your hero a speech bubble (smooth and round), a thought bubble (cloud-shaped) and one sound word like 'SPLASH!' or 'BOING!'
Go further: The Secret Language of Comics
Comics have their own special tools. The boxes are called panels, and the gap between two panels is called the gutter. Your brain fills in what happens there! A spiky bubble means someone is shouting, and a dotted one means whispering. Words like POW, ZOOM and CRASH, which sound like the noise they describe, are called onomatopoeia (on-o-mat-o-PEE-a). Look for them in your next comic!