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fiction’* half-wit cou*in? hot, more
accurately, the Motant sister who
can often do everything fiction
can, and,yost as often, More*”
Dave Bggers

The world of coMics May, in it*

generosity, lend scripts, characters,
and stories to the Movies, hot not
its inexpressible secret power of
so^estion that resides in that
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“CoMies will he the cultore

of the year 379^*”
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G RA PH1C NOVELS
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Paul Gnavett

COLLINS DESIGN
An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
For my brother Tony for typing my first fanzine Monolith
and also in remembrance of Alan Gaulton, Andy Roberts,
and Robert Marshall Sturgeon

Cover story: Theda, from Caricature, the title story

of a short-story collection by Daniel Clowes.

At the Twin Lakes Craft Festival, caricaturist Mai Rosen is

called a genius by Theda. “She was no prize... ratty ‘punk’ hair-do,
secondhand clothes... just awful! But what can I say?
Her taste was impeccable!”
Of Theda’s eye, Mai asks, “Did your boyfriend give that to you?”
“I don’t think so! In his dreams maybe!” she laughs and replies,
as she wipes away the black make-up.

GRAPHIC NOVELS: Everything You Need To Know

Copyright © 2005 by Paul Gravett

Concept © 2005 by Paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury
Designed by Peter Stanbury

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in

any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information,
address Collins Design, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022.

HarperCollins books may be purchased for

educational, business, or sales promotional use.
For information, please write: Special Markets Department,
HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022.

First Edition

First published in the United States in 2005 by:

Collins Design
An Imprint o/HarperCollinsPuW/sfrers
10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022
Tel: (212) 207-7000. Fax: (212) 207-7654
collinsdesign@harpercollins.com
www.harpercollins.com

First published in the United Kingdom in 2005 by:

Aurum Press Limited
25 Bedford Avenue, London WC1B. 3AT
www.aurumpress.co.uk

Distributed in the United States by:

HarperCollinsPuW/'sbers
10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022
Fax: (212) 207-7654

Library of Congress Control Number: 2005929223

ISBN 0 06-082425-5 3 1223 04910 0630

ISBN13 978-0-06-082425-9

Printed in China
First printing, October 2005
CHAPTER 1

08 Thlngs to Ha+e af>out Cotoic*

Overcoming negative thinking
CHAPTER 2

n Stones to Change Your Life

Thirty essential graphic novels to get you started
CHAPTER 3

2D The Undiscovered Country

Childhood's happy days or painful memories
CHAPTER 4

36 The Other Side of the Tracks

Growing up and making a life of your own
CHAPTER 5

56 The Lons Shadow

Surviving war and its aftermath
CHAPTER 6

7* The Superhuman Condition

What are your heroic ideals?
CHAPTER 7

£6 Of Futures and Fables

The meaning of dreams, the insight of fantasy
CHAPTER 8

101 In the Mind’* Bye

Confronting the horrors that lurk among us
CHAPTER 9

n* Marker, S«v>ofce> and Shadows

The dangerous games of moral consequences
CHAPTER 10

131 Behind -Hie Soufte

Seeing the funny side
CHAPTER 11

151 Travels in
Inspired lives of curiosity and adventure
CHAPTER 12

16S Passion Beyond Reason

Unrequited love, affection, and secret desires

18* Afterthoughts
Adaptations abridged too far, and a return to childish thin

RESOURCES 186 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 188 INDEX 190

 WELCOME TO THE MAGAZINE.

THANKS FOR
INVITING ME.

Chester Brown, Canadian author of the biography Louis Kiel, drew this two-page strip for the New York Times Magazine of July 12, 2004.
Chapter 1
Thins* to Hate about Cowicy
hat are graphic novels? You might think they
are easy to define, but the term has become
distorted with prejudices and preconceptions,
riddled with confusion among the media and
public, and a topic of dispute among "graphic novelists"
themselves, some of whom reject the label outright.
Ask people about graphic novels and some will say
immediately, "Oh, you mean porn.” That's not entirely
wrong. There are erotic ones for adults only, but graphic is
not short for pornographic. Others perceive graphic novels
only as gaudy escapism, whether superheroic, fantasy-
based, science fictional, or hard-boiled, for adolescent
males, all furious spectacle and special effects and little
depth or humanity, like their movie counterparts. There is
some truth to this too; because so much fantasy and
action material is pumped out by publishers of comic
books and manga, or Japanese comics, these tend to
crowd the shelves in many bookstores and libraries, often
near the science-fiction and role-playing game books. But
graphic novels are not limited to one genre category, or
only a few; they embrace enough subjects to put them
into every section of a library or bookstore. The word
graphic does not have to mean disturbing, extreme, and in
your face, shown in hard outlines, grotesque caricatures,
or lurid coloring. There is room for very different styles of
art. In fact, graphic does not narrow down to drawing and
illustration, as in graphics, since some artists create their
comics using photos, 3D models, or found objects.
The term novel can make people expect the sort of
format, serious intent, and weighty heft of traditional
literature, as if a graphic novel must be the visual
equivalent of "an extended, fictional work.” True, some
individual graphic novels can run to hundreds of pages,
while others stretch to thousands across multiple
volumes —but many are much shorter, or consist of
collections of short stories, and they can come in all
shapes, square, oblong, from miniscule to gigantic. Even
more importantly, a great many are definitely not fictional
at all but belong in the categories of non-fiction —history,
biography, reportage, documentary, or educational.
So in several ways graphic novel is a misnomer,
but, unlike other words invented in the past in an effort to
overcome the stigmas of humor and childishness of the
word “comics," like Charles Biro’s "lllustories,” Bill Gaines’
"Picto-Fiction,” or even Will Eisner's "Sequential Art,” this
term has caught on and entered the language and
dictionaries, for all its inaccuracies. It has been around
since 1964, when American comics critic and magazine
publisher Richard Kyle coined it. Kyle was among the first
to import and champion European comics, especially
French bandes dessinees in color hardback albums, and
thick Japanese paperbacks of manga. These came as
revelations to him compared to the disposable, monthly
stapled pamphlets on cheap newsprint that made up
most of the American comic book factories. Here he had
evidence of more of the medium’s potential being realized
abroad. Kyle came up with "graphic story,” and from that
the "graphic novel,” to galvanize American creators and
readers to aspire to similar ambition and sophistication.
In America and internationally, this process has
taken a long, longtime. In 1969, novelist and once-
aspiring cartoonist John Updike came to England to
address the Bristol Literary Society about "the death of the
novel” and, among the new forms he envisioned for it, he
speculated: "I see no intrinsic reason why a doubly
talented artist might not arise and create a comic-strip
novel masterpiece.” Many have tried to achieve this, often
in the face of social and critical disdain. Comics in book
form have existed for at least two centuries, enjoying
sporadic flurries of success, such as a vogue in 1930 for
wordless "pictorial narratives” sparked by Lynd Ward’s
God's Man in 1929, a fad stifled by the Depression, or
more recently the media frenzy around Maus, Watchmen
and Dark Knight Returns in the mid-1980s.
It has always been a fragile history. Looking further
back, some of the 19th century’s pioneering antecedents
of graphic novels might never have seen print at all
without the admiration of the German poet, novelist, and
dramatist Goethe. A year or two before his death in 1832,
Goethe was shown the unpublished books by a boys’
boarding school teacher from Geneva, Rodolphe Topffer.
He called them his histoires en estampes or stories told in
prints. His Adventures of Dr. Festus was said to have given
Goethe in his eighties "extraordinary pleasure.”
Reportedly, he kept repeating, "That is really too crazy,"
and then continued: “But [Topffer] really sparkles with

talent and wit; much of it is quite perfect; it shows just
how much the artist could yet achieve, if he dealt with
modern [or less frivolous] material and went to work with
less haste, and more reflection. If Topffer did not have
such an insignificant text [i.e. story] before him, he would
invent things which could surpass all our expectations.”
Despite this praise, Topffer was wary of tarnishing
his respectability as a newly appointed professor if he
made his books publicly available, so he held back until
1832 from publishing Monsieur Jabot, and then only
among friends, and waited until 1834 before arranging
bookshop sales. His embarrassment at being a comics
creator is nothing new. Nor is impoverishment, which
drove young Gustave Dore to abandon the medium after
the failure of his History of Holy Russia, for which he
produced 500 engravings in 1854. If only Dore had done
more. Missed opportunities, unrealized dreams, thwarted
possibilities have always dogged the graphic novel and its
predecessors. In Hicksville, New Zealand cartoonist Dylan
Horrocks imagines a library, fittingly within a lighthouse,
which contains the only copies of all those dreamt but
unseen projects that were abandoned or never started, all
those contenders for the "comic-strip novel masterpieces”
that Goethe and Updike had predicted. Among them, the
librarian pulls out, "a 48-page comic [Picasso] did with
Lorca. Etchings mostly. I reckon it's one of his best."
When Will Eisner stepped off America's endless
assembly-line of daily strips or monthly comic books, he
threw down the gauntlet to his peers in 1978 with his
graphic novel, A Contract with God. From experience, he
knew that, against all odds, creators could produce good,
sometimes great, work under those conveyor-belt
conditions. He understood why many were reluctant to
sacrifice their steady, work-for-hire paycheck, but Eisner’s
self-driven opus shone like the lighthouse-library, a beacon
of inspiration to his peers. Eisner left us in 2005, but he did
get to see graphic novels resurface in this new century.
This time it seems different. Their diversity and quality are
stronger, the readership more curious and receptive, the
media less hyperbolic. No passing craze or graphic
novelties this time; a medium is coming into its own.
To guide you to those that may appeal to you, my
overriding emphasis in this book is on story, on content,
because I think these are what people are seeking most in
graphic novels. I filtered my first, long shortlist through a
number of criteria. First, they should be in English.
Fortunately, a good number from Europe, Japan, and
elsewhere have been translated. Second, they should be
compiled into books. I knowthat graphic novels need not
be in book form. They can exist as uncompiled part works,
serials in magazines and papers, even in unpublished
Start Here
manuscripts, but only collectors have the tenacity to hunt
down back issues. My emphasis is on easy availability.
Third, these books should be currently or recently in print.
If not, then they should not have become expensive
rarities. They should be reasonably easy to find and
affordable via dealers, libraries, or online. Fourth, my focus
is mainly on original graphic novels, meaning works first
created for and in comics, and not based on or adapting
other media and licensed properties, like video games, TV
shows, toys, films, or sources like plays and books. There
are quite enough exciting stories unique to comics. Fifth, I
have favored stories with a "beginning, middle, and end,”
rather than serials that will never reach a conclusion. A
few multi-volume stories here have not reached
completion yet, but they have an end in mind, even in
sight. Of the few graphic novels chosen in ongoing, open-
ended series, each tells a
solid, self-sufficient tale in
every volume. Finally, I
wanted to show you the
real variety of subjects and
voices out there now. To
that end, the graphic
novels are organized into
broad thematic chapters,
each work linking to others
by "secret reading lists” at
the foot of their pages. This
way you can explore them as your interests and tastes An American edition of
change. And ratherthan tell one big history of the graphic Rodolphe Topffer’s 1827 satirical
novel, I open each chapter with a thematic overview to story The Adventures of Mr.
give you some background and context. Obadiah Oldbuck, published by
So what are graphic novels? This book will give you Dick 81 Fitzgerald, New York,
lots of answers. As for a definition, I think Eddie Campbell, from the 1870s till 1888.
author of Alec and artist on From Hell, may be right when
he says in his manifesto that the term "graphic novel
signifies a movement rather than a form." Consequently,
"there is nothing to be gained by defining it.” Campbell
says this movement's goal is "to take the form of the
comic book, which has become an embarrassment, and
raise it to a more ambitious and meaningful level.” It is
“forging a whole new art which will not be a slave to the
arbitrary rules of an old one.” Listen carefully. Can you
hearthem? The scratching oftheir pens and pencils, the
clatter oftheir keyboards? At this moment, all over the
world, people are preparing more comics, more stories,
and defining a movement. Are you sitting comfortably?
If not, then on the following pages I have tried to
respond to those hoary old chestnuts that always seem to
come up when people talk about comics. Maybe I can help
to scotch some of these pet hates from the outset.
Things to Hate about Coivtfcs
Oh) those speech fca((oor)5.r
I know how those balloons can appear unnatural and
unnerving, hovering like Zeppelins over people’s heads,
floating all over the page, their tails pointing down to each
speaker’s mouth. For some people, opening a graphic novel
is like bursting into a cacophonous party where everyone
seems to be speaking at once.
But look again and you will see that they are not all
speaking at once. Tune out the babble and tune in to one
balloon at a time, so that the drawn figures acquire their
voices and communicate, with each other and with you.
Hear them and you'll find that, for a medium
without sound, comics adopted an effective graphic
solution, one with a long lineage and real flexibility.
As well as the lettering forms, the shape, color, and style
of a balloon can tell you a lot, from jagged edges for alarm
or anger to icicles for coldness.
Coiviicy are
just funnvbooks
Never underestimate the low art of mime and
foolery to puncture pomposity and to speak truths
in jest. But there is nothing inherent to comics
that prevents them from tackling whatever subject
you like, in whatever style and manner you choose.
The medium is not limited; it boils down to the
skills and ambitions of the creators. Harvey Pekar
had an epiphany when he realized, "Comics are
just words and pictures. You can do anything with
words and pictures."
They take no +7<v>e +o read
Slow down, you read too fast, you've got to make the
comic last. Comics might look as if they are "movies on
paper” but there is no need to read them like a flip-book.
Take more time before leaping across that gutter to the
next panel or you might just miss something.
I heard of someone who began to read
Watchmen and when he got to a sequence of several
pages with hardly any words, he skipped ahead until he
found the next text to read in a caption. If anything, when
the words vanish, you need to slow down all the more to
decode the purely visual messages in the panels.
You can't properly skip read graphic novels; make
them last, savor them, re-read them.
How are you supposed +o
read colics anyway?
You're not alone. Not everyone has grown up reading comics.
Maybe your parents, teachers, librarians, frowned on them and
discouraged or prevented you from reading them. Maybe you never
liked them yourself as a youngster. You might be an avid book reader,
but still be genuinely "comics-illiterate."
But don't let your inexperience about comics discourage you or
turn into an excuse not to try them. Nobody expects you to leap into
enjoying something unknown like ballet or modern art from the word
go. We all need ways into unfamiliar territory, so use this book to explore
how to read comics and find what appeals to you in graphic novels.
The novelist Philip Roth once described the act of reading a novel
as like "being in the presence of an alien artifact." For some people, that
can be even more true confronted by a graphic novel. Persepolis author
Marjane Satrapi only came to comics when she was 25. She advises,
"Like anything new, you have to cultivate your interest. It’s like in opera.
You have to go a couple of times to appreciate it.”
Cooley (eas/e nothing
for the Imagination
While it is true that in comics you are frequently
shown what the characters and settings look like,
you're still going to need your imagination to help
you to read what else those pictures are showing and
tel I i ng you, and to fill in the gaps asyou move from
one panel to the next. Luckily, pictures can stimulate
the imagination every bit as much as words, as a visit
to any art gallery proves.
Don't worry, there are words to read and
think about too in almost all graphic novels. There is
less space for words than in a novel, so they have to be
all the more precise, economic, and should be savored.
Remember the words don't always literally
describe or reinforce the pictures; one can clarify and
amplify the other, or they can be entirely separate.
They can contrast, counterpoint, even contradict each
other. Their interaction can shift from page to page,
panel to panel, within a panel. Comics will keepyour
imagination on your toes.
 Things +o Hate aboof Co<v»Ic?

I <rfor>’+ Me +f>e drawing
Hardly anybody makes an instant judgement based on the
typeface when you open a prose novel, but the artwork in graphic
novels is as varied and individual as the personalities of the artists,
almost like their handwriting. The drawing is the first thing you see
and it can put you off if it doesn’t appeal to your tastes.
Drawing in comics does not have to be realistic or
naturalistic. Sometimes, the most technically polished illustration
in comics fails to communicate or involve the reader, whereas less
"accomplished” drawing comes alive on the page and in your mind,
if you give it a chance.
A good deal of the art in mass-produced comics seems to
rely on repeating received ideas and formulas and so becomes slick
but dead. As a rule, great-looking art can never save a poor story,
but rough, even raw art can serve a great story perfectly. It’s the
storythat counts.
Characters are
lviacfe of cardboard
Comics have always used the shorthand of physiognomy,
the theory that what you look like represents your
character, much as we make judgments about people
from our first visual impressions. Baddies were always
ugly, good guys always handsome. That is not so different
from conventions in theatre or cinema. But even within
these simple codes, it has always been possible for comics
creators to find ways to deepen the inner lives of their
protagonists, so that they become more complex,
contradictory, flawed, and multi-dimensional, more like
us. Recent graphic novelists have given us memorable
characters like Luba from Palomar, Gemma Bovery, and
Corto Maltese, as well as the many autobiographical
representations of themselves.

