Here are some of the graphic novels that I have read in class:
Sequential Art (comics)
Sequential art are not snapshots. Each image is over a period of time. The earliest sequenced art was cave paintings. These had no boarders but were still drawn in sequence. They show usually one picture flowing through, eg. at the start of the picture they go out to hunt, in the middle of the picture they are on the hunt, then at the end of the picture they have finished and have what they had captured.
The next type of sequential Art was in the Egyptian tombs, such as the 'scribe of Manna'. The picture shows the same people at different times.
The next use of sequential art was the Bayeux Tapestry. The tapestry shows the whole battle of hastings, in 1066, as well as other things.
In the 1740's William Hogarth did narrative works. Hogarth did a series of paintings of Marriage à-la-mode. These 6 pictures made fun at the upper class. The paintings were designed to go side by side (story cycle).
In the 1800's Rodolphe Toppfer was a comic artist. His drawings included borders around each picture and included text underneath. Each picture was smaller, so it was easier for more pictures to be shown. Toppfers art was mass produced.
In 1440's Gutenberg Press was revolutionary. It made it so books could come to you. As all these books were being mass produced and available to everyone, the first copy right laws were introduced.
Yellow kid appeared in Richard Oultcaults 'Hogans Alley' and was the first weekly cartoon. It appeared in an american newspaper each week and was followed by most readers.
Cartoons are pictures with captions where as comics are strips of pictures of sequential art.
In 1935 Max Gains made tabloid sized anthologies of weekly or daily cartoons or comics. These were the first comic books. These were so popular that that publishers like National (DC comics) had to create their own stories to go in the books to keep up with the demand. National's action comic no.1 featured 'superman'. After superman, other super heros were born such as batman and wonder woman.
By the 1950's the sale of superhero comics had died. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Women were pretty much the only super hero comics still being printed. The biggest seller of comic books were horror stories. EC Comics (run by Max Gains' son, Bill) was printing horror comics. Bill Gains allowed the artists to do what they want, which meant that the boundaries of acceptable content were seriously pushed. Comics like two fisted tales and superduperman were created.
Every time a horror comic was released the boundaries were pushed even further. Frederic Wertham even wrote a book about it called Seductioon of the Innocent. It told about the negative effects comics were having on children.
After Wertham’s book, the comic industry created the CCA (the Comics Code Authority). This is the comic equivalent to the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification). The CCA regulates the content of the comics. Because of the CCA being introduced EC comics sales plummeted. Mad Comic, which included Superdouperman, changed from a comic into a magazine and therefore bypassing the CCA.
The graphic novel didn't come complete as a medium or a language. Things like this evolve over a period of time. It would have been influenced by different pressures. The main precursor would of been the comics that used the language of speech bubbles, thought clouds and the grid layout.
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