Journalists as characters in 20th century comic stories: An attempt at a catalogue

Abstract

Comic stories, a combination of text and image, arose closely linked to the printed press, especially in the United States, at the end of the 19th century. Over the course of the 20th century comic stories evolved, becoming independent and developing their own language and codes. Consequently, it seems obvious that there is a direct relationship between the appearance of graphic comics and the press. Indeed, it may be said that comics were born in and with the printed press.The relations between comics and journalism can be analyzed from several perspectives. One of the most interesting is to investigate which are the main comic book characters who have worked as journalists and in what way the practice of journalism is reflected in a popular genre such as comics. The fact is that it is not unusual to find comic book characters with a profession linked to journalism. At the end of this study, a summary table is included with the best-known cartoon journalists of the 20th century, with special reference to the women who have played this role.