Which do I To read first

—words or the pictures?
They’re so depressing A friend of mine used to have that trouble even with a “simple" newspaper strip.

It can seem as though, in a desire to be taken She would read only the text balloons first all the way through, and not understand it.

more seriously, graphic novelists have fixed Then she would go back and look only at all the pictures, and still not understand it.

on very serious, sometimes tragic, subjects. Images and text arrive together, work together, and should be read together.

But their books are not all gloom and doom; There's no one rule, but in some combination you read words and pictures in tandem

they’re often wonderful, life-affirming stories. and in cross reference, one informing the other. It's not so hard, but it is different from

And if you prefer to relax, laugh, or escape, reading neat, uniform columns of type.

there are still plenty of fantasies and Part of the knack of reading comics is being able to enter and move your eyes

comedies to enjoy as well. around inside each panel, the equivalent to one sentence or more. You scan the text in
every caption box, speech balloon, and thought cloud, moving within from top left to
bottom right (unless, of course, it’s a Japanese comic that reads right to left!). But you
also scan each picture in various directions for cues and clues: where are we? who is
V/hat are a(( those speaking or acting? It’s a bit like reading a map, diagram, or painting.

weird yy<v>to(s? Close in and concentrate on what's inside the first panel, then look for the

Not every graphic novelist chooses to use them, connections to the next panel. You do the same again here, on through the page.

but there is a large cartoon "lexicon" of symbols, Remember, you can look back anytime to check. And yes, you're bound to peek ahead,

"emoticons," speed lines, sound effects, and other but not too far oryou might spoil surprises to come.

elements that can seem artificial and unnatural. They

are useful graphic devices to add an extra "track” of
sound, motion, and emotion to the page. Several of
them are pointed out in the samples in this book.
ColWcj are a great way to
Just for fun, American comic strip creator ge* kids reading rea( books
Mort Walker came up with some delightfully silly Yes, that’s true, comics can encourage even the most reluctant reader,

names for some of them: "plewds" for sweatdrops to but this backhanded compliment, often from teachers, librarians, and

show anxiety or anger; "squeens” for the spirals to other "cheerleaders for the cause," implies that comics and graphic

represent confusion; "briffits” for the clouds of dust novels are useful primers, stepping stones to literacy, but not worth

when someone is running. Don’t worry about these reading in their own right as "real books” themselves.

symbols. The more you encounter them, the more their

meanings will become clear and you will adjust to them. So enough already, let’s get on with the good stuff...
Chafer 2

Stories to Change Your Life

C ERTAIN BOOKS, paintings, films, plays, or pieces
of music can come into your life at just the right
place and time, so that they help you see the
world in a different light, and perhaps affect how
you think and feel. I have found that the same can also be
true of the very best graphic novels. To start you on your
journey of discovery, I have shortlisted thirty personal
favorites that struck me profoundly at the time I first
read them and have stayed with me ever since.
Among these books may well be one or more that you
are aware of already. Perhaps Maus is the only graphic
novel you have ever heard of. Perhaps someone once lent
you a volume of Sandman, or you've seen the movies
based on From Hell, Chost World or Sin City. There is no
predicting what will be someone’s first encounter with a
graphic novel, for better or worse, but, whateveryour
reaction has been, one of these masterworks should be a
good place for you to start.
After browsing through these thirty titles, pick one
you know or one that intrigues you, and turn to the “In
focus” spread to read more about it. Here you will find
background notes and useful closer readings of key
pages and scenes, all designed to helpyou explore that
particular story. From there the "Reading on” directions
can lead you to discover other works that inspired or
preceded it, and those that follow it more or less directly.
In this way, every graphic novel in this book serves as a
portal leading you to further discoveries. For still more
information, each chapter opens with an overview'to put
all the works in context and highlight still more graphic
novels on related subjects. You never know, maybe one of
them will change your life too?

How to Use this Book

First, choose one of the thirty key graphic novels introduced in this chapter.
To discover more about it, turn to the page indicated for an “In focus" spotlight.
In focus- Maus in focus Maus scene tv r^ene
Scene by scene
This two-page spread To get more of a flavor of
appears later in the book Ornwlnij choices
the book, you can read
within the relevant thematic further scenes shown on the
chapter. Here you can step right page. These are either
inside the story and read single page extracts or,
sample extracts, starting on when they are joined
the left with one large page, i together, sequences of two
pages.

What's going on? Background detail

Captions help you read the
Captions and illustrated
page. Captions around the
Sidebars give you extra
extract explain the scene,
details and useful
its context, and what to
background to enhance
look out for. Special
your enjoyment.
features in the panels
are pointed out.

What's it calledReading on keywords Following on pages

Title, author(s), date of first
publication in English in
book form, number of
volumes, number of pages.
If you'd like to explore some of the themes dealt with in this
graphic novel further, choose one of the themes from the ",Reading
on" list at the foot of the page. Turn to the page indicated and
you'll find samples from related stories. Where two books appear
on the same page, the two keywords for the top book appear first.
You can also turn the page and after each "In
focus" spotlight you will find two "Following on"
pages with samples from four stories on the
same or similar themes. These in turn have
"Reading on" keywords to direct you further.

The Air+foh+ Garage
Expect the unexpected when you enter the strange
and beautiful fantasy worlds imagined by France's
Moebius, alias Jean Giraud. Eccentric explorer Major
Grubert is a charmingly unreliable guide to his
wanderings through multi-layered alien civilizations
and technologies. There is a hypnotic dream logic to
this science fiction tale, the result of the way
Moebius devised this serial in the magazine Metal
Hurlant as an exercise in total improvisation and
freedom from conventions and constraints. Here the
author can be as surprised as the reader by what
comes next. Like Moebius, abandon expectations
and delight in the inventing of a universe.
IN FOCUS 90
The bark Kt)lgh* Return*
In a near future Gotham City where crime is running
out of control, an older, battle-scarred Batman with
middle-age spread comes out of retirement to
restore order to the streets. Frank Miller restored the
brooding romanticism of this archetypal vengeful
superhero, while questioning the role of the
vigilante in a supposedly democratic system. His
satire assaults wet liberals as savagely as the
extreme right, by showing Superman used as a
naive government lackey and bleeding heart
liberals adopting the homicidal Joker as a worthy
cause. This "Dark Knight of the soul" is a very
different creature of the night to the camp pop art
Batman of the sixties.
IN FOCUS 78
Pa(ot*ar
Among the varied characters created by the
Hispanic-Californian Gilbert Hernandez, his women
are especially strong, sensual, and fully realized.
Most notable of these are his indomitable heroines
and matriarchs, Luba, the bath-house keeper, and
Chelo, the sheriff, who together struggle to preserve
their rustic way of life and fend off the threats of
outside forces and unstoppable change. Hernandez
takes time to elaborate the closely related lives of
the townspeople of Palomar, enabling the reader
to get to know them intimately through the
years. Part social document, part magic realism
comparable to Marquez and Allende, Palomar
is epic on a human scale.
IN FOCUS 48
S+orie* +o Change Your Life
Mao*
The intimate and unflinching history of Art
Spiegelman's father Vladek, a Polish Jew and
survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp,
combined with the present-day life of the author
in New York, just turned thirty, as he tries to rebuild
his relationship with his father and to understand
himself. Why portray Jews as mice and Nazis as
cats? Spiegelman is harking back both to the
cat-and-mouse antics in early animation and
comics, and to the legacy of racist propaganda
that used such imagery. Maas not only gives a
firsthand account of the Holocaust, but is also
a brave attempt to address the pain of today’s
children of survivors.
IN FOCUS 60
VMen the Wind B(ow*
An elderly English couple, Jim and Hilda Bloggs,
RRVmDNQ BRIGGS
never think to question the government's hopelessly
When the Wind Blaius
inadequate guidelines for surviving in the event of
a nuclear attack. They try constructing a makeshift
shelter and cheerfully muddle through, trusting
that normal service will resume shortly, while the
radiation poisoning slowly takes effect. This was not
the sort of subject people had associated before
with Raymond Briggs, author of the children's books
The Snowman and Father Christmas. His quietly
chilling indictment created public uproar and debate
in Parliament in 1982 and went on to be adapted
for radio, stage, and as an animated movie.
IN FOCUS 148
Watchmen
Watchmen takes its title from the warning "Who
watches the Watchmen?" In a parallel Earth that is
close to ours yet subtly altered, British creators Alan
Moore and Dave Gibbons ask how far we should
trust unaccountable guardians, whetherthey be
outlawed superheroes coping with midlife crises
or superpowers intent on unleashing global war.
Watchmen is about ordinary people, not just those
with extraordinary powers and colorful costumes,
and examines the ways they try to make a
difference and make sense of their lives, while the
world lurches towards a nuclear armageddon.
IN FOCUS 82
Stones to Change Tour Ufe
The Frank Boofc
With barely a word or a sound effect, Jim Woodring
conceives an hypnotic otherworld as "pure" cartoon
in sharp, quivering lines or a rainbow of old-time,
painted animation colors. With his four-fingered
gloves, big feet and two front teeth, Frank resembles
a generic hybrid of classic critters Mickey, Felix and
Bugs, but his bewildered escapades are stranger and
deeper. These occur in a mystical, force-laden
landscape, governed by its own bizarre logic. Here
Frank encounters the pitiful, pink Manhog, the
"jivas” or ornate, ever-changing souls, his testy pet
demi-god Pupshaw, and his Real and Faux Pa.
Frank's stories are a cross between fables and
allegories, disturbing lessons with a playful wink.
IN FOCUS 136
Cerebus
What Canadian Dave Sim began in 1977 as a funny
animal parody of Conan the Barbarian starring an
aardvark, metamorphosed, after a year or two, into a
massive, and massively daring novel, mapped out
over 6,000 pages. Sim narrates the travels and
travails of Cerebus, a decidedly unheroic maverick,
apparently motivated solely by personal gain, who
becomes ensnared in his superiors' political power
games. Along the way, figures based on Groucho,
Margaret Thatcher, Ernest Hemingway, Oscar Wilde,
even Giles's Grandma intervene. In his landmark
experiment, Sim conducts a freewheeling
questioning of ideologies and philosophies and
challenges his own singular convictions.
IN FOCUS 140
The Mkopol Trilogy
In 1993, an army tribunal sentences deserter Alcide
Nikopol to orbital cryogenic imprisonment. Twenty
years later, his capsule plummets him back to an
almost unrecognizable world, where a fascist elite
rules from plague-ridden Paris, while overhead in a
pyramid ship hover the gods of Egypt. On the run
from these deities, the falcon-headed Horus takes
possession of Alcide’s body to carry out his plans.
Alcide's fate becomes tied to his son, who shares his
name and appearance, and to reporter Jill Bioskop
with her blue hair, lips and tears. Yugoslav visionary
Enki Bilal paints a tangible, lived-in dystopia, blackly
absurd in its web of geopolitical intrigues, temporal
anomalies, and promises of immortality.
IN FOCUS 94
My Troubles w 1+h Worsen
Out of all his characters, from lecherous Fritz the
Cat to mystic Mr. Natural, perhaps Robert Crumb's
greatest cartoon creation is Robert Crumb himself.
Riddled with lust and Catholic guilt, "your favorite
neurotic cartoonist" treats comics as an unbridled
fantasy outlet and a confession booth. Middle-aged
and married with a kid, he looks back on his rocky
sexual career with hilarious anguish and candor.
From playing 'footsy' and fixating on Sheena,
Queen of the Jungle as a boy, his sixties fame
finally got him all the women of his dreams, who
ignored him as a shy teen. Understandably bitter, if
not twisted, Crumb outrages, annoys and endears
with his self-deprecating bluntness.
IN FOCUS 172
Scene of the Cn^e
Private detective Jack Herriman, a former junkie and
the son of a dead cop, is haunted by his past. Now
living with his uncle, a crime-scene photographer,
he tries to make a fresh start, when his father’s
former partner hands him a routine missing persons
case. But when theyoung woman he was hired to
find turns up dead, Jack discovers some disturbing
secrets lurk in her past, when she belonged to a
shady sex cult. In his search for her killer, Jack is also
forced to face the truth about his own family
turmoil. Writer Ed Brubaker and artists Michael Lark
and Sean Philips deliver a gritty, updated take on the
hard-boiled murder mystery, in the spirit of
Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald.
IN FOCUS 118
A Contract wfth God
In the vein of recollections by Isaac Bashevis Singer
and Philip Roth, this set of dark, poignant vignettes
of Jewish immigrant life set in a Bronx tenement
draws on Will Eisner's Depression-era youth. In the
title story, a devout businessman feels betrayed by
God for allowing his adopted daughter to die.
Other tenants include an alcoholic gigolo seducing
a lonely, faded opera diva for her money to pay for
his addiction, and a scheming under-age temptress
who drives the building's superintendent to
suicide, after she steals his savings and poisons his
only friend, his dog. In 1978, Eisner, aged sixty,
reinvigorated his career and the medium with
these tough yet compassionate urban fables.
IN FOCUS 40
 S+orTes +o Change Your Life

lYs a Good Life... Froto tfe((

Feeling displaced from the speed and excess of the Those expectingto learn Jack the Ripper’strue

present, Seth is a young Canadian cartoonist,

bibliophile and daydreamer who longs for the FROM identity may be surprised that From Hell is less a

"Whodunnit” and more a meditative "Whydunnit".

simpler, less ugly days of the past. His discovery of

some forgotten gag cartoons from the 1940s signed

"Kalo" sets him on a personal mission to find out

HELL V-'
While writer Alan Moore uses exacting research

and informed guesswork to reconstruct the

murders of five prostitutes in Victorian London's

i
more about this obscure mystery penman. The East End, captured by artist Eddie Campbell’s

process of piecing together Kalo's career and life J&nx vigorous, textured renderings, his aim is to dissect
£'■ ‘ ’ „ .
prompts him to examine his own past and to "-4 • J > ■ r the body of evidence more imaginatively, probing

reconsider his work and relationships. There is a ■ ' ’ ■ -X, for its meanings and mythology. He reveals the
alan moore ■ eddie Campbell
gentle, exquisite sadness to Seth’s haunting images period’s patterns of power, class, society, and

of old buildings, winter woodlands and passing sexuality and how they persist through time. The

trains, and in his musings on the meaningthat horror of The Ripper is that he is the harbinger of

remains from a vanished life. the 20th century and is still with us today.

IN FOCUS 52 IN FOCUS 164

American SMen^or B(ac(i Ho(e

In the words of Cleveland everyman philosopher In a small American town in the mid-1970s, an

Harvey Pekar, "Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff." unknown, sexually transmitted virus is causing

For nearly thirty years he has been findingthe unique, irreversible mutations in adolescent high

magic in the mundane and transcribing his school students: hair covers the face; webbing

everyday experiences, and those of his friends and appears between fingers; a tiny second mouth

acquaintances, into his self-published comic opens over one boy's adam’s apple; a girl grows a

book American Splendor, illustrated by his record¬ preternatural tail and sheds her skin. With their

collecting pal R. Crumb and many others. It was not hormonal bodies seemingly out of control, some try

quite overnight, but thanks to an award-winning to conceal their deformities, but others become

movie adaptation of his life and work, Pekar has ostracized and form a fragile community hiding in

gone from a marginal pioneer of slice-of-life comix the woods. Charles Burns is a modern horror master,

to something of a cult cultural figure. From his never gratuitous or cheap, slowly dissecting the

victory over cancer to his brush with fame, Pekar American nightmare in luscious swathes of ink and

shares the 'splendors' of his life with everyone. brushmarks of almost inhuman precision.

