Recognizing the immense capacity of the popular arts to bring people together, inspire creativity and imagination, promote critical thinking, and instill the universal values of truth, justice, and equality.

Recognizing the immense capacity of the popular arts to bring people together, inspire creativity and imagination, promote critical thinking, and instill the universal values of truth, justice, and equality.

Whereas nearly 5,000,000 Americans work in the arts and cultural production industry;

Whereas the arts and cultural economy represents approximately 4.4 percent of the gross domestic product of the United States, contributing over $1,000,000,000,000 annually;

Whereas the creation and production of new content across all sectors of the popular arts would not be possible without union labor, and every artist, creator, and worker in the popular arts deserves fair wages, representation, and dignity in their work;

Whereas, since the debut of television, the global audience for television and home video has grown to billions of viewers annually, generating over $90,000,000,000 in global revenue;

Whereas the global comic book industry today is valued at more than $9,200,000,000 annually;

Whereas the gaming industry exceeds $300,000,000,000 in value, with approximately 3,000,000,000 people worldwide playing video games, and the global Esports audience projected to surpass 640,000,000 by 2025;

Whereas fantasy and science fiction books generate nearly $600,000,000 in annual sales in the United States, and fantasy audiobooks remain the largest category among audiobook genres;

Whereas hundreds of annual Comic-Con conventions across the United States attract up to 250,000 attendees at the largest events and contribute over $100,000,000 to local economies;

Whereas the lineage of comics and other visual popular arts can be traced to ancient and historic word-image texts, including cave paintings, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Mayan carvings, illuminated manuscripts, the Bayeux Tapestry, early woodcut printing, the serial illustrations of William Hogarth and Rodolphe Töpffer, and the engravings of William Blake;

Whereas superheroes entered the comic book medium in 1938 with the release of Action Comics No. 1 and the debut of Superman;

Whereas notable works such as Art Spiegelman’s Maus (1980–1986), which won the Pulitzer Prize, and civil rights hero the late Congressman John Lewis’ National Book Award-winning March trilogy, itself inspired by the 1958 comic Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story, exemplify the power of the medium;

Whereas the most valuable comic book to date remains the first edition of Action Comics No. 1, considered the first modern comic book, which sold for $3,200,000 in 2022, having originally cost 10 cents in 1938;

Whereas, in 2020, graphic novels comprised 67 percent of the children’s book market in the United States;

Whereas comic books and the popular arts are a valuable literary tool, helping educate millions of children by fostering literacy and language acquisition;

Whereas the Library of Congress holds over 140,000 issues from about 13,000 comic book titles, maintaining the largest comic book collection in the world; and

Whereas streaming platforms, social media, and digital distribution have dramatically expanded access to the popular arts and created new opportunities for creators and audiences alike: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

(1) recognizes the immense capacity of the popular arts to bring people together, inspire creativity and imagination, promote critical thinking, and instill the universal values of truth, justice, and equality;

(2) honors the unique impact of the popular arts on generations of Americans and the global community; and

(3) affirms the importance of promoting the popular arts to broader audiences and advancing increased representation within all forms of the popular arts.