The presentations of family in comic books – ideological involvements

Comics (despite its history dating back to the end of 19 century) is still a medium undervalued and underestimated. However, in comics one may discover role models important for the readers, who shape their own understanding of family, aims of family life or proper forms of its realization by accepting, negating or reinterpreting those role models. The aim of comics is the creation (within one piece) of a language understood by as many readers as possible. Popularity of comic books, specificity of its forms of expression and relatively low cost of “production” made possible attempts of the use of this for ideological goals since its very beginnings. Those attempts have been made by both groups at power as well as those who tried to resist their pressure. Ideological entanglement is not only observed in the case of comics consciously used for spreading a specific agenda. It also exists in comics, which, according to their authors, “only tell a story”. Those entanglements arise from the worldview of the creators or references to other comics, which were in any way ideologically entangled. One of the features of the comics portrayal of family is that family usually is a part of the background, not the main theme. There are two main kinds of family portrayal in comics: criticism and affirmation. Even though family is not one of the main themes of comics it may be considered the “litmus paper” of comics ideological entanglement. Family is the oldest human institution, being both a and . It can be thus stated, that one's relation to the family is one's relation to the traditional world