IN FOCUS 144 IN FOCUS 110

Pa(es*nne Ghost
Joe Sacco spent two months in the West Bank and Confused Jewish extrovert Enid and quiet, prettier

Gaza Strip during the winter of 1991, witnessing the blonde Rebecca are teen outsiders and opposites,

daily lives of Palestinians underthe repressions of united by their listless thrill-seeking and contempt

prolonged occupation. Back home in America, Sacco for conformity. Their contradictory closeness is

transformed over one hundred interviews with tested by the pressures of life after high school,

Palestinians and Jews, eyewitness photos and which force them to grow up and grow apart.

research, and personal responses into a new form of Daniel Clowes's original graphic novel drops the

New Journalism: autobiographical comics reportage. movie's subplot with record-collector Seymour to

Quoted accounts of detention, harassment, torture, keep a closer, darker focus on Enid and Rebecca.

land confiscation, and killings, and the pernicious Clowes distills tender yet unpatronizing portraits

mood of powerlessness are given added dimension of this unlikely couple, as they face the self¬

by Sacco's scrupulous renderings and freewheeling destructive bewilderment of adolescence and the

internal commentary. More graphically than any TV fragility of friendship in the "ghost world" of

or press report, Sacco grounds us in a lived reality. suburbia’s soulless sprawl.

IN FOCUS 68 IN FOCUS 52
Stories to Change Voor Life
Lort 6ir(s
Three very different women gather in a luxury
English hotel on the eve of the First World War: a
bubbly Kansas redhead named Dorothy, a prim,
reserved Londoner called Wendy, and the eldest,
Alice, a pale opium addict. As they become closer,
they confide in each other their first erotic
awakenings and fantasies, which bear uncanny
resemblances to well-known children’s stories,
respectively The Wizard ofOz, Peter Pan and Alice in
Wonderland. The symbolism and subtexts of these
books are sensitively explored by Alan Moore and
his partner, artist Melinda Gebbie, who redefine the
tired pornography formula into an elegant, arousing
celebration of the discoveries and pleasures of sex.
IN FOCUS 180
Sin City
Noir doesn't come much blackerthan this series of
brooding, violent rites of redemption and revenge
off the mean streets of the aptly named Sin City. A
battered bruiser named Marv spends one night with
a beautiful girl, only to wake up with her dead body
and accused of her murder. An ageing cop, framed
for the crimes of a senator's pedophile son, has one
last case to close. Frank Miller plunges his granite¬
like tough guys and curvaceous badgirls into deep
shadow and blinding, artificial light, rain and bullets
slicing up the page, abstracted into brutal black and
white. His prose is terse, feverish, recalling Mickey
Spillane and Jim Thompson; his layouts are kinetic,
designed for maximum impact.
IN FOCUS 122
Barefoot Gen
Keiji Nakazawa was six in 1945, when an atomic
BAREFOOT GEN bomb exploded above his hometown, Hiroshima. He
A CARTOON STORY OF HIROSHIMA
miraculously survived, but was unable to save his
family from their burning home. Nakazawa never
forgot the hellish aftermath of radiation poisoning
and starvation he and his mother endured. In 1972
he began recording it as a weekly manga serial,
Kelli starring his alter ego, Barefoot Gen. Nakazawa takes
Nakazawa
the first 250 pages before the bomb drops to show
the brutality of the Japanese war machine and its
humiliation of his pacifist father. He then pulls no
punches showing the harrowing human costs of the
blast and its fallout. His ten-volume memoir is a
passionate, moving indictment of nuclear weapons.
IN FOCUS 64
Bucjcjhd
A part-fictional life story of Prince Siddhartha's
quest to find the path to enlightenment as the
Buddha is told across nine volumes totalling nearly
3,000 pages by Japan’s 'God of Manga' Osamu
Tezuka. His distinctive approach can seem
incongruous if you expect comics with a serious
theme to be unremittingly serious. He combines
great depth with light-hearted comedy, detailed,
realistic landscapes with cartoonish characters and
animals, and a meticulous recreation of history
with shameless anachronisms. But Tezuka’s
seeming opposites work together and his inventive
sequences, especially those conveying spiritual
awakening, carry a breathtaking emotive charge.
IN FOCUS 160
Strange Embrace
Old sins never die. Sexual repression, dysfunction
and disease are at the heart of this gothic chiller.
Alex is a malicious mind-reader, who preys on
tortured souls to add to his collection of stories.
Addicted to ever more intense psychic images, he
breaks into the mind of ailing lodger Anthony
Corbeau. He unlocks dreadful suppressed memories
of Corbeau's youthful obsession with carved African
masks, his loveless marriage and his self-mutilation.
In ever darker twists of fate, author David Hine
unravels this family tragedy, rooted in the scandals
of syphilis and the madness it spreads, and in
Victorian religious extremism and hypocrisy. As Alex
sneers, "All the best stories end in the grave.”
IN FOCUS 106
Et>Uet>+ic
How do you survive as a child when your older
brother Jean-Christophe, aged eleven, starts to
suffer repeated epileptic fits? In 1960s France,
young David B. seeks answers in books of history
and mythology and protects himself with his
imagination and dreams. He draws himself in
armor battling his brother's disease, while their
parents latch onto a parade of quacks and gurus,
none of whom offer any cure. Afraid that epilepsy
is stalking him, David as an adult turns to comics to
record his childhood overshadowed by the illness,
and its ongoing effects on his life and family. This is
an angry yet loving plea for understanding from a
son to his family, from brother to brother.
IN FOCUS 28

Getotoa Bo very
A sharply observed, satirical updating of Flaubert's
Madame Bovary, literature's most notorious
adulteress. Gemma is the discontented second wife
of Charlie Bovery and stepmother to his kids. Tired
of her life in London, Gemma persuades Charlie to
retreat to rural France, where, like her namesake,
she is drawn towards ennui, debt, and adultery.
Local baker Raymond Joubert is convinced that
Gemma is doomed to repeat Emma Bovary’s fate
and it's from his anxious perspective and his
discovery of Gemma’s diaries that the tragedy is
retold in flashback. Posy Simmonds seamlessly
blends this typeset narrative with letters, diary
entries, and insightful ink-and-wash drawings.
IN FOCUS 176
V for Vendetta
England in the near future has descended into a
Big Brother hell, where racial, ethnic and sexual
"deviants" are sent to camps to be executed or
experimented upon. Orwellian order is absolute,
except for the one bane of this totalitarian regime,
the shadowy operator known as "V.” Disguised
beneath a theatrical cloak, hat and grinning mask,
he becomes a symbol of anarchy and resistance. His
face is never seen, but his identity is revealed to be a
survivor of the camps, intent on wiping out the
perpetrators of such misery. Angry at Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher's policies, Alan Moore and David
Lloyd produced an impassioned eulogy to radicalism
and freedom that has become timeless.
IN FOCUS 126
Locas
Like an anarchic Betty and Veronica with no time for
Archie, Mexican-American Maggie Chascarillo and
Hopey Glass, her on-again, off-again lover, are
locas or "crazy women," who come of age during
Southern California's 1980s punk rock revolution.
Jaime Hernandez's experiences of barrio and punk
life infuse his characters with authenticity. Maggie
comes to define herself amid race, class and gender
tensions, evolving from angry punkette to mature
adult, while Hopey's fractious free spirit exerts a
constant influence on her life. Hernandez's crisp art
and naturalistic storytelling drive this emotional
rollercoaster of women wrestlers, car engines, loud
guitars, gang wars, tight jeans, and heartfelt love.
IN FOCUS 44
Stories to Change Your Life
Corto Maltese
The voyages of the sea-faring adventurer Corto
BflLLflDoF Maltese find him embroiled in some of the most
turbulent turning points in early 20th century
world history, from the Russian revolution in
Siberia to the troubles in Northern Ireland. Italy's
Hugo Pratt blends a vivid, closely researched sense
of place and period with sweeping romantic
adventure, in the vein of Conrad and Hemingway.
Widely travelled himself and fascinated by
historical secrets and world cultures, Pratt created a
sort of alter ego in the elusive handsome sailor in
his cap, earring and bellbottoms. Elusive and
seemingly detached, Corto steers an unpredictable
course between self-interest and selflessness.
IN FOCUS 156
The Sandman
The Sandman is British author Neil Gaiman's most
admired graphic novel, unravelling through a series
of fantasy tales collected in ten books. With a host
of artists, Gaiman constructs a modern mythology
centered around the Endless. These are an extended
family of seven symbolic beings that includes The
Sandman himself, otherwise known as Morpheus,
king of dreams, as well as Desire, Delirium, Destiny,
and Death herself, personified as a perky, pale Goth.
Driven as much by mood as plot, these stories veer
from short, sharp shockers and tender character
studies to underlying themes, steeped in literary and
legendary references, of the roles of dreams and the
question of Morpheus's death and succession.
IN FOCUS 98
J(iv>tvy/ Corrlgar)
Jimmy Corrigan, a thirty-six-year-old loner adrift in
1980s small-town Michigan, journeys to the city to
meet the father he never knew for the first time.
Drawing partly on his own experience, Chris Ware
charts every nuance of the awkward interplay
between an overly convivial father and a quiet,
vulnerable son, forever strangers to each other.
Ware weaves in the childhoods of Jimmy's father
and grandfather, disclosing the aching void created
from one Corrigan generation to the next by the
lack of parental affection. Somehow characters
simplified into cartoon diagrams become heart-
breakingly real and life's ambivalence and cruelty
are tempered by passages of melancholic beauty.
IN FOCUS 24
The shadow* retreated
Into the rooty of each tree?
t?ut we re^afnec/ wf>ere we were.
Chapter 3
A Lynda Barry lived in a troubled household with
CRAIG THOMPSON
Right: A1925 edition of Max and
Moritz by Wilhelm Busch, first
published in 1865
Opposite page: Phoebe
Gloeclcner’s persona Minnie
from A Child’s life
The Undiscovered Country
child of the early 1960s, American cartoonist
her Filipino Mom, and her Dad, who drank vodka in
the basement. As her parents fought and headed
towards separation, Lynda found another world and
imaginary friends in the funnies that came free inside
the newspapers. She would gaze into Bil Keane's circular
Family Circus cartoons as if they were windows onto a
homely nirvana she had never known. "I wanted things
like that in my life that were that simple." Later, as an
adult, she met Keane’s son Jeff, his successor on Family
Circus and the model for the cartoons' permanently three
year-old Jeffy. "I cried when I shook his hand, because
I felt I’d finally been able to step inside that circle."
Comics can exert this sort of a hold because
they are often the first pieces of fiction that a
young boy or girl chooses for themselves. This
printed matter becomes a secret retreat from
parents or siblings, a private way of facing
fears and fantasies, a trove of big, important
tales to read over and over, snuck inside
your schoolbooks or under the bedsheets by
torchlight. Lynda Barry was not the only young
reader for whom early exposure to comics
would spark an enthusiasm to draw them for
herself. Through her frank and funny strips,
Barry can now look back at her childhood with
the benefit of hindsight. Her personal Family Circus is
no simplistic, white, middle-class idyll; hers is raw,
raucous and far closer to many people's real experience.
Her deceptively naive drawing and large, skewed letters
have a childlike directness that gives you the feeling of
being privy to a teenage girl’s secret diary. Her short
reflections acquire a cumulative effect, a mood that is
ironic and critical about herself, while never sinking into
self-loathing. One of her admirers, the British novelist Nick
Hornby, singled out her gift in The New York Times Book
Review. "What she is particularly good at is resonance.
These stories all contain little grenades of meaning that
tend to explode just afteryou've read the last line. One
can deduce that Barry had a tough childhood, but she
prefers to concentrate on the details that connect rather
than those that may exclude."
Connecting with the reader is what the best
graphic novelists strive for. They turn the personal and
specific into something universal and inclusive. When they
re-examine their sometimes painful transitions through
infancy and puberty, we can recognize or empathize with
our own formative years. Some people fondly recall this
period as an age of innocence, but for others it can be
far from the sun-filled realm idealized by certain sugary
children's authors or movie-makers. A lack of affection,
if not cruelty, from parents, or just its opposite, excessive
mothering and smothering or unwanted sexual
attentions, can all have long-term effects. So too can
illness or early death in the family, and prejudice, bullying
and strict religious or political doctrine at home or in
school. Once innocence is lost and childhood comes to an
end, there is still the turmoil of adolescence
to navigate. No longer a child but not yet
considered an adult, what is a teenager’s
place in the world? Becoming a grown-up like
our parents can seem like a surrender, so the
v ^5«v*n (Trick*
responses to parental expectations and social
Jl?i3heJra jBusch. conformity can often be alienation, anger, and
rebellion. It seems that each misunderstood
generation has had to make its own mistakes
UK AU N * JCHNI.IDFH MUNI Cl
in order to find its own identity.
When did the experiences and
J emotions of children and teenagers start
to be addressed honestly in comics? From the start, there
was little scope for this within the mass-market, so long
as publishers demanded only ephemeral laughs and
neatly resolved, escapist adventures. Among the first-born
children of the comics were Germany’s prototypical,
mischievous brats Max and Moritz by Wilhelm Busch,
while in New York Richard Outcault’s Irish urchin The
Yellow Kid trod the backstreets barefoot and bald in
nothing but a yellow shirt and a wide smile. Less earthy,
more respectable tykes soon arrived in Outcault's upper-
class rascal Buster Brown and Winsor McCay’s dreaming
Little Nemo. Their tales derived in large part from the
conventions of 19th-century children's literature and
its moralizing lessons that misbehavior must always
be punished and there’s no place like home. Children
might be granted the vicarious thrill of reading about
The Undiscovered Coon+ry
Opposite: The first confessional
comic, Justin Green’s Binky
Brown meets The Holy Virgin
Mary from 1972.
Above: Helen from The Tale of
One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot
Opposite: A son leads his father
from Paul Hornschemeier’s
Mother, Come Home
naughtiness, as long as the conclusion demonstrated its
inevitably disastrous consequences. On the other hand,
they could imagine themselves as model youngsters,
plucky, stout-hearted, resourceful, wise beyond their
years. These were allowed to go off on adventures in
wonderlands, slumberlands, perhaps to the big city or
foreign parts, certain that any perils or injustice would be
overcome, and they would be rewarded by arriving back
safe where they belonged, none the worse for wear.
For decades, most child stars in comics spent their
days frozen in a never-neverland, eternally young. That
explains part of their charm. We accept that Little Orphan
Annie and Little Lulu will never lose their girlish will-power
or shop for their first bra. We accept that Dennis the
Menace will never behave himself and that no peach fuzz
will ever sprout on Tintin's chin. America's "typical
teenager” Archie will never get more than a peck out of
either Betty or Veronica. This halted passage of time has
been one of the reassuring pleasures of comics. While
our lives fly by in constant flux, we can return
to these familiar friends performing the
same routines. Every gag or escapade
plays yet another seemingly endless
variation on a theme. This stasis can
enable writers and artists to
explore theirtheme at length,
and sometimes in depth. It also
guarantees a fixed brand, a
merchandizable property, that
can be sold forever.
The exceptions were
rare. In Terry and the Pirates,
Milton Can iff resolved to let Terry
grow from boy to man, and fight
and fall in love through the Second
World War. When Frank King was
instructed to add baby Skeezix, found
in a basket on bachelor Walt Wallet's
doorstep, to his Gasoline Alley daily, he felt it
was essential that the baby and all his characters would
age. "You have a one-week-old baby, but he can’t stay one-
week-old forever; he had to grow up.” King made Gasoline
Alley into a sweet, evolving family saga and had Skeezix
grow to be a husband and father himself. If other
cartoonists eventually made some change to their
young characters' status quo, it was not long before
they would settle into another status quo.
The safe conservatism of the medium was rocked
in the fearful years following the Second World War
by such new, grittier genres as crime and romance in
American comic books. Anthologies specialized in short.
complete stories that charted the fate of a different
protagonist each time. With no stable, recurring
characters, anything could happen to them: a streetkid
gets sucked into a vortex of crime; a teenage girl loses her
heart to the wrong man. Tales of broken laws and broken
hearts didn't always have a happy ending. Just as comic
book creators began to engage with more of the real
issues of life, an epidemic of moral panics spread
across North America, Europe and elsewhere about
what was perceived as comics’ corrupting influence on
impressionable youngsters. These scares led to some of
the tightest controls on any medium. Governments in
Britain, France and Canada enacted severe new laws,
while the American industry only avoided legislation by
financing an independent Comics Code Authority from
1955 to censor anything that failed to comply with its
infantalizing code.
There was a price to be paid for making the
newsstands safe again for kids. Art Spiegelman, author of
Maus, explained: "Cartoonists were actually expected to
keep a lid on their psyches and personal histories, or at
least disguise and sublimate them into diverting
entertainments." Occasionally cracks in the mask showed
through. In 1950, Charles Schulz introduced feelings of
inadequacy, disappointment and melancholy into the
comic-strip world of children. In Peanuts, Schulz never
pretended that childhood was the happiest of times. He
always remembered the rejection of his love by a red¬
headed girlfriend and put himself into all of his cast of
characters, most clearly in Charlie Brown, his namesake.
Readers like the young Chris Ware and Seth warmed to
Schulz's gang, who were grappling with the same
insecurities as them.
It was finally only during America's underground
movement centered in San Francisco's hippy subculture of
the late 1960s and early 1970s that the more
uncomfortable complexities of growing up could fully
surface. This breakthrough required an entirely new
format, publishers and distribution: comic books for adults
only, with modest print runs, black and white interiors,
higher cover prices, and sold via drug paraphernalia
shops, sidestepping the Comics Code Authority. Initially,
when the medium broke free of its enforced, arrested
development, the underground comix with an "x" seemed
to stand for "X-rated," as Robert Crumb, 5. Clay Wilson and
others tried to out do each other in breaking all taboos.
But Justin Green invented a new genre in 1972, when he
became the first neurotic visionary to unburden his
uncensored psychological troubles onto the pages of Binky
Brown meets The Holy Virgin Mary, an astonishing self-
flagellation of Catholic guilt and obsessive-compulsive

