ines ▁and ▁books ▁rapidly ▁expanded ▁in ▁the ▁post - World ▁War   II ▁era ▁( 1 9 4 5 – ) ▁with ▁the ▁popular ity ▁of ▁cart oon ists ▁such ▁as ▁Os am u ▁Te zu ka ▁( A st ro ▁Boy , ▁et ▁al .). ▁ ▁had ▁a ▁low brow ▁reputation ▁for ▁much ▁of ▁its ▁history , ▁but ▁towards ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁the ▁ 2 0 th ▁century ▁began ▁to ▁find ▁greater ▁accept ance ▁with ▁the ▁public ▁and ▁academ ics . ▁ ▁The ▁term ▁com ics ▁is ▁used ▁as ▁a ▁singular ▁n oun ▁when ▁it ▁refers ▁to ▁the ▁medium ▁itself ▁( e . g . ▁" Com ics ▁is ▁a ▁visual ▁art ▁form "), ▁but ▁becomes ▁pl ural ▁when ▁referring ▁to ▁works ▁collect ively ▁( e . g . ▁" Com ics ▁are ▁popular ▁reading ▁material "). ▁Though ▁the ▁term ▁der ives ▁from ▁the ▁hum orous ▁( com ic ) ▁work ▁that ▁pre domin ated ▁in ▁early ▁American ▁newspaper ▁com ic ▁stri ps , ▁it ▁has ▁become ▁standard ▁for ▁non - hum orous ▁works ▁too . ▁The ▁alternate ▁sp elling ▁com ix ▁– ▁co ined ▁by ▁the ▁under ground ▁com ix ▁movement ▁– ▁is ▁sometimes ▁used ▁to ▁address ▁these ▁ambigu ities . ▁In ▁English , ▁it ▁is ▁common ▁to ▁refer ▁to ▁the ▁com ics ▁of ▁different ▁cult ures ▁by ▁the ▁terms ▁used ▁in ▁their ▁original ▁languages , ▁such ▁as ▁ ▁for ▁Japanese ▁com ics , ▁or ▁/ B . D . ▁for ▁French - language ▁com ics . ▁ ▁There ▁is ▁no