The Art of the Comic Book: An Aesthetic History

Couverture
Univ. Press of Mississippi, 1996 - 288 pages
In this definitive study of one of popular culture's favorite genres Robert C. Harvey, a cartoonist and comics critic, traces the evolution of the comic book as a potent form of narrative art. He takes it from its beginnings in the 1930s through the most contemporary of productions in the mid-1990s.

In defining comic book aesthetics Harvey establishes both a critical perspective and a vocabulary for evaluating the art. Because he is an able practitioner himself, his insights are especially valuable. As he demonstrates how words and pictures function together to tell stories in ways unique to the medium, he explains the processes of narrative breakdown, page layout, and panel composition, and shows how these aspects of the art form can be manipulated for dramatic effects.

Enhanced by many illustrations, this detailed examination of comic book art includes work from both the mainstream and the counterculture, both veteran and newcomer. Whether traditional or iconoclastic, their cartoon art continues to uphold the aesthetic that Harvey finds to be the basis of cartooning.

 

Table des matières

CHAPTER TWO Legions in Long Underwear
16
CHAPTER THREE The Search for Art and Meaning
50
CHAPTER FOUR But Is It Art?
66
CHAPTER FIVE The Heroic Avenue to
100
CHAPTER SIX The Comic Book as Individual Expression
126
CHAPTER SEVEN Style and Flash and Filigree
152
CHAPTER EIGHT Only in the Comics
173
CHAPTER NINE The Lonely Hearts Club Band
192
CHAPTER TEN All Together Now
263

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À propos de l'auteur (1996)

Robert C. Harvey, a comics historian and critic, is a cartoonist who writes for The Comics Journal, Comics Buyers' Guide, and Cartoonist PROfiles. Among his books are The Art of the Funnies: An Aesthetic History, The Art of the Comic Book: An Aesthetic History, Insider Histories of Cartooning: Rediscovering Forgotten Famous Comics and Their Creators, and Accidental Ambassador Gordo: The Comic Strip Art of Gus Arriola, all published by University Press of Mississippi.

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