Art with a Message

For those who eschew the business and sports pages, the comic strip section of the newspaper might still be a favourite long into adulthood. Many children have often found that the comics and puzzle pages are the only parts of the paper worth reading. They are uninterested in the finer points of local budgetary meetings or world disputes. Their focus may seem to be on the least adult section of the paper, yet the cartoons with their drawings and words often contain art with a message.

Many comic strip artists use real life to fashion their characters and story lines. They may look at simple issues like a child picking up their room, or they could indulge in more complex issues like responsibility for finding buried treasure to save the kingdom. These are often looked upon as nothing more than fantasy, yet many of them contain ethical issues that can be applied to the modern world. They have become a way to teach children and adults through entertainment.

Looking at the world as an arena where right and wrong continue to exist, comic strips have their own place in providing lessons. Family life often offers a host of ideas for an amusing comic strip story, but it can also use the same ideas to teach ethical behaviour. While that is not the goal of this art, it has become a part of it when viewed with an eye for deeper meaning.

The majority of art forms are about sharing a message with the viewer, and most people dismiss comics as sharing nothing more than a joke or amusing story. For those willing to take the time to examine what the creators have put into their work, the art can be a pathway to morals and manners in the real world. For those who still look just for amusement, there is still plenty of that left in the comic pages of the paper.