Minicomic - Citizendia

A minicomic is a small, creator-published comic book, often photocopied and stapled or with a handmade binding. A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a comic paper or comic magazine) is a Magazine or Book of narrative A photocopier (or copier is a machine that makes Paper copies of documents and other visual images quickly and cheaply These are a common inexpensive way for those who want to make their own comics on a very small budget, with mostly informal means of distribution. Distribution (or place) is one of the four elements of Marketing mix. A number of cartoonists have started this way and gone on to more traditional types of publishing, while other more established artists continue to produce minicomics on the side. A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing Cartoons Traditionally much of this work was and still is humorous and is intended primarily for entertainment purposes Minicomics can be even less mainstream than alternative comics. The term "alternative comics" is one of several labels applied to a range of Comics that have appeared since about 1980 in the wake of the Underground comix

The term was originally used in the United States and has a somewhat confusing history. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Originally, it referred only to size: a digest comic measured 5. 5 inches wide by 8. Inches redirects here To see the Les Savy Fav album see Inches. 5 inches tall, while a minicomic was 5. 5 inches by 4. 25 inches. These sizes were convenient for artists using standard office supplies: a US letter page could be folded in half to make a digest, or in quarters for a minicomic. There have been many standard sizes of Paper at different times and in different countries but today there are two widespread systems in use the international standard (A4 These comics were generally photocopied, although some that were produced in larger quantities used offset printing. Offset printing is a commonly used Printing technique where the Inked image is transferred (or "offset" from a plate to a rubber blanket then to the An early and unusually popular example of this minicomic format was Matt Feazell's Cynicalman, which began in 1980 or Alfred Huete's award winning 'DADA' mini. Matt Feazell is a Hamtramck, Michigan comics artist primarily working in Minicomics He is best known for his wryly humorous The Amazing Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) (The earliest and most popular comics in mini- and digest sizes—predating not only the term minicomic, but even the standard comic-book format—were the anonymous and pornographic Tijuana bibles of the 1920s. Tijuana bibles (also known as eight-pagers or dirty little eight-pagers) were pornographic Comic books produced in the United States )

Currently, the term is used in a more general sense which emphasizes the handmade, informal aspect rather than the format. By this loose definition, a single photocopied page folded in quarters would still be a minicomic, but so would a thicker digest-sized comic, or even a large, elaborate, and relatively expensive photocopied booklet with a silkscreened cover. Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink blocking stencil Even some professionally printed and bound booklets are referred to as minicomics, as long as they are published by the artist and marketed in minicomic venues, but this usage is controversial.

In North America and the United Kingdom, minicomics are currently rare in traditional "direct market" comic-book stores; they are often sold directly by the artist at book fairs or through the mail, ordered from websites, or handled by small bookstores and distributors that carry zines. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for North American Comic books. A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages A zine (an abbreviation of the word Fanzine, or magazine ziːn "zeen" is most commonly a small circulation non-commercial Publication In terms of production and distribution issues and their audience, minicomics—of all of the sizes and types mentioned above—have much more in common with each other, and with zines, than with any traditionally published comics; this may be the reason why the meaning of the term has shifted.

Minicomics in the American sense are a less popular form in Europe and Asia. In Europe, many small publishers produce small-format comics with much higher production values than the typical minicomic.

Minicomics typically have no editorial oversight, and both their content and quality varies over a huge range. Many of the creators of minicomics do not expect to make a significant amount of money, or even cover their costs, with the price they charge for their comics. These creators may see minicomics as a way to hone their skills or as a way to get their work seen by a larger audience, or may be drawn to the format for aesthetic reasons. Some observers have anticipated that the rise of webcomics would be the end of minicomics, but as of 2005 this does not appear to be the case. Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are Comics Published on a Website, often exclusively providing easy access to an

In the United Kingdom the term "small press comic" is equivalent with minicomic reserved for those publications measuring A6 (105 mm × 148 mm) or less. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located See also: British small press comics

1 Alternate meaning
2 See also
3 External links

Alternate meaning

The term minicomic also refers to the small comics that come in the packages of some toys. British small press comics is a term used to describe Comic books self-published by Cartoonists and Comic book creators within the UK

Masters of the Universe

The first MOTU toys did not have a TV series, and thus came with little story booklets (and later, comics) that showed the original background of the series (He-Man as a barbarian, Skeletor from another dimension, etc. Masters of the Universe (commonly abbreviated to MOTU) is a Media franchise created by Mattel. He-Man ( "The Most Powerful Man in the Universe!") ( IPA: /ˈhiː Skeletor ( IPA: US /'skel?t??r/ is a Fictional character in the Masters of the Universe franchise the arch-enemy and main ). However, after the later sources (DC Comics and the TV series) started to change that background (He-Man as Prince Adam, for example) the comics began to reflect those changes. DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company Prince Adam is a Fictional character in the Masters of the Universe franchise and twin brother of Princess Adora.

Super Powers

Kenner created a collection of action figures based on the DC Comics super-heroes and super-villains, called Super Powers. The Super Powers Collection was a line of Action figures based on DC Comics Superheroes and Supervillains that was created by Kenner Toys in the The first two waves of the collection came with minicomics which featured the character with which it came, one of the villains from the collection (who, obviously, was the antagonist of the story inside the comic) and other heroes featured in the collection.

Transformers

The toys of Transformers Armada and Transformers Energon came with minicomics that featured the characters of the toylines. The Transformers is a line of toys produced by the toy companies Takara and Hasbro. Transformers Armada, known in Japan as, is the Transformers animated series and toy line which ran from 2002-2004 Transformers Energon, known in Japan as, is the 2004-2005 Transformers toyline, animated series and comic book series another co-production

Marvel Megamorphs

This was a toyline created by Toy Biz in order to compete with Hasbro's Transformers. Mega Morphs was a Comic book series which started on the 10th of August 2005. The Megamorphs were transforming robots patterned on Marvel Comics super heroes. Marvel Comics is an American comic book company owned by Marvel Publishing Inc Each figure came with a minicomic featuring the Megamorph with which it came. All six minicomics formed a complete storyline.

External links

An ashcan copy is a term that originated in the Golden Age of Comic book publishing meant to describe a Publication produced solely for legal purposes The following is a list of minicomics which were released with almost each Masters of the Universe figure This is a list of Minicomics creators. People on this list should ideally be in some way noteworthy for their small press Comics, someone who's done a lot in their With each Super Powers Collection figure of the first two series there came a Minicomic. A miniature book is a very small book sized from.5 Inches square to roughly 2 by 3 inches &mdash no larger than 3 inches in height width or thickness Minicomics Co-Ops The United Fanzine Organization, or UFO is a Co-operative of Minicomic creators that has existed since about 1968

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