disorder. Within months, Green’s searingly candid
confessional immediately galvanized Spiegelman and
Crumb into their first attempts at autobiography. As
Spiegelman put it, "What the Bronte sisters did for Gothic
romance, what Tolkien did for sword-and-sorcery, Justin
Green did for confessional, autobiographical comix.”
Without Binky Brown, Maus would not exist, and
both in turn have inspired more cartoonists to deal with
their early experiences and their after-effects. Some like
David B., Al Davison or Chester Brown apparently put all of
themselves center stage inside their panels; others like
Chris Ware, Paul Hornschmeier or Max Cabanes adopt an
alter ego and use memories, diaries, fragments from the
past as a template for a more or less fictionalized life. Any
similarities between author and alter ego may be just
that: similarities, not necessarily the unvarnished truth.
Chris Ware, for example, had spent his entire life
avoiding contact with his father, so he knew full well how
a son might feel when out of the blue he receives a phone
call from a man claiming to be his father. In strange
synchronicity, when this happened to him, Ware was
immersed on Jimmy Corrigan, attempting to cope with
that issue while serializing his graphic novel. Ware
pinpoints exactly the father’s emotional disconnection,
his empty, one-sided conversation, his overly cheerful
self-confidence that one hug will brush away the years of
absence. Like Jimmy, Ware also learnt offhand from his
The Undiscovered Country
father that he had a sibling. In other ways, however, he
kept life and fiction distinct. He dedicated the book to his
mother partly to clarify that she "bears no resemblance
whatsoever to the miserable wretch who dominates More Childhood Stories
poor Jimmy."
The Ride Together
For some their graphic novels can become a sort of JULY & PAUL KARASIK
Memoir of a brother's autism
art therapy, or an attempt to understand the past, if not
Hey, Wait...
always a cathartic release from it. For Phoebe Gloeckner, JASON
her comics based on herteenage traumas raise questions The burden of a boy’s mistake
that she may never totally resolve, but drawing them Patty Cake
SCOTT ROBERTS
becomes a survival mechanism. One concern is how Wild, precocious, and seven
honest a first-person memoir should be, as it may well Daddy’s Girl
offend or contradict others. During his account of growing DEBBIE DRECHSLER
Surviving incest and more
up with an epileptic older brother, David B. portrayed his
X-Day
mother objecting to certain sequences. Despite this, he SETONA MUZUSHIRO
felt compelled to pursue his view of the truth, with the Kids plot to blow up the school
Zero Girl
result that she refused to speak to him for three years.
SAM KEITH
Craig Thompson’s parents may never understand why he Infatuation with a teacher
recorded his repressive Christian upbringing and sexual Kampung Boy
LAT
revolt—"They think I've bought my ticket to Hell” —but
Life in a Malaysian village
thousands of young Americans have found in his memoir
Astronauts in Trouble
Blankets a piece of their own existence. TRONDHEIM & LARCENET
Kids uncover alien conspiracy
You don't always have to write or draw what you
Big Baby
know. There are many graphic novels about growing up
CHARLES BURNS
that are not derived from the author’s life but become The horrors next door
authentic and affecting through a mix of observation, I Never Liked You
CHESTER BROWN
research and storytelling skills. Daniel Clowes and Nabiel A mother's schizophrenia
Kanan somehow innately understand the limbo that their
teen heroines are going through. To make a convincing
tale of one runaway girl struggling with the effects of her
father's molestation, Bryan Talbot read transcripts that let
abuse survivors speak for themselves and found a perfect
metaphor in the life and picture books of Beatrix Potter.
Neil Gaiman may narrate Violent Cases in person
and in the first person, but he deliberately casts
doubt about the veracity of the yarn he spins, by
playing on the unreliability of memory and
the ways we construct our stories.
Lynda Barry wonders, "Is it
autobiography if parts of it are
not true? Is it fiction if parts of it
are?” She prefers to call her fusion of
the two "autobifictionalography,” the
fictional being incorporated within the
autobiographical. Whether or not these stories
about growing up are true, in the sense
that everything really happened to the
person who created them, or total
fabrication becomes unimportant. What
matters is that they ring emotionally true,
and let us feel that we too can step inside the circle.
JiiMtoy Corrigan Fn focus

“In terms of attention to detail, graceful use of color, and overall design, Ware has no peer.
And while each panel is relentlessly polished-never an errant line or lazily rendered image-
his drawings-somehow, remain delicate and achingly lyrical
DAVE EGGER5

Parental bonds Memory tricks

One focus of Chris JUST PLEASE
MT, OKAY?
THUMBS UP
YOU KNOW WHAT
These pivotal pages
i MEAN' _
Ware's book is the come from a 30-page
difficulty of sincere, encounter in a medical
human communication IF IT’S COOKED
clinic, where limmy is
JUST RIGHT.
of any kind, especially being treated for a
between distant parents sprain and a
and their children. For nosebleed after an
the first time, limmy accidental fall.
Corrigan visits his
father in Chicago, who While a phone rings
vanished when he was in the next room,
small. Their one-sided his father gives
conversations are H*J CXA% JIMMY.,
HE’S JUST COINS TO the "thumbs up" to
TAKE A PICT*me

dominated by his Thanksgiving turkey

father's banalities, GOPOAAIMIT ISN’T |
dinners. These spark
ANYONE GOING TO 1
limmy hardly speaks, ANSWER THAT PHOHSf limmy's subconscious,
AT THE MOMENT NO 01
MWIAKI TO "AKf >0u
but his mind is always e»l ftEASt HAVE )OW i
shown in a memory
THEY GET A EOT OF
churning. BUSINESS HERE... A
LOT OF BUSINESS
grid of twelve small
squares. In three
repeated images of a
Associations UlN'iAfit

phone, he remembers
The slightest word, more of a recent call
sound or image can from his mother
trigger associations pressuring him to
with unresolved issues come home for
from limmy's past. Thanksgiving. The
Here his father's other nine squares
pointing finger sends insert limmy as a
him back to a day child, eating turkey
when he took a photo with his mother, and
of him and his mother, later in bed hearing
recorded in one
her crying at night.
larger panel.

After this. Ware has

“Hi Dad"
his father poke his The "beep" of the
other finger in his ear answering machine
and study, wipe and sets off another chain
eat the wax, an ugly of limmy 's thoughts
habit and maybe a related to a message
symbol of his inability starting "Hi Dad," that
to listen. he heard being left on
his father's machine.

Plucking up courage
to ask, limmy is
stunned to learn
Like father, here that his father
has a daughter.
like son? He has to repeat
When they first meet the word, which
at the airport, there's
an uneasy silence as Jimmy Corrigan appears as small
as his whisper,
they recognize how Chris Ware before his father's
much they look alike. 2001,1 volume, 380 pages wounding reply.

READING ON: FAMILY SECRETS 106 | MOTHERS 150 | MEMORY 34 | NOSTALGIA 148
 Jltot*y Corrigan scene by scene

Generations
THEN Tragedy and a lack of
parental affection have
plagued the Corrigans for
generations. As sad as
Jimmy's fatherless life has
been, his grandfather's
childhood was no better a
Teeth aren’t Supposed to COME OUT he Throws it into the Yard
century earlier. Ware
transports us from present-
This Passionate
Disposal o/EVIDENCE
7 MAYBE I CAN FIND IT TOMORROW
I'Ll GO OUT WHEN NO ONE’S LOOKING
day Chicago back to the
Passes without run-up to the city's 1893
World Exposition.
Detection

Little lames grows up

1 DIDN'T THINK
TT WOULD COME OUT frightened of his father,
I’LL HOLD IT IN
WITH MY TONGUE
WHtNEVCR
who has never forgiven him
I SHOULDNT HAVE I SHOULDN’T HAVE I HAVE TO SMILE
PUSHED ON IT PUSHED ON IT for causing his wife's death
in childbirth. When he loses

r^r^ Would Be
THE APPEARANCE of
a tooth one night, lames
expects to be punished. He
SOME COIN-BEARING
reaches for comfort, but his
j sleeping father turns away.

Letter forms have meaning:

red for danger; large, bold
cTUi last Thing He Could Ever
Hope for
capitals to add gravitas;
at This Moment and elegant script for the
period narrative voice.

Mother
All through the book. Ware
goes to great lengths to
avoid showing other
people's faces. We never
see limmy's mother's face
clearly at all. This device
OH JIMMY... I
seems to keeps our focus on
TRIED SO HARD...
Jimmy and isolate him all
the more.

Jimmy is off on another

guilt trip when his father is
seriously injured in a car
accident. Reality dissolves
as the hospital lobby
becomes a railway station
J..
i" and his mother arrives. She
plays on his guilt for
visiting his father and not
AND THAT
COLOfffO GIRL? telling her. We know it is a
1 DON'T 4APIMVE
OF THIS..
dream when Jimmy reverts
to a child and his father
shows up on a trolley. As
M-MOM... IT'S
his mother leaves, Jimmy is
COMPLICATTD I.
left talking on the red
phone, his lifeline to her.

READING ON: CHILD ABUSE 31 | FATHERS & SONS 81 | HOSPITALS 144 | CITIES 84
 FoMowho? or) fro(v> Corner)

Bfnfcy Brown
i*>eety the tfo(y
V\rg\i\ Mary
Nothing this disturbingly
honest had been shown in
comics until iustin Green's
1972 attempt "to purge
myself of the compulsive
neurosis which I have
served since I officially left
Catholicism on Halloween,
1968." Through his alter
ego Binky, Green shows how
his Obsessive Compulsive
Disorder and religious
upbringing created such
psycho-sexual guilt about
his "impure thoughts," that
he imagined them as rays
of lust, emanating from
anywhere, even his phallus¬
shaped fingers, which only
complex rituals can prevent
from striking anything holy.
Green calls this book "a sin
of youth," but its pathos
endures, because it grew
"out of internal necessity."

One Hundred
fre^ons
In her contemplative
vignettes, Lynda Barry
picks out a few of her
childhood "demons," from
breaking up with her best
girlfriend and her worst
boyfriend to the strange
world of dogs, head iice, or
household odors. Barry
counterpoints the wistful,
slightly disappointed tone
ft I HAVE ALWAYS NOTICED
SOME OF THE SMELLS WERE bUT THERE WERE BAD MYS¬
oMTUE SMELL OF OTHER
PEOPLE'S HOUSES, BUT WHEN
UNCOMPLICATED, LIKE THE CAT TERIES TOO, LIKE THE MYSTERY
PEE SMELL OF THE HOUSE OF THE BLEACH PEOPLE WHOSE
1 WAS A KID I WAS FASCINATED
NEXT DOOR. THE LADY HAD 14 HOUSE GAVE OFF FUMES TOO
BY IT. NO TWO HOUSES EVER
CATS. IT WAS HARD TO STAY COULD SMELL FROM THE STREET
SHELLED ALIKE, EVEN IF THE AND VISIT SHE SOMETIMES WE KEPT WAITING FOR THAT
PEOPLE USED THE SAME AIR BURNED INCENSE WH\cu ALSO
HOUSE TO EXPLODE. THE BUGS
FRESHENERT^T SMELLED LIKE CAT PEE.
____ - tV'\V DIDN'T EVEN GO IN THEIR YARD
what's that (BREMWNdja HAVE. SONS PEANUT
WHO ASAIN? .TWIPL.J BWn-E.PeAR.JUST
'FRESHggVCT PICK THE FUR OFF A
evergreen; pe \ if Youre Fussy, but
.IT WON'T HURTjjs*.
tSyeCTaA— kvOUNONE nr< N-J
T ( THE BIDIAANS -THEY GOT'
THE SAME KIND but here
IT SMELLS LIKE A FRESH, UM,<
F tXl ic. P.AT11 r>
BUS BATHROOM 'LA

of her adult commentary

with the brashness and
dead-on delivery of the SOME SMELLS WERE MYS¬ OF COURSE THE BIGGEST \ PROBABLY HAD THE STRON¬
TERIOUSLY WONDERFUL LIKE MYSTERY OF ALL WAS MY OWN
dialog. Hers is a text-heavy AT THE PALINKI'S WHERE IT WAS
GEST SMELLING HOUSE IN THE
HOUSE. I COULDN'T SMELL IT AT NEIGHBORHOOD EXCEPT FORTHE
balance, the captions a combination of mint tan- ALL. I DIDN'T THINK IT HAD A
sometimes filling more than BLEACH PEOPLE, BUT 1 HAD NO
RhTunS|oN0LIBRARY books SMELL,WHICH WAS STRANGE
But VAOW? | NEVER SAW ANY IDEA WHAT IT SMELLED LIKE TO
half the panel space, but CONSIDERING ALL THAT WENT
OTHERS UNTIL I HEARD A COMMENT
OF THOSE THINGS THERE | ON THERE. 5,000 -» K ACANOF
her vibrant cartoons add so * CIGARETTES ADORNS HAIR ABOUT IT. I MY MOM SAYS YOUR PEOPLE,
whats your kind of air. JAvE EAST SPRAT I FRV WEIRD FOOD
much to the humor and FRESHENER,BECAUSE THAIS
THE KIND I WANT MY MOM ,__
AFTERSHA
/Tako/V land save THE 1
MA BUNCO/, I GREASE AND j
authenticity. Notice how she I DONT use AIR .Also that t
Vang\ I you boil l ,
puts extra funny verbal FRESHENER,PEAR.
SARAP-,
I6'S blood;
SARAP/j
asides into her drawings S EAT! ( WHICH IS j
Y WEIRD V ;
f BECAUSE STM
lEAT/A FRIED SMELT, iTHE —<
[ REASON]
and indicates them with VOUR HOUSE JUNGLE
GARDENIA
,garuc,onions: L FORTHE -i
STELES PERFECT Vsmell.J
arrows. PERFUME. DOG THAT ROLLS
ON THINGS, WHAT SMELL?

READING ON: RELIGION 40 MENTAL DISORDERS CHILDREN 96 | FRIENDSHIPS 46

 Fo((owin^ on froiv> Jirvuviy Corrigan

Heart Throbs
Max Cab ones loved his
mother dearly and was only
nine when she died in 1956.
These memories led him to
embark in 1989 on the first
of his autobiographical
stories about growing up
without her and his hesitant
encounters with the
opposite sex. The vibrant
colors of a sultry summer
in the South of France
match the desires that the
more mature Marianne
arouses in her three boyish
admirers. She warms to
Max, the quiet one, the last
and shortest in the gang,
and a poet. White Marianne
recites Verlaine, Max's gaze
and thoughts seem fixed on
her jeans. Cabanes catches
his sweet shyness, hands in
pockets or arms folded, and
his naive notions of love,
which he knows only from
romantic movies.

