The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics (4)

    I thought the Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics, was a very educational and interesting read. Before reading all the comics, I skimmed through just to look at the different styles. One thing I noticed right away was the shift in the styles. From the early nineteen hundreds we see detailed characters. Over time we can see an increase of more simplistic and cartoon like characters. I felt like this cartoon style became popular around the fifties. Some examples that used this new and emerging style were comics like Peanuts, Little Orphan Annie, and Miss Peach. When I was reading these comics, I noticed some were pretty racist, or incorporated elements that could be considered racist. A couple comics I can name off the top of my head are Captain Easy and The Smythes. When reading these questionable comics, the viewer can easily identify when these comics were made. Even though I’m not an history expert, you can tell what wars and events were going on during this time frame. To be honest, I didn’t think I would be this upset. The thing I found evening more disappointing, was the fact that these racist comics were printed in newspapers and comic books. These formats could be accessed from a wide range of audiences. A child could easily read comics and understand what’s going on. Even though some of these older comics are a thing of the past, racism is still present. Its really sad knowing that we still live in a world of discrimination, racism, and etc.