For many of us, cartoons were our first introduction into story. If you are of a certain age, we were delighted in the antics of animated characters such as Bugs Bunny, Road Runner, Tom and Jerry, Top Cat, Wacky Races and more. These characters held us spellbound, even though some of their antics are probably frowned upon now-a-days as too violent! (Although, I have to say some games are much more violent than anything we saw). However, we accepted that no matter what harm a character fell prey to, they always bounced back.

National Cartoonists day is observed on May 5th each year, and honors the creative ink-stained artists, past and present, and the fascinating pieces they created. Their talents brought humour and entertainment into our lives.

Richard Outcault, an American comic strip writer and artist, considered the inventor of the modern comic strip, who proclaimed National Cartoonist Day in 1990.

However, the concept is not a modern invention at all. It originated in the Middle Ages when such images were preparatory drawings. Then in 1843, the Punch magazine was published utilizing cartoons as humorous artworks with political satire, as well as comic strips of events and well known figures of the time. In the early 20th century the printed medium developed into animated films.

By the 1930's Britain had adventure comic magazines specifically aimed at boys to glamorise the heroism of soldiers fighting wars. The Dandy Comic was first issued in December 1937. The originator, DC Thomson, capitalized on its success in 1938 by issuing The Beano. DC Thomson published the first girls' magazine, Bunty in 1958 followed by Jackie in 1964, Diana in 1965 and Mandy in 1967. As an aside, I was never allowed comics at home, so would read friends copies when I visited their houses.

The format for comics is similar to the cartoon format with images combined with text or visual information in the form of a sequence of panels.

Whether static images, or animated these short adventures hold a fascination for the young and old and hold true to the beginning, middle and end of story structure.

What were your favourite cartoons growing up?