View source for The 5th Wave (comic strip)

{{Short description|American gag cartoon, from 1981, weekly single-panel comic}}
{{About||the novel by Rick Yancey|The 5th Wave (novel)|the 2016 film|The 5th Wave (film)}}
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{{Infobox comic strip
| title= The 5th Wave
| image=
| caption=
| author= Rich Tennant
| website= {{URL|https://the5thwave.com}}
| rss=
| atom=
| status= Current Sunday gag panel
| syndicate=[[Universal Press Syndicate]]/[[Universal Uclick]]/[[Andrews McMeel Syndication]]
| publisher= 
| first= {{start date and age | 1981 }}
| last=
| genre= Humor, Technology
| rating=
| preceded by=
| followed by=
}}
'''''The 5th Wave''''' is a weekly [[gag cartoon]] by Rich Tennant,<ref>{{cite news|title=Taking 'The 5th'|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LB&p_theme=lb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAE91C91A180946&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|accessdate=22 September 2013|newspaper=Press-Telegram|date=October 15, 1997}}</ref> published on Sundays.<ref>{{cite web|title=Many Publications Are Taking 'The 5th.'|url=https://www.questia.com/library/1G1-19126755/many-publications-are-taking-the-5th-cartoonist|publisher=Editor & Publisher, Vol. 130, No. 5|accessdate=22 September 2013}}</ref> Started in 1981, the comic usually deals with [[computer]]s and [[technology]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Catch The 5th Wave Debut|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=CC&s_site=contracostatimes&p_multi=CC&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=1063FE1E488B46B5&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|accessdate=22 September 2013|newspaper=Contra Costa|date=October 26, 1997}}</ref> Tennant's cartoons regularly appear in the ''[[For Dummies]]'' book series, and have appeared in ''[[PC Magazine]]'' and ''[[Computerworld]]'', a magazine for which he worked from 1987 to 1999. Like most gag cartoons, Tennant's comics have no continuity, no recurring characters, and no storylines that continue into the next week.

The name of the comic comes from ''[[Future Shock]]'' by [[Alvin Toffler]]. In this book, societies are listed in [[wave]]s, e.g., the [[Agrarian society|Agricultural Age]] is the First Wave, the [[Industrialisation|Industrial Age]] is the Second Wave, and the [[Information Age]] is the Third Wave. Tennant wanted to call his comic ''The Fourth Wave'', but "through a series of missteps and miscommunications", it was first published in a newspaper under the title ''The 5th Wave'', and the name stuck.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.the5thwave.com/content/faq | title=The 5th Wave FAQ | accessdate=2010-06-21 }}</ref>

== See also ==
*''[[User Friendly]]'', a character-oriented comic that also heavily features technical humor

== References ==
<references />

==External links==
* {{official|https://the5thwave.com}}
* [http://www.uclick.com/client/wpc/fw/ ''The 5th Wave at the Washington Post'' FAQ]

{{Universal Press Syndicate}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:5th Wave, The}}
[[Category:1981 comics debuts]]
[[Category:Computer humour]]
[[Category:Workplace comics]]


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