From the cartoons such as Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes that have long livened up the daily newspaper to the graphic novels of more recent vintage such as Watchmen and Maus, comics have proven to be a wonderfully expansive form of American art. Comics can provide readers with a quick laugh or a deep journey, and they can enchant young and old alike.
In tribute, LIFE.com offers vintage photos of men, women and children disappearing into the comics. From the young girl waiting outside the Anchorage supermarket to the soldiers on a break in Korea, having a comic in your hand meant that your imagination had a place to go.
Also included in the gallery are images of hearings in 1954 held by the U.S. Senate over whether a certain stripe of violent comics were contributing to juvenile delinquency. The hearings led to the comics industry adopting its own ratings system. Another photo in this gallery shows Henry A. Wallace, who served as Vice President under Franklin Roosevelt from 1941 to 1945, examining the funny pages while dressed in a suit, a reminder of how comics have enjoyed a truly broad appeal.
A sailor read a comic book aboard the USS Doran in 1942.
Thomas McAvoy/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A mother read her children the comics while traveling on the “El Capitan” train between Chicago and Los Angeles, 1945.
Sam Sher/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A young boy read a comic strip while his leash-tethered dog waited forlornly for their walk to continue, 1944.
Nina Leen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Former Vice President and Secretary of Commerce Henry A. Wallace read the comics, 1946.
Walter B. Lane/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A Turkish soldier looked at an American comic book with a Korean girl during the Korean War, 1951.
Carl Mydans/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A boy escaped from his haircut, Garden City, New York, 1942.
Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Religious comic books, 1943.
Walter Sanders/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Private Ernest Dandou read a comic book at paratrooper camp, Georgia, 1944.
Frank Schersche/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A young girl read a comic book at an Anchorage, Alaska, supermarket in 1958.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Actress Buff Cobb (one-time wife of journalist Mike Wallace) read comic books at home in 1946.
Martha Holmes/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Two Dutch children read comic books, Netherlands, 1953.
Nat Farbman/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Comic book artist Bob Kane, who created Batman, posed with his iconic illustrations, 1966.
Yale Joel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
The 1954 Senate Subcommittee Hearings into Juvenile Delinquency focused on the “dangers” posed by comic books.
Yale Joel/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock
The 1954 Senate Subcommittee Hearings into Juvenile Delinquency focused on the “dangers” posed by comic books.
Yale Joel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Boys shopped for comic books, Des Moines, Iowa, 1945.
Nina Leen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Cartoonist Chester Gould sat on a wall beside a cemetery where he “buried” vanquished villains from his “Dick Tracy” comic strip, 1949.
Francis Miller/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
These boys read comic books during a speech by Dwight Eisenhower in Montana, 1952.
Ralph Morse/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A Turkish boy (center) rented out comic books to local children to support his family in the Philippines in 1945.
Carl Mydans/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
American troops read comic books during the Korean War, 1951.
John Dominis/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Lieutenant Frank Hensley read a comic book after loading cargo on plane, 1950.
Joseph Scherschel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A father readsthe Sunday comics to his daughter, 1946.
Nina Leen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Reading a comic book while traveling on a Pullman car, 1945.
Sam Shere/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Reading the comics, Detroit, 1943.
Walter Sanders/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