Blankets
How does a boy raised to
you wean obey the Bible reconcile his
you Jon't
S'”9 _
. et-tiners
deep faith and the stirrings
of sexual attraction? Craig
Thompson pieces together
his answer, first by going
back to the small cruelties
inflicted on him by his
parents, and to his guilt
y \'Ve no voice,
and / -take music over failing to protect his
■loo seriously anyway,
/ Only Sixty when younger brother. He blends
I'm all by myse/S, >
Zhd -then it's A these scenes with the slow
i sacred,
unfolding of his falling in
love with Raina, a girl he
meets at church camp.
Nothing is rushed, as here
Thompson shows the first
nearness of their bodies
and frees them from
confining panel borders.
"Blankets" refers not only to
the Wisconsin snow, but
also to the bed that he and
his brother once shared,
X needed -to and to the quilt that Raina
■touch her, but
was hesitant. makes for him.

READING ON: LOVERS 174 SUMMERTIME 35 I RELIGION 66 FIRST LOVE 35

Epileptic In
The Monster
David B. imagined his
elder brother lean-
Christophe's epilepsy as
a monster, a sinister
dragon slithering
through their lives and
stalking him as well.
This becomes the potent
symbol for the disease
in his graphic novel.
At first, David shows the
monster as an external
menace, holding )ean-
Christophe in its coils or
sharp teeth, whenever
he has a seizure. But as
the illness worsens, he
realizes that his brother
is giving in to it. Here he
shows this point of
surrender by drawing
monster and brother
merging into one, never
to be separate again.
The Cures
Rejecting surgery, the
family attempt every
kind of alternative no
matter how bizarre,
from macrobiotics to
esoteric spiritualism.
David shows Master N
the way he remembers
him, as a big cat. The
book doubles as a
catalog of these gurus'
ideas, procedures and
mostly empty promises.
READING
focus
“A work of deep, deep darkness and luminosity. Epileptic illustrates both
the horrible density of reality and the vast possibilities of the human imagination.”
IAN SANSOM
The Battle
"My armor is the night."
To protect himself and
his brother from the
disease, David sees
himself as a warrior
engaged in a terrible
battle. This becomes a
way to let out his rage,
shown here as he
whacks away at a tree
stump with his great¬
grandfather's saber.
The escalating struggle
with the illness is also
shown as a mountain,
\e* is anQrt^ which Jean-Christophe
His illness has t-aKen over.He Mcj pdnerrfs have. carried w — ----
i6 now haridicapperl, destined To him /Sr OS lot13 possible* w»tH them because none, otc climbs as his condition
live* in a handicapped omivense.. to avoid this. the* cures they've* tried on
him have* vJorKed ■ deteriorates. The
book's original French
title, L'ASCENSION DU
haut-mal, means the
"rising“ or "ascent" of
the "high" or "great
evil," a medieval term
for epilepsy.
The Drawing
The ritual of drawing
holds a special power
through his life and this
book. David B's bold
artwork is at once
simple and mythic, like
woodcuts or designs on
urns and vases. He was
inspired by the primitive
art that is common to
most cultures and close
to children's art. To him,
"those kinds of simple
Epileptic designs are immediately
understandable."
David B.
2005,1 volume, 368 pages
ON: FAMILY SECRETS 172 | MYTHS & LEGENDS 55 | COMMUNES 118 | MONSTERS 80 | DREAMS lio
 EpUeptfc scene ty scene

i "'

Grandfather Bird
David B felt close to his
grandfather Gabriel: “We
were able to understand
each other without
speaking." When he dies,
David finds he can't say a
last goodbye (his mouth
stays shut, shown by a
small, empty balloon). He
sees his face morph into a
bird and in this form the
grandfather returns as his
spiritual confidant.

David B admits that at

times he wanted to kill his
brother. Here David is
tempted to let him pour too
much gas onto the bonfire,
causing an explosion. His
life is in his hands, but
David warns his Dad in
time. Shortly after, he asks
his silent grandfather, "Did
I win or lose? I'm not sure..."

The Family
The repercussions of his
brother's epilepsy affect the
whole family. David and his
younger sister Florence are
afraid that the illness
would also claim them.
David admits here that he
had some alarming
symptoms, shown as the
small monster circling his
brow, but he kept them
secret from his parents.

David distorts lean-

Christophe's physical size
and appearance to show
how his fits grow more
violent, injuring his father
and needing everyone to
subdue him. Here, as a
sleepless David tries to
understand, the quilt on his
bed takes on his brother's
demonized face.

k.
READING ON: GHOSTS & SPIRITS 138 | GURUS 160 | EPILEPSY 47 | SURVIVORS 148
Following or» froivi Bp

The Spiral Case

I MME SCCN READINGA0OVTXAtM
\*eMEtoK*-lH6 BACK...
People called him SPACKM'
F'KN..5PaCK
"scarecrow legs." Born with
severe spina bifida, a
condition that paralyzes
him from the waist down
and can cause brain
damage, Al Davison was
considered a hopeless case
by doctors, condemned to
the "spiral cage" of his DNA.
But they reckoned without
the fighting spirit of Al and
his parents.
Tftev. yavj wdrit
be. uKe them, m
everyone orouiS normaC.
rneycou- me se/ffi rou) Lt-QS:

In his stylistically inventive

record of their inspiring
triumph over "disability,"
AI recalls from a child's
perspective his mother
taking him to a doctor's
appointment, where he
vows that will walk. He
achieves this and much
more, but at age eleven the
insults he gets at his first
swosa.rnoyee.
"mainstream" school can Door want to at
norr»QU lAavot

still sting.

Mother,

Co(v>e Hot*e I tk.NW ’it w»S

MiNiNj, b*t tj<.
hidjtiv from It by S
CWOpy of SAm.-dtsi
After his mother dies, young luvei

• •• CCTtllMy better +i>»M h«.

Thomas tries to maintain »r Ht tno»c atj.rs
♦He sU/ before.
normality as the
"groundskeeper" inside the
lion mask she gave him.
Fantasy does not help his
grieving father to cope.
They share his bed for the
last night before he is taken
away and admitted into
psychiatric care.

Later, Thomas “rescues" his

father from the clinic and
reunited, they face the
truth about their loss. For
his narrator's voice author
Paul Hornschemeier uses
the adult Thomas. Here his
recollections of them
sheltering from the rain
add a symbolic lyricism to
his father's admission.

READING ON: MOTHERS 50 | DISABILITY 150 | MASKS 82 | FATHERS & SONS 60

 Following on frow Epileptic

TheJale of
One Bad Rat
Helen Potter still loves the
little animal fables she read
as a child by her namesake,
Beatrix Potter. Molested by
her father, Helen finally
runs away from home with
a rescued lab rat.

1 ■'•a Homeless in London, she

1 16- can't forget the desire on
her Dad's smiling face,
%
bursting into her reverie, its
black stain spreading off
the page. She doodles him
as a demon onto her jeans.
Helen follows Beatrix
'OH, fPS MIS ^
Potter's footsteps to the
UWDSHIP. WMXJT1*
UP7 THEY RUM OUT
OF BEERF y
Lake District, where she
finally tells her father how
she feels about his abuse.
Author Bryan Talbot offers
no pat answers, but adds a
story-within-a-story and a
V WHEN I 6ROW ) j
1 ^_ups’ /I ;
hopeful allegory in his
Jvou bet. \
^ POU— ,yr» r1 m
' * facsimile of the "missing"
Potter tale of the title.

l/To(ent Casey
He was four when somehow
his father hurt his arm. Our
casual storyteller Neil
Gaiman pieces together his
unlikely encounters with an
old osteopath, who tells him
how he used to treat Al
Capone and how gangsters
carried machine guns in
"violent cases." A child's
unsettling injuries in 19b0s
English suburbia are echoed
in flashbacks to the brutal
Prohibition-era underworld.

Dave McKean's noir

graphics evoke the collage
and blurring focus of
put C/tOf*** memories, first in the boy 's
cigarette burn at a "grown¬
l imxt mat up party," and later
weot GAM«
intercutting a children's
\game of musical chairs with
a bloody gangland beating.
Notice how the sixth panel is
foreshadowed earlier as the
osteopath thinks back.

READING ON: FAIRY TALES 180 | CHILD ABUSE 122 | GANGLAND 44 | FATHERS & SONS 98
Ghost Wor(<f fiO focus

“Clowes spells out the realities of teen angst as powerfully and authentically
as Salinger did in Catcher and the Rye for an earlier generation.”
VILLAGE VOICE

Suburbia Comic and film

Meet Enid Coleslaw and The comic and film of
her best friend Rebecca are
GHOST WORLD

Doppelmeyer. Their significantly different.

story began when In the original graphic
Clowes was wandering novel, Enid has no
around Chicago and unlikely romance with
was struck by a piece of the older Seymour,
graffiti that shouted who is reduced to an
"ghost world." It unnamed "lonely
encapsulated his heart" in a silent part,
feelings about the over in three pages.
modern urban
wasteland, where lives Instead, Clowes delves
are only half lived and deeper into Enid and
nothing seems Rebecca's emotions
permanent. that are putting their
friendship under
"The America we live in strain, notably their
is disappearing, confused attraction
bulldozed under our and confusing signals
feet and constantly to their mutual
rehabbed and boyfriend tosh.
remodelled. It also
refers more personally
to the characters and to
the friendships that Glasses
they've lost." One night, after a row
with Rebecca, Enid goes
for a walk and winds up
at Josh's apartment.
Putting aside her
cynicism and self-
loathing for a moment,
she tries to disclose her
An eerie glow / feelings for him, as best
To add to the mood, she can. At this point of
Clowes bathes people disclosure, Enid removes
and buildings in an her sunglasses, the only
eerie, greenish glow, time we ever see her do
stifling all other colors, this in public.
unnatural like artificial
light or a flickering
television. He also
hides no flaws on his
characters' faces, that
resemble unflattering,
slightly larger-than-
life caricatures.
Daniel Clowes makes a
cameo appearance at

Ghost World a sad book signing.

Enid Coleslaw is an
Daniel Clowes anagram of his name.
1998,1 volume, 80 pages

READING ON: FIRST LOVE 27 | ALIENATION 50 | FRIENDSHIPS 43 REBELS 158 | IDENTITY 140
 Ghost World scene t>y scene

Self-loathing
APMiT IT, ^AS intense NTENSf' t
40 U KEAllT
PO HATE
AIL MEN '- maiiee
-—Smmt'mPt
THOSE PEDNECK 6MHS W*PF \\ ■■■•}OW'PE not '
Enid and Rebecca have a
PPIENPS WITH gog SKEETFg/ ft\ FOOUH& ANMSOPT
the*? were Swpposcp to meet' |\
HIM HE*E. BW HE DIDN'T SHOW I
wmi that toupee
— I THINK - - . dose, complex relationship.
ME AMP THE>4 6Or LIKE PEALU4 ,
NERVOUS AND SAID SOMETHING IM
a splat how Skeetes is
PAN6EROMJ ANP I SHOULDN'T /■
/■ Their conversations can
SET MIXED UP WITH HIM '. /■
lurch from bitterness to
self-mockery, from
cynicism to surprising
sincerity. Here, their
practical jokes on the local
losers, their scathing
critiques of most men, and
their teasing about lesbians
and masturbation underline
their teenage fears and
frustrations about sex.

In bed, Enid tries to dream

up an erotic fantasy
THE TOPMBLE l« THE KIND PC &VH
involving her former high-
THEN HOW COME
I WANT Tp OO OUT WITH DOESN'T THE ONLU 0 HAVEN'T N
EVEN EXI«T-~ LIKE A PuSSED.
CHAIN- SMOKIN6, INTELLECTUAL-.
EVER FMCKE
THE TOTAL
> J I KNOW —
y ITS fuCKEP'
WB HEARD
ABOUT THE
school teacher, but none of
adventurer 6uv whc'4 reau-s OPPOSITE M" SOMETIMES J /WRACCE OP
serious, but also realc* , OP THAT* ' THINK 1 ACT
SO STUPlP BE¬
CAUSE IWMUS
MAGTUBBATIOH-
I AUNASS
winP up
them work and she falls
CPAZU PRoM THIMKINO ABOUT
,
Sexual
FRUSTRATION'
MR. PIEPCE- asleep. Clowes indicates the
shift into dreams by losing
the panel borders and
altering his lettering style.

Art college
I MEAN, PONT WORRY
Oft ANYTHIN© • ••
The academic year starts
\ LOCK AT THIS PCWtCV
HICK NEWSCASTER - X
X
WONDER IF HE HAS TCP
WORK AT LIKE A HARDWARE
again soon and Enid hopes
STORE CPU PINS THE C>AV .
to get into art college. /Is
they cruise around the
characterless streets in the
funeral hearse that Enid
has bought to go away in,
their conversation reveals
how differently these two
high-school friends now see
themselves and the future.
It is like a funeral for a
friendship.

With touching economy,

Clowes relates how Enid
gets the news that she has
■ », A- failed to get into college
after all. The large,
melancholic panel of the
last falling leaves tells us
that winter is coming and
Enid has still not found her
way out.

READING ON: LEAVING 35 | WOMEN 180 | MUSIC 163 | LESBIANS 44

Following on froto Ghost World

A Chip’s Life
Phoebe Gloeckner began
drawing her candid WHAT ARE
you OoitJG
reminiscences of her Jis?TPoir\
QUICK AND
troubled childhood and •s,& ,
RquiET^
adolescence in secret aged
sixteen. Their contents are
deeply personal and QuiCK? GET UNDeR
The &&>tt
uncompromising, drawn
with the detached accuracy
of medical illustration, from
J Got My toot jt
even eapuJer. AL&atT
period / THAN MV SlSreR- SHEU/M DAO
£CEVEN,AUD Tf,1 ONC1 TGU!
which she makes most of
her Hiring. She brings a ^ youcefTTve
tfUK ON the COUNTER
sympathy and ironic humor AGAIN CHERYL. X CANNOT
IN GOOD CONSCIENCE
to her depictions of her LET 7
W'S go a
UNPUNISHED

alter ego Minnie's survival

of life's cruelties, abuse,
drugs and prostitution.
LPSIZYL!
Here, Minnie, aged eight, y°“* though
l Mur it eouu? \
has hardly been introduced
too-y«"* C
to the mysteries of
menstruation by her friend
su&tyoH i
Cheryl, before she has to i,
\ prdOW"
/4\ »gjfZL M
/

hide under the bed from In \ $xu&- Ml

Cheryl s father, about to

whip her with a dog leash.

Lost GJr(
Beth feels too old to be
trapped on vacation with
her boring family on a
caravan site at an English
seaside resort. Then she
spots another slightly older
girl, alone and free to do
whatever she pleases,
sleeping with strangers,
stealing cars, breaking the
law. The elusive thrill¬
seeking blonde comes to
represent the reckless
rebellion that Beth wants.

Nabiel Kanan stages their

first tentative encounter. He
shows Beth's innocence in
her frisson of pleasure,
filling two silent panels,-
at being mistaken for the
owner of a friend's stash of
drugs. The mystery girl
remains distrustful and
elusive. Kanan paints Beth's
last, hazy, lazy summer of
childhood.

READING ON: MEMORY 94 | CHILD ABUSE 118 SUMMERTIME 27 | DRUGS 143 | SEASIDE “5
 Fo((owrn^ on fro(v> Ghost World

Btue
School is almost over and the
future beckons. Kayako's
fascination with outsider
classmate Masami deepens
into adulation and more,
after she learns about her
unwanted pregancy and
abortion. Kayako's kindnesses
to Masami—a candy to her
lips, a sleepover while her
parents are away, cutting her
hair, holding hands, stolen
kisses—build her hopes up,
but Masami has more secrets.

In her poignant tale of one¬

sided first love, Japan's Kiriko
Nananan takes the lightest of
touches, avoiding melodrama
or prurience. She contrasts
sharp, clear interiors of the
school, subway or seashore
with the girls' fragile contours
and the shapes of their black
hair. These pages read from
right to left, so start with this
page first from top right.

Sooner of Lo\/e
Sreur we pb^cticauv, Debbie Drechsler evokes
Jcl ^usr <w '
life's mixture of magic and
terror that seems especially
vivid when we are young.
For Lily and her elder sister
Pearl, moving house to a
boring neighborhood and
making friends at a new
school isn't easy. Both must
i Musfvc poue fcUT VAJUAT
negotiate the complex
games of teenage desire:
the girls' rivalries, gossip,
and unspoken romantic
longings; the boys' posing,
fickleness, and insensitivity.

Here, Steve Farley takes Lily

to a treehouse in a wood,
eeAUV? w/ueti' where he saw her dancing,
but after one hesitant kiss,
he backs off. Drechsler
shows how Lily's glib replies
hide her confused thoughts,
while the nature around
them seems alive in a two-
tone palette of pale green
and earthy umber.

