1.   A bond was forged between American comics and the social realism of artists like Ben Shahn and Kathe Kollwitz.

2.   Admirers say the stories in manga and anime are more complex than in American comics and cartoons.

3.   Mort Sahl was the first American stand-up comic to remind a nightclub audience that humor could be about something more dangerous than mother-in-law jokes.

4.   When have the French not been obsessed with American comics?

5.   A studious pupil, Asmita still finds time to play with Barbie dolls and devour American comics and books by Enid Blyton.