READING ON: FIRST 10VE 46 | LEAVING 32 | SUMMERTIME 46 | NATURE 54

Chapter tt-
Above: Boarding house comedy
with Frank Willard’s dapper
rogue Moon Mullins from 1932
Opposite page: Punkettes
Maggie and Hopey are the crazy
Locas by laime Hernandez
The Other Side of the Tracks
erhaps it's because many cartoonists use their own
faces as their models, that, as they age, they often
come to look uncannily like their invented
characters. By 1973, Will Eisner was in his fifties, a
veteran of over thirty years in the comics industry, a
successful self-made man, a balding Jewish New Yorker in
jacket and tie, moustache and pipe. He would not have
needed much make-up to play Commissioner Dolan, the
harassed, hard-nosed police officer whom he had created
in 1940 as a foil and father figure to his masked mystery
man, The Spirit.
By 1952 Eisner stopped producing his innovative
weekly short stories of The Spirit for newspapers and went
into business as the grand-sounding American Visuals
Corporation, providing informational and promotional
comics for the defense and education departments and
corporate clients. Art and commerce had
always mixed in his blood. His father, a
scenery painter for a Yiddish theater
parents, had encouraged him to pursue
his creative interests, while his mother,
equally supportive, would remind him to
look out for their money-making
potential. So he was pleasantly surprised
when his Spirit tales, whose copyright he
cannily kept hold of, started enjoying a
revival in 1972 through the unlikely
channel of adults-only comix. That year, when
underground cartoonist and publisher Denis Kitchen
commissioned a new cover from Eisner for the third issue
of Snarf, Eisner played with the incongruities of
transplanting The Spirit and Dolan into the seventies
comix counterculture by having his upholders of the law
raid the publisher’s offices. Dolan blares, "I’m gonna arrest
'em, Spirit,” who answers, "For what, Dolan?”
Eisner conducted his own raid in April 1973, when
he hit the first ever underground comic convention in
Berkeley, California to promote Snarf and Kitchen’s new
Spirit reprint. Looking old enough to be their father, he
probably stood out a little there among the young,
happening crowd thronging to meet the comix creators,
who were only a few years their senior. In fact, the
admiration was deep and mutual between Eisner and the
fresh, radical generation of rebels, and their work was a
wake-up call to him. "Writers and artists were defying
the establishment with a powerful and accessible
literary weapon: comics were employed for political
protest, personal statements, social defiance and sexual
expression. They were doing with this medium what
I always believed I could do. They were doing literature
— protest literature, but literature.” These encounters
renewed his passion and curiosity about what comics
might become next. Shortly after, rather than coasting
into his twilight years, he used his financial security to
give himself several months off work to concentrate on a
private project. With no advance, client or deal in mind, no
assistants, no interference, he was flying solo, creating
for himself. On his Snarf cover he had lampooned one
struggling artist moaning, "After Crumb, what is there left
to say?” Eisner now challenged himself to
find out.
How might American comics be
revolutionized still further, perhaps
evolved into a sort of literature? The so-
called comic book had long been a
misnomer; it was certainly no book, but a
flimsy periodical. True, among its
incarnations from the turn of the 20th
century and before, there had been
proper books that compiled immensely
popular newspaper strips onto good paper inside
cardboard covers bound with cloth spines. The larger
Sunday page strips were reprinted in landscape size and
full color up until 1921, while Cupples & Leon published
daily favorites in ten-inch square collections for 25 cents
from 1919 and in smaller, 100-page paperbacks and 60-
cent hardcovers with dustjackets from 1926.
The Depression changed all that. People could no
longer afford such fancy tomes, and besides, the funnies
came free with the papers. It was struggling New York
print salesmen Harry Wildenburg and Max Gaines who
arrived at a cost-saving product that might prevent
Eastern Color’s 24-hour presses from standing idle and
losing money. By folding a 16-page colour comics section
from a broadsheet newspaper in half and then half again,
they could print a 64-page package, approximately seven
The Other Side of the Tracer
Right: Box seats for the theater
of the everyday in Will Eisner’s
A Contract with God from 1978
PH] Y laJiiifit
NEWA YORK
fo) n
Above: Julie Doucet tells all
in My New York Diary
Opposite page: lost urban
treasures discovered by Ben
Katchor’s Julius Knipl (‘knipl’
is Yiddish for a nest-egg)
inches by ten, that could
be wrapped in a glossy
paper cover. Desperate to
keep those presses rolling,
Gaines convinced Procter .
and Gamble to pay for a
32-page trial magazine in
spring 1933, Funnies on
Parade. The soap company
knew that times were
tight, so rather than sell
this novelty, they gave it
away free as a promotion.
Thousands of kids sent in coupons clipped from their
products and the whole print run was sent out in a matter
of weeks. In little over a year, such premiums of 32, 64,
even 100 pages had proved so successful, that they began
to be sold, at first in department stories, and then from
newsstands, "all in color for a dime.” Out of sheer
commercial survival and savvy marketing via children was
born the modern comic book.
Aside from higher prices and production values, its
appearance has stayed remarkably frozen since at least
the 1950s, when 32 interior pages became the norm. Most
of the underground comix creators stuck with the same
format, perhaps partly to subvert its innocent
associations, except that the interiors were
usually in black and white. By the early 1970s,
Eisner and several others had made sporadic and
sometimes significant experiments to prove that
their original material, as well as reprints, did
not always have to be consigned to flimsy,
ephemeral pamphlets, but could work and sell as
books. The market, however, proved resistant to
change. Inspiration came from abroad from the
mid-sixties, when American writers and artists
began to be invited over to European comic art
festivals. There they got to meet their peers and
witness first-hand how the medium was
maturing, with its increasingly adult content and
handsome, high-quality albums, so different
from back home. No doubt this contrast would
have struck Eisneryet again when he was
honored in January 1975 at the second Angouleme comics
festival in France.
Back at his drawing table, Eisner saw the blank
page before him as a wide-open canvas, and his project as
"a new path in the forest.” As he explained, without the
limits of a pre-set number of pages, "each story was
written without regard to space and each was allowed to
develop its format from itself^that is, to evolve from its
narration.” At last, the
stories, the content, of
comics could dictate
their form. Their subjects
and treatment, their
composition and style,
were all his to choose.
Instead of relying on
standardized, hard, black
outlines and tightly-ruled
panel borders, he
introduced drawings in
washes and tones, letting
them bloom unconfined and floating on the pages. His
stories developed out of the memories he had kept during
his childhood in a Bronx tenement through the
Depression. No longer having to kowtow to the cefisors
or the Comics Code, Eisner could finally plant and
cultivate "the seedlings which I have carried around
with me all these years."
The result was A Contract with God, a quartet of
sad, moving and disarmingly unglamorous vignettes of
Jewish life set in New York in the "dirty thirties", curiously
around the same time as the birth of the comic book.
Eisner was intent on finding a mainstream, non-comics
book publisher to put it out, but none would take the risk.
Most were probably baffled by this oddity, an unfunny
cartoon book about the past, to be printed in sepia. It was
not until 1978, in his sixtieth year, that Eisner found a
modest outfit, Baronet Books, willing to give it a try. They
published it in hardback, without a dust jacket, and at the
same time in a larger print run at $4.95 in paperback. How
were they going to describe this puzzling illustrated book
to the public? Eisner suggested putting on the paperback’s
cover: "a graphic novel.”
Many would later hail Eisner as the "inventor" of
the graphic novel, the term and the concept, though
neither distinction is accurate. American comics fan and
critic Richard Kyle coined the term as long ago as
November 1964 in an article in a low circulation, internal
newsletter solely for members of the Amateur Press
Association, amateur in the best sense of the word. To
encourage readers and professionals to consider the adult
possibilities of the medium, Kyle wanted to circumvent
the humorous and childish connotations that tarnished
"comics” and proposed instead "graphic story" and by
extension "graphic novel.” Despite Kyle’s later publications
Graphic Story Magazine and World and his Graphic Story
Bookshop mail-order service, his terms were slow to catch
on. This may explain why Eisner later commented, "I had
not known at the time that someone had used that term
 The Of her Side of f he Tracks

before.” It seems Eisner arrived at the graphic novel in
1978 quite independently.
As for his inventing the concept, he was well aware
that it dated back much earlier, for example to Lynd
Ward's wordless woodcut narratives of the 1920s, which
had influenced Eisner in his youth. "I can't claim to have
Neither the eternally respectable newspaper strip,
norforthat matterthe genre-ridden mainstream comic
book cowed by the Comics Code Authority, was the place
for the frank issues of rape, impotence, crises of faith, More Life Stories
child sexuality, and alcoholism, that Eisner examined in Like a River
A Contract with Cod in 1978. For comic artists of the time PIERRE WAZEM

A Russian widower finds hope

invented the wheel,” he once remarked, “but I felt I was in to attempt the kind of uncompromised, in-depth, adult
End of the Century Club
a position to change the direction of comics.” And that is realism possible in film and literature, they had to find a ILYA

what he did. Eisner committed himself to reinvigorating different arena. Not everyone had the financial security Making a future in UK-pIc

the ambitions of comics, building on the adult themes or clarity of purpose to take a sabbatical like Eisner and American Elf
JAMES KOCHALKA
pioneered in underground comix, and aspiring to concentrate on a lengthy dream project. Instead, the early A five-year daily family diary

emotional depth and literary seriousness. The stand he 1980s saw Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez, Dave McKean, Kings in Disguise
JAMES VANCE & DAN BURR
made with A Contract with Cod would continue for the Chester Brown, Eddie Campbell and other promising
A boy's quest for his father
rest of his life and motivate his fellow professionals and talents debut in modest, black and white comics, often
Same Difference
successive generations to follow his example. self-publishing them at first, before being picked up by DEREK KIRK KIM

Young Korean-Americans
Since the late 1970s, successive generations new alternative publishers. They might not all have
Box Office Poison
of graphic novelists have been exploringthe human intended from the outset to craft a substantial graphic
ALEX ROBINSON
condition in comics with perceptive insights and novel, but gradually they would shape one, developing it Intelligent comedy ensemble

intriguing symbolism. Looking back for inspiration from organically as they put out further instalments. There was Breakfast After Noon
ANDI WATSON
the past, Los Bros Hernandez, Chris Ware, Seth, Eddie an air of excitement and discovery. So much of people's
Out of work, not out of love

Campbell, and several others were drawn to America's lives, dreams and feelings, all the extraordinary theater Strangers in Paradise
robust legacy of "the funnies,” especially the urban, of the everyday, had been excluded from the medium TERRY MOORE

Two women's lives and desires

socially real serials from the 1920s and 1930s. The daily and was ripe for expression, from gritty realism
Great Teacher Onizuka
struggle became a perfect subject for the daily strip. to magical surrealism. TOHRU FUJISAWA

Those that tinged their laughter with pathos, realism and It was bound to take time, because these sorts He's crazier than his pupils

cliffhangers were great loyalty builders, hooking readers of graphic novels can require years, even decades, to Jar of Fools
JASON LUTES
into coming back day after day to find out what happened come to fruition. Slowly, all of life is finding a place Looking for the magic again

next. As author Michael Chabon observed, their high in these new comics, where it has always
quality and mass readership combined in "the creation of belonged. Towards the end of his prolific later
immense, shared hallucinations.” Their working girls and life, Eisner could see that his vision of
flappers, conmen, gamblers, and newlyweds, Gumps, comics was being realized. He
Nebbs, Bungles, and other eccentric households suggested summed up his hopes:
that all of us could be the heroes of our lives. "I put up a tollbooth
For all the serials' pacey appeal and lively topicality, out in a field and I've
the public expected a certain optimism and decorum. The been waiting for
syndicates, eager to sell their features no matter what, a highway to come
regularly conceded to any complaints. Cartoonists had to through. And
bow to the unwritten, in-house censorship, which now I can hear
prohibited anything that might cause offense, from the trucks.”
adultery, death, or disease (even a mention of diabetes
had to be replaced by an imaginary ailment, “haliobetis”),
to swearing, divorce or drunken behavior (unless the s U per
inebriate was a villain, of course). As comics historian
Brian Walker commented, “A curious double standard
developed. Newspaper readers were more sensitive about
perceived transgressions in their favorite comics than they
were about the same references in movies, plays, and
books.” Today, the comics section of an American paper
remains a hypersensitive zone, where an outspoken
episode of Doonesbury or The Boondocks, for exa m pie, ca n
be summarily dropped if it oversteps the mark.
A Contract with Go<j in focus

“Eisner was unique in feeling from the start that comic books were
not necessarily this despised, bastard, crappy, low-brow kind of art form,
and that there was a potential for real art.”
MICHAEL CHABON

Tenement tales It's a bug's life

Something about In "A Life Force" Eisner
the rundown Bronx asks what will keep
tenement at 55 Dropsie Jacob Shtarkah going
Avenue brought Will after a lifetime of
Eisner back to it again sacrifice, now that
and again during his he is bO, unemployed,
final, nearly 30-year unhappily married, and
career in graphic both his children are
novels. For him, the marrying out of the
building in a New York Jewish faith.
Jewish ghetto was a
place of memories, Here, collapsed in an
that became sharper alley, Jacob sees his
as he got older. own struggle mirrored
in a fallen cockroach's
"Within its walls great determination to stay
dramas were played alive and risks getting
out. There was no real attached in order to
privacy—no anonymity. save it from being
One was either a squashed.
participant or a member
of the front-row Notice how Eisner
audience." Notice in this increases the menace
page from ",A Life Force" by shrouding the fifth
how Eisner signals panel in shadow and
his narrative through closing in so that it
broad, expressive barely contains the
caricatures and clear, man grabbing Jacob.
theatrical gestures.

Dropsie Avenue
The 2005 edition, the
CONTRACT WITH GOD TRILOGY,
adds the later stories
"A Life Force" and
"Dropsie Avenue," which
Young Willie
reveals a century's
It seems likely that the history of the street's
15-year-old Willie, who social and physical
loses his virginity in the upheaval through its
"Cookalein" story is a tenants' changing
thinly disguised teenage fortunes.
Eisner. As he said,
"They are true stories. Dropsie is a fitting name
Only the telling of them
and the portrayals
have converted them
A Contract with God that may refer not only
to the illness dropsy but
Will Eisner to its slang meanings of
to fiction." 1978,1 volume, 150 pages a bribe or tip.

READING ON: RELIGION 27 | JEWS 62 CITIES 52 | BETRAYALS 158

 A Contract wrth God scene fcy scene

Living for the city

Everyone fears the “super"
or building superintendent,
Mr Scuggs, a lonely porn
addict, except one devious
Lolita who catches his eye.
Here he pays her for
showing him her panties,
but she runs off with his
savings. What is worse, the
candy she gives his dog
poisons his only companion.
As sad as Scuggs' tragic
fate is the callous greed in
one so young.

Escaping the city for a

country vacation, an
assortment of tenants
clumsily chase after love,
sex and class status.
Looking for a wealthy
husband, office girl Goldie
snubs a humble sax player,
but her head is turned by
Benny's fancy (hired) car.
Notice how the shadows
reinforce Herbie's
disappointment.

Impoverished Elton
W 'WiMe, I Shaftesbury is about to
T Elton...!., t* .1HATS ,
'NAiTfD AROUND 'NONpfRFllL A?, throw himself from the fire
For you / 60 how
...VWWE DOWN0N WALL
PiPif<b0 TODAY?
Pio ■you <set STREET...THEYftE escape when his Jewish
. A Joe? j STOCK BROKERS'
neighbors offer to pay him
for switching on their stove
and lights on the Sabbath.
Their 50 cents a week
brings him back from the
abyss and gives him hope.
T ...ViOvi 1
SO.YOU'RE A
&ROKEC 6£6.tik
i m pressed, fiAY, ...WOULD YOU
\The next night, as Elton
. 94-Aia: y LiKt fo 60 $KATiH<S
UP IN THE PARK.
‘0ECW.‘ climbs the stairs, he tells
COM IN
TOMORROW.. in THE
ALREADY
V AFTERNOON? , Rebecca about his new
brokers' job, the first rung
up the ladder of
ort,
I'M J(J*T A
'RUNNEP.'
advancement.

Rebecca ’s radiant smile and

sing-song voice tell us that
DON T WORRY. I LL .
'BfiCiCYJ!
LEND YOU MY BROTHERS
HE'S ABOUT THE 6AM6 I don’t like her interest in him is not
SHE AS YOU . &o°0 HOW YOU LOOK
v Ypoijs
OH HiM-. ME 6
ITS ONLY "only skating," despite her
V
not For
YOU! 6KAT1N6
n IV 2 momma's disapproval of
the "goy" next door.

READING ON: INJUSTICES 68 SUICIDES 60 | MIGRANTS 70 | POVERTY 48

FoMowinj on frow A Contract wt+h Go</

Judas Kr>T/>(
OBLIVIOUS TO THE SOUND or THE
Describing himself as "a EXPLOSION, VICTOR. RUBICON CONTINUES 2-3.*
MIS SAD -STOK.V
middle-man in the memory ■X FO\JW> , 0 ovi s st-t. <*
-TH‘S OWTI
business," Ben Katchor can TOM FIRST
J'rSfcvJ WM Sow£

make you nostalgic about a x S'KeeT,w?c

THROO&H-THESH^ * oiruL ^ToR
past that you never knew
ODW FLACt'HOL’
and that never existed. ventu-ATioN
JUST BELOW mn
Between assignments, Knipl, k ptL-L-O^ _■ fH
real-estate photographer,
wanders in a lost American
metropolis. Never named, it
may stand for Katchor's
native New York, or perhaps
an "everycity" of desperate, lyHE fuULliON
SOULS JAVC* fl
small-time capitalism and atcy» o*g*z*- ffnlkj.
XOOVXtR*'
utopian fantasies. ss£V •*iet
THESE
fAN* E>H ,-roBAtS
STW l or. J
Grtt poRt
Here, Knipl, in the hat, S50«-

learns about the evening

combinator, a nightly
tabloid, whose weird tvxb*?.
reports are not inventions,
but its readers' half-
forgotten dreamlives. The
lettering and balloons are
crooked and quirky, like the
stories; the panels are
bathed in shadowy washes.

Stocff Ro^^er
Baby
Young, white, and gay,
Toland Polk struggles with
the conflicts of his sexual
identity, as his social
conscience is awakened by
the injustices of racism in
America's South during the
civil rights movement of the
19b0s. Parallels are clearly
drawn between real events
of the time and Howard
Cruse's complex, 210-page
saga of one man's coming
of age and coming out.

In this first scene. Granny

Mabel deals in her unique
way with a police raid on
her gay bar. In the second,
a peaceful black protest is
disrupted by a racist thug
and a cop is slow to stop
him. Cruse s meticulous
dots or "stippling" enriches
the realism of his visuals.

READING ON: PHOTOGRAPHERS 48 DREAMS 98 CIVIl LIBERTIES 151 I GAY LOVERS 167

L.
DOWN SAOCHtEHALL STREET
GUVS ARE BUSTLING OUT OP
SIDE-STREET BARS- IN USUAL
Glasgow style- velma
SHOPPERS AND HER COMPOSURE
RONS OPP LIKE A W£ST OF
DISTURBED SPIDERS —
OK. JAKES- VELMAS WlTH ME -
BOT THE ACCENT --MTI _ .
NOT GLASGOW, LIKE SPITTING OUT
PlAVNG CARDS, OR ROLLED
SOUTHEND VOWELS (GARLIC)
READING ON: CANCER
THAT SOUNDS OVERDRAMATiC, BUT
THAT'S THE WAY IT SOMETIMES
COKES AT YOU WHEN yoO'UE
HAD A SNOUTFULL AND LITTLE
MYSTERIES WORK YOUR MlND-
A&OUT THE SCRATCHES I MEAN.
TRANSLUCENT--
A CRAiNDRopiN THE)LAKE .
144 | EOOD
WELL, LOOK- iVE GOT TO GET
BACK TO THE HOSTEL- it5
BEEN Mice . SEE You AROUND-
JiM,ALEC..SEE >DU LATER,
VELMA _
ALEC.;
WHEN A GiRL OF YOUR FANCY
REMEMBERS YOUR NAME IT'S
MUSIC -
46
FoMowin.0 on froM A Contract with God
SO WE ALL TELL A JOKE -
8EECHY TELLS ONE ABOUT
CONPOMS-MocGARRY KICKS
HlM UNDER THE TABLE-
MacGARRV IS GALLUMPHED ON THEN HE SPOILS IT-
SOME ONiUERSAL MATERNAL
LAP-
WHAT S THE NE/T MOVE- SEE
HER HOME ? AND Do THE .
BUSINESS 7 AT SOME
PREARRANGED SPOT A GOV
JUMPS OUT FROM BEHIND A
WALL AND HITS VoU iNl' A
BOTTLE 7 DONTASK ME-
| FRIENDSHIPS
Joe’s Bar
In ten years, Argentina's
close writer-artist duopoly
of Carlos Sampayo and lose
Munoz never visited the Big
Apple, but that did not stop
their portraits of the city's
transitory chaos from being
utterly believable. Joe's Bar
is the watering hole and
magnet for the misfits,
whose big city blues are
played out in their comics.
Overeating at Joe's is little
comfort to Mike Weiss after
he learns that his father is
dying of cancer. While he is
being told, notice how we
eavesdrop on other people's
thoughts, showing that his
tragedy is only one of
many. His shadowed face in
the last panel hints that
Mike knows what he must
do. Munoz is a master here
of Grosz-like distortions
and stark black and white.
A(ec
Eddie Campbell records
those fleeting impressions
and conversational gems
that can otherwise slip by
in the flurry of life. Through
his alter ego Alec MacGarry,
he lets us into his romances
and friendships on the road
THE K'DDV WHO KNOWS THE
STORY BUT WANTS THE
GALLOMPHiNG BrT all OVER
and down the pub. His wry,
AGAIN -
unhurried yarn-spinning
with its detours and asides
mirrors his train of thought,
easily sidetracked by a girl
remembering his name or
transporting him back to
when he was young.
CANCEL ALL PREVIOUS PLANS
and I'LL SEE you IN A FEW DAYS <
fJo,\ PONT THINK
SHe'U. BE BACK
1 „
fPcKony
This sequence highlights his
' can't- figure
out laconic wit and playful,
poetic joy in language,
coupled with his eye for
revealing body language
and his fresh, unadorned
artwork, a sort of Zipatone
impressionism.
26 | DAY-TO DAY LIFE 172
Locas In focus

“Hopey and Maggie are lesbian, Spanish-American, and punk.

In a sexist, racist nation, only political and social underdogs
can be the real heroes and heroines. ”
KATHY ACKER

Love & Rockets Writing women

Mexican American laime Pressed for a reason
Hernandez grew up with why, as heterosexual
five siblings in Oxnard, men, he and his brother
California, north of Los Gilbert are so adept at
Angeles. Teenagers in portraying women as
the late 1970s, laime three-dimensional
and his older brother personalities, laime
Gilbert credit punk Hernandez thinks back
rock's anarchic spirit to their childhood.
with broadening their
horizons and energizing "Maybe it’s observing,
them into making comics maybe because our
their own way. dad died when I was
seven, and we-were
In 1981, with oldest raised by our mom,
brother Mario, they put by herself. She never
out their first issue of remarried. So maybe
love & rockets, which we saw the world
Fantagraphics then through her eyes."
offered to publish for
them. Fifty issues later, Their mother would
locas compiles the main also tell them about the
Maggie and Hopey tales comics she collected
from 1982 to 1996. and lost in the 1940s.
Ho wonder she was fine
about her kids reading
them and having them
ibout the house. Could
this tearful woman
Maggie & Hopey clutching her copies of
HAMBONE FUNNIES be a
Margarita Luisa
quiet tribute to her?
Chascarillo and
Esperanza Leticia
Glass are "locas": mad, Cartoon realism
maddening, and madly laime happily mixes
in love, mostly with quite realistic drawings
each other. Here they with classic cartooning
are reunited, after symbols, such as
Hopey feared that Maggie's anxious sweat
Maggie had been killed drops and Sergeant
working abroad. In her Sado's angry squiggles.
confusion, Hopey starts
causing trouble again, The special brackets
like she used to do point out that they are
when she and Maggie speaking Spanish.
first met.

Locas
Jaime Hernandez
2004,1 volume, 708 pages

READING ON: IDENTITY 172 WOMEN 17s MUSIC 32 YOUTH »59

 Locas scene scene

Speedy Ortiz
r uMefizva) ^ r I'M OW MY uwy 70 MA0DO6S " r yeah? hopey? ok, but first, ^ Maggie and Hopey are part
GOING RI6HT NCO). TO 5E£ HDfEYS BAND PLAY. COULD KICK SACK. I HAVEN'T SEEN TOD FOR r ocwrYcoDAf^a^ 1 r / COnT UJANT TO [PANT YOU
THIS ON ME / DAMN TOO.
. MAGGIE? . ^ YOOGUIfc ME ft RIPE T ^ . nWHHE. YOU UAWf A SEEK? ^ YEAH, OK. X
i'a mit tost SPE£T>Y! AREN'T YCV GUIS
wr mc&, speedy. idonTvant
TDLUMT RAND RACE ANY WORE. [ of Jaime's larger ensemble,
oft. mew i AU SICK ANbVRfP Of CANT... I CANT DO IT Mr MORE. .
GOTO 60. i WATCHING ME MAKE AN
ah star; ass of mysei/7
^ If HIRES TOO MUCH... A
who spin off into the worlds
k AREN r YCV? ! API? ~A
of mechanics (Maggie's
speciality), rock bands,
gang wars, art galleries,
and women s wrestling.

Maggie's attention can get

" aw, YcxJ luG uuKM'ScUr ... YOU HAVE A W0ND6WU GUITAR PLAYING ST/l£. BJEN '
YA7 iGVYS SOCK! I MISSIVES \ IT? Art SEX <5 ON NEYY 1THOUGH I DON'r PARTICULARLY UKE THE REST OF XXR SAND,
distracted, as here by
^^fOF OCTOBER L DIN6LE BERRY! . . i THINK YOU HADE A IMNOERfUL GUITAR PLAYING- S r YEAH. WHATS
HOP#6 g3S SSL - - jfe»- HE UP 10So LATE,
iSAlY THAY .
7HAY0ATIC KJQS
OR SHOULD (SAY
SO EARLY? a handsome charmer Speedy,
CM? ^
who goes on to break her
heart with his womanizing
and recklessness. Speedy
also gets caught up in
violent gang rivalry that
ends in his death.
AlO, 3E€Z...
SAY. BUDDY/ TOO CPAit JERRY, (SET ON
PARK HERE ! CjnCN, LETS 00?
m/E/f, BAH-TOE— ^
THE RADIO... . UiHATS
UP?
Jaime deftly underplays
the tragedy by showing us
one last image of Speedy,
insensitive to Maggie's
anguish, and the window
of the emergency ward
casting a shadow like a
MH-W/Wd cross, central to the page,
before the police discover
his body.

Secret histories
Jaime deepens the
believability of his fiction
characters by discreetly
disclosing their secrets
fleshing out their histone.

In this sequence, Maggie's

wrestling aunt Tia talks her
into moving in with her until
r UXKSMJW. I DON’T WANNA POSH TOO WTY- ^
ANYTHING. 10RD KNCOJS YOM HAD 6NCGWT Of ml,
BUT I REfJjJ DO NEED TOO HERE RIGHT NOD LOCK, l
she gets a championship
. UK*/r fKKONTOU I UJONTEVEN BITCH ABOUT A r sort, ^ h
LT YOU PLAYING YCOR MUSIC TCP WOP. aie Right,
. tta. j
rematch. Their conversation
PLEASE, PI AGGIE.
reveals more detail about
Maggie’s past, her family
troubles, and her eagerness
to please.

Lastly, she breaks the

news to Hopey, naked in a
blanket. Notice how time
smoothly jumps ahead with
the second pane!, simply by
Maggie saying “So that's it"
and having got undressed.
Their faces and bodies say
as much as their dialog
about Maggie’s distraction
and Hopey 's coy attention.

HEADING ON: GENDER ROLES 97 | GANGLAND 80 | DISCRIMINATION 68 | LESBIANS 32

Following on froivi Locas

Food Boy
How far can loyalty take
you? Gareth has known
Ross since they were boys,
and tries to understand him
when he abandons normal
village life for the wilds of
Wales. Gareth becomes his
"foodboy," bringing him
meat, but realizes that Ross
is turning increasingly
feral. He finds Ross, fixated
on a draining reservoir. A
plaque reveals that it took
the lives of a nearby
village. Ross insists on
digging up the bones of the
drowned, which Gareth tries
covering up. This tragedy
shall not be buried again.

Carol Swain's charcoal

textures and ever-changing
viewpoints, circling around
her characters, add to the
atmosphere. Keeping Ross
unheard and mostly unseen
intensifies his presence.

Paul has a
sutotoer Jo(>
SO &UT TALK 60
YCXJ INTO OOiNimG
Angrily quitting school for HELLO Oufi INSANE
L ASYLUM1? J
the real world in 1970s
Montreal, Paul despairs at
his dead-end factory job,
so he jumps at the chance I AMO ON
OTHER SiOE ' ANNE MARIE
to work as a summer camp Y ano rshe, oor little cove
9<R0S, LOUIS, OOR KITCHEN HEU»
AhO MAN FfliOAT, ANO LUKE, ANNIE'S
counselor. The challenges of BROTHER, NMO takes care Of
Finances Ano MiS motorbike.
looking after troubled kids
puts his problems into
perspective, and so does
his gradual first falling in
love with Annie, his vibrant
co-worker.

Here, Paul meets the team

and mistakenly counts on
waitress service. In the
second scene, twenty years
later Paul finds their old
campsite in the woods. In
the opening panel, author
Michel Rabagliati shows
Pam s semi-transparent
memory of his younger self.

READING ON: FRIENDSHIPS 32 | FOOD 43 | SUMMERTIME 34 | FIRST LOVE 32

 FoUov/if)& on froto Locas

My A/ew York
Olary
For young French Canadian
cartoonist Julie Doucet, New
York is "a big, scary and
merciless place to live... a
pretty monstrous apple."
She reveals everything that
happens in her turbulent
relationship with a selfish,
possessive artist boyfriend:
their love, drugs, sex, work,
and fears that lead to rows
and break-ups.

Here, she shows us round

their cramped, three-room
apartment in all its
unvarnished detail. Later,
she nearly dies in the
bathtub when she has an
epileptic fit. Her boyfriend
saves her, but he is soon
back to his self-centered
ways. Throughout, Doucet
displays her miniaturist s
eye for tawdry beauty.

Mafron fkkoko
A beautiful widow, Kypko
Otonashi, manages Maison
Ikkoku, a boarding house in
the middle of Tokyo, and its
eccentric tenants. Rumiko
Takahashi's Ik-volume
urban romance follows
Kyoko's slow-burning
romance with the younger
would-be teacher Yusaku
Godai, as she learns at last
to love again.

In this scene near the end,

Kyoko has been taken to
meet Yusaku's family. His
grandma presents her with
a special ring, as a sign of
her relief that Kyoko is
taking on her "dense,
undependable“ grandson.
Characters in manga often
have cartoon features and
big eyes, but decors and
ob/ects are drawn with
realistic precision.

READING ON: MARRIAGES 172 EPILEPSY 28 LOVERS 27 JAPAN 64

Pafatoar fa focus
Two matriarchs
Gilbert Hernandez
never forgot the
BETTER FOR THIS, LU6A. BECAU5E I M/GWT
fantastical stories that
his grandmother,
aunts, and uncles used
to tell about living in
Mexico. They inspired
him to create the close,
closed community of
Palomar, a mythical
Central American
village, as a way to
explore his Latin
American heritage.
Local life is run by two
matriarchs, the
formidable sheriff
Chelo and the bath¬
house keeper Luba.
Here Chelo confides in
Luba about her self-
doubts, after failing to
stop a deranged serial
killer from murdering
the innocent and
spreading terror and
suspicion among the
citizens. You'd never
know that these women
started as bitter rivals.
Here, Luba is at Chelo's
place, recovering from
a head wound, self-
inflicted out of her fear
and tension from the
murders. She snaps in
one panel and Chelo
has to stop her ranting
out of the window.
In the close-up of a
tearful Luba that
follows, Gilbert can
ALCAID£SA( ail CALL DLSSAH) ^ADY MAYOR
seamlessly shift
between panels from
wacky cartooning to
moving realism.
READING
“Gilbert Hernandez is using the comic strip to tell us important stories
about love and death and poverty and grinning-and-bearing-it,
and the past we all carry with us wherever we go.”
ANGELA CARTER
Gossip
Much of the drama in
I'M NOT GOIN6 TO WAIT TILL YOU’RE Palomar originates
FORGET STUFF I WANT TO 5AY... from gossip, the kind
that spreads around
any small town where
everybody knows each
other, or think they do.
Ever since "outsider"
and single mother Luba
pitched up with her
four daughters from
different fathers and
her touring bathhouse,
prudish rumors have
abounded concerning
her "extra services."
Gilbert explained how
Luba evolved. "She
almost wrote herself.
At the time I was very
sensitive to what
feminists were saying
about how women were
portrayed in popular
culture. So I had to try
real hard to make her
a good character. And
there are still people
who won't read it
because Luba's tits are
too big."
Magic realism
Gilbert Hernandez has
been hailed as the
comics equivalent of
the magic realism of
Gabriel Marquez. He
gets in a sly dig at this
praise, when bookworm
Heraclio has to stop
his semi-literate wife
Palomar Carmen from throwing
Marquez's "junk" into
Gilbert Hernandez the sea.
2003,1 volume, 530 pages
ON: MOTHERS 30 THE VILLAGE 148 SEXUALITY 180 POVERTY 40 GOSSIP 144

DO YOU ALWAYS
associate with such
LOWLIFES, lift. ftU/Z ?
MYSELF EXCLUDED,
OF COUftSE.
WELL ' THAT'S PRO SAB LY
THE MOST POLITE COMPLIMENT
V.
I'VE HAD SINCE / WAS A
YOUNG GIRL
YOU. uh. SEEM
PRETTY HAPPY UM.
THINGS GOING WELL
v FOR YOU, HUH. '’
ptch four Girls
FROM FOUR DIFFERENT
GUTS A NO 5HES STILL
READING ON: MEXICO
Palomar scene tv *cene
Luba and Archie
don-tbe UH IT. UH, BUT TODAY, AS I SAT
■ ITS HE ALLY
SEE ? >
SURE IS, HUH 7
GOSH. YOU LOOK
IN MV KITCHEN
WHILE DORALIS HAD JUST ABOUT
CUT HER FINGERS OFF PLAYING WITH A fan of Fellini, Bunuel,
A KNIFE, BLOOD ALL OYER
LOVELY. .
y WHILE GUADALUPE
AND MAR/CEL A FOUGHT and many classic directors,
LIKE A MARRIED . WHILE OF EL IA STORMED FROM
■. COUPLE. 4 THt HOUSE BECAUSE OF CASAMIRA'S
BELLOWING SHE'S GOT COLIC, Gilbert Hernandez used
MY POOR BABY s
AS ! SAT THERE,
Sophia Loren as one model
KEPT THINKING OF
ONE THING. for Luba. The unashamed,
OVER AND
OVER AGAIN
soft-core sensuality in
palomar comes from his love
of women and his love of
ARCHIE YOU DO
WHAT FOR A DYING drawing them.
Here Luba is in the big city
■
YOU'RE A MAN OF QUESTIONABLE
JUDGEMENT AT TIMES, ARCHIE, Bl dt
y'
I THINK / CAN LIVE WITH THAT- and hooks up again with
-. AND YOU DON'T LOOK
V. 50 BAD YOURSELF, f
her ex-boyfriend Archie,
after they rowed. His
WELL. AS LONG AS l
AND WHAT IS LUBA'S
REACTION TO ARCHIE’.
NEVER HAVE TO VISIT YOU
AT WORK, WERE DOING
WEIL IT APPEARS
ANOTHER INSTALL-
gloomy mood is indicated
CHOSEN PROFESSION S. ALL RIGHT /i ARE YOU ^ MENTOF HEART¬
SURE YOU WASHED BREAK SOUP HAS RUN by a black thought balloon
YOUR HANDS ? ITS COURSE ■ - 50
HOW ABOUT WE END
THIS ON A HAPPY with a skull and bones,
NOTE FOR ONCE .7
apt given his job.
What Luba doesn 't yet
~ WELL. I STILL HAVEN'T
GOT MY PROJECTOR FIXED, know, but Gilbert has
AND I'M ABOUT THIS CLOSE
TO GOING TO JAIL FOR
THE WATER HEATER . foreshadowed to the
^ ACCIDENT. /
... UNTIL
NEXT TIME
reader, is that Archie works
as a mortician. Still, they
get a happy ending, at
“tie End least for one night.
Village life
oh. oh, but you Misunder¬
Luba comes to affect so
stand, SENORITA. I WANTED YOUR
FAMILY IN FRONT OF THE MOVIE much of Palomar life. Here,
THEATER 6ECAUSE...WELL, LET
ME TRY TO EXPLAIN...
as she walks by with Archie,
she's the topic of Carmen
and Tonantzin's bitchy
back-biting. This riles
Carmen's husband Heraclio
into an angry outburst, that
raises Carmen 's suspicions.
Behind all this lurks
Heraclio's secret boyhood
seduction by Luba, and
Carmen's jealousy over not
being able to have kids.
Gringo photographer
Howard Miller is "An
American in Palomar," who
wants to record their way
of life for the world to see.
In a clash of cultures, Luba
outs her foot down. To
remind us that everyone is
speaking Spanish, Gilbert
places brackets around
Miller's English words, even
his censored swearing.
55 I DISCRIMINATION 6o I MARRIAGES 148 PHOTOGRAPHERS 147
Fo((ov/ins on froto Pa(o<*ar

The Ma^rcfan’s
Wife
Edmund, an ambitious
illusionist, manipulates his
stage assistant s daughter
Rita into taking over her
mother's role and becoming
his bride. But his mind
games unleash a rage
within her and she tries to
lose herself in New York.
Here, Rita regresses to a
girt as Edmund brings her
home. Edmund is under the
spell of the house's sinister
new owner, but Rita's kiss
rekindles the magic that
they can make together.

In shimmering watercolors,
France's Franpois Boucq
conjured up this unsettling
love story, written by
American novelist Jerome
Charyn. "People aren't
really like the image they
try to project... they ignore
their own mystery. “

Cages
A writer and his wife, a
painter, a jazz musician,
and other residents of a
London apartment block
wrestle with their dreams
and creative lives. This
scene comes from a long,
Beckett-like monologue by
a house-proud, house¬
bound woman, in denial
that her husband has
walked out on her. Her
parrot squawks back the
awful truth in loud,
distorted balloons.

Dave McKean rediscovers

the power of comics to
record the transient micro¬
expressions and moments
that can take us inside the
minds of his characters. His
very act of making marks
on paper forms a personal
creation myth, and one that
might also free his cast
from their cages.

READING ON: MOTHERS 24 | SEXUALITY 183 | ALIENATION 52 | THEATER 126 | PRISONERS 60

 Following on froiv* PaloWiar

A Stoatt KU'ms
High-flying advertising
whizkid Timothy Hole
(pronounced "holly") has
come a long way from his
left-wing, working-class
roots in the English
Midlands. Now in New York,
he catches sight of a little
boy following him, who
looks familiar and seems
intent on killing him.

Alan Moore and Oscar

Zarate's collaboration is a
stinging critique of yuppie
greed and the everyday
"small killings" that ease a
bad conscience during the
climb to the top. Here they
nail Timothy 's egoism, as he
lays all the blame for his
marriage break-up on his
wife. Notice how Lynda,
looking for a new challenge,
flirts with Timothy 's tie.

Why / f/ate
Saturn
Originally pitched as a car-
chase murder mystery, Kyle
Baker developed this thriller
into a witty, character-
driven comedy about two
very different sisters: Anne,
a hard-drinking New York
lush, and Laura, convinced
/ 3ot to the “yeah, ri^ht. Don't Boy, was she I don't know why I that she's Queen of the
coffee shop where
“Hi, I'm turnaround. She's beautiful. She didn't 5>ve my real “Hi,
“Hi,
we were supposed
supposed
to meet
over there. Don't had the look of
exquisite madness I'm name. She just looked
like she mi^ht be a little
I'm Leather Astro Girls of
to meet. I went up turn around. Use the Bob." Laura“
mirror. But don't stare, which I require in crazier than I like, and
to the $uy at the
counter. just kinda glance." a woman. I fell in I like 'em pretty crazy. Saturn (hence the title).
love immediately.

Here Anne reads Frank's

frank diary about meeting
Laura on a blind date. By
placing all text beneath the
panels storyboard style.
Baker has space to be free
and flexible with his
dialogue and narration.
The climax to his 200-page
“It's the "Oh, you are. Yes, I've discovered
That's
her,
Yeah, now ask
yourself, are you
“She's
kinda spacesuit. Sets "She is My apologies. that there's a hole in . , "Who reads romp is not unlike the movie
off her eves. kinda Go. Have fun. May the atmosphere. Unless do newspapers?"
huh7' sure you want this? cute." you thmk
you could just buy Cmon! She's cute." your days tosether something is done about
nobody THELMA AND LOUISE, Which
a donut and walk nuts! Go home! be lon3 and happy it soon, everyone wi die
Are you that ones. Soda's on the of radiation poisoning knows?"
out. She 'd never
know it was you." desperate 7' house." and skin cancer “ came out a year later.

READING ON: MARRIAGES 176 | MURDERERS 164 I FETISHES 180 | ALCOHOLICS 118
/+’s a Goo<j Life... In focus

“Rich, evocative...characterized by small moments

revealing the author’s sharp eye for detail
THE GLOBE & MAIL

Sentiment
Canadian cartoonist
Seth feels distress that
so much is trampled
over by the rapid
changes in modern life.
He seems to have found
some comfort in his
mother Violet's much-
repeated mantra: "It's a
good life if you don't
weaken." it becomes the
title and underlying
sentiment of his tale.
Gently positive if not
profound, it's a saying
that encourages
perseverance without
promising the moon.
As Seth explains, "It's
only when you weaken
to all the negative
forces around you,
that your life is
basically destroyed.
You've got to make of
it the best you can."
Seth sets out on a quest
to find out about a
cartoonist named Kalo,
whom he discovers was
forgotten by posterity,
one of yesterday's
men, who tried to live
"a good life" and, all in
all, did not weaken.
Picture-Novella
Seth came up with this
slightly old-fashioned
term to describe his
story. He combines
critical autobiography,
failed romance, low-
key mystery, and an
appreciation of how
comics and memories
associated with them
can affect us deeply.
He also provides a
glossary of cartoonists
and characters that
he mentions.
What a joke. I mean, Sure, I
really io_ -think lots of thirty a
were better in the past-.
It's a Good Life if You Don't Weaken
VooVe yot to admit that the
Sheer Quality of living seems
to be getting shoddier and
cheaper every year...
the world my parents grew up in doesn't seem
to fit together with this one. The hits and
pieces of that time still lingering around today
seem like remnants of Some ghost world--a
Seth
1996,1 volume, 192 pages
Nostalgia
in white-on-black
captions, Seth lets
us eavesdrop on his
thoughts about living in
the past, as he scours
the antiques stores
festooned with toys.
In his hat and smart
coat, Seth dresses like
the elderly man in the
first panel, in contrast
to the outfit of the
long-haired youth in
the background.
•• but when lm truly honest wiih
His glasses are blank
myself 1 know l couldn't stand throughout, his eyes
the attitudes or the Social con¬ unseen, suggesting
ditions hack then. 1 Sure wasn't
introspection, self¬
reflection, perhaps
a desire not to see
the present day.
The real Kalo
Despite the cleverly
faked evidence of his
printed cartoons, Seth
later disclosed that
Kalo was an invention.
This knowledge brings
questions, not answers.
Like Kalo, Seth is a pen-
name of a Canadian,
raised in Strathroy. It's
as if Seth imagines how
he might have lived as
a cartoonist who made
it only so far and gave
it up, not out of
weakness, but to
support his family.
This also relates to
Seth's idolization of the
new Yorker magazine
and his ambition to be
published there. His
fictional Kalo sold only
one cartoon to the
prestigious weekly;
Seth has gone on to
illustrate for them,
including covers.

READING ON: FAMILY SECRETS 24 ALIENATION 55 IDENTITY 32 | CARTOONING 172

 It’s a Good Life... scene tv scene

Finding Kalo
Trying to trace Kalo,
Seth travels to Strathroy,
Canada, by coincidence the
town where Seth spent some
of his childhood. Seth
inserts plaintive drawings,
frequently without people,
here of a rundown building,
perhaps vandalized, and a
faded playground in the
snow, as he thinks about
childhood comics. He fills
several pages with these
seemingly unrelated
images, some without
words, to convey quietness,
transition, contemplation.

Piece it all together and it*

barely a quarter of the
P»))le... Here, as he reviews the
facts, he again takes us
around the old buildings at
+ . . • night beneath a starry sky,
4 a recurring motif in the
book. Notice how the moon,
like the Kalo puzzle, is
x*\ §gg
m il "barely a quarter" and how
space, like facts, is empty.

Perseverance pays off. On

this left-hand page, Seth
locates Kalo's daughter and
they share their pieces of
the puzzle. Notice how Seth
creates resonance between
the photo and the cartoon
by placing them in same
sized panels, on the right
in a row of three.

Seth gets referred to an old

friend, who gives him an
insight into how Kalo felt
about giving up cartooning.
The man has been planting
bulbs and, as he reflects,
lets one drop to the ground,
an allusion to growth and
the cycle of nature.

As well as his retro drawing

style, Seth's choices of the
book's cream paper, subtle
second colour, and refined
design add to its charm.

READING ON: CITIES 93 NOSTALGIA 24 DETECTIVES 120 MYSTERIES 164

Fo((owir)j on froto IT’s a Good Life—

HJcksvlUe
Naive journalist Lester
Batts uncovers the
sacrilege behind cartoonist
Dick Burger 's superstar
status by visiting his
New Zealand hometown,
Hicksville. Far from being
"hicks," everyone here loves
comics deeply, as Batts
learns from bookseller
Mrs Hicks, of the town's
founding family.

Later, Batts is let into

a unique archive of
unseen, unknown comics
masterpieces, by Picasso,
Lorca and many more.
Appropriately, it is kept
safe inside a lighthouse,
a savior from disaster
and a beacon of hope.
New Zealander fabulist
Dylan Horrocks builds a
local Shangri-la legend
for his beloved medium.

The Wa(ktr)£ Man

In Tokyo, a quiet,
observant man wanders
off the beaten track.
When he relaxes on the
fallen cherry blossoms,
he is joined by a woman,
who tells him that she has
come back to see a favorite
tree from her childhood.
He listens and then
leaves her in peace.

liro Taniguchi's delicately

illustrated interludes
prove that, even in a
crowded city, you can
find the calming beauty
of nature, if you take
the time to look. Notice
his careful use of silent
panels to convey mood
and time.

READING ON: LIBRARIES 98 | LIGHTHOUSES 179 | NATURE 93 | MEDITATION

 Fo((owin^ on froM /t’y a Good Life...

Montfeor Jean
Twe truth is th*t you Oon r uni pieRRe yves
mc»u$e m£■ j * frvcno of m.nc ftnOf^y fRitnos In the unusual Parisian
A«tN t liooo CnooGh foH YOU..
> « ano ft»ove All.,
ruirfte not as
partnership of Philippe
iNTBRCStiNG AS YOURS,TV6
fStiXtS vJACOOtS ANO
Cte/ACNTS, who A«e
a excepr foR-rxe
I B«AC6L£T, P.tflKe- Dupuy and Charles
JUST FABULOUS / YV6SISAGRCAT
/Guy AfTfc« au., »e
^must HAve goootastc
If H6 Lines YOU. ANOI'M
Berberian, both of them
SuRfi H6'S RtAOYTo
MARRY YOU AnO HAVe
write and draw together
and reflect their lives and
u
v*lf'M-f
Ini anxieties in their composite
iWj alter ego. So far, lean has
stayed free and single, but
here, over a sushi meal,
exttfT iN
NfWYOBK he worries about losing
/ I'M OLO
fcNOuGH To
MAKE f*Y OWN
Cathy to Pierre- Yves,
oec.sioNS
a smooth rival.

lean imagines Cathy as a

mermaid in the restaurant's
painting of a Japanese
MONSieup jeAN
Tuna chiRach. po« legend, which turns into an
erotic print. When he comes
to her rescue, reverie and
reality blur and she ends
up as his sliced tuna.
Notice all lean s fantasies
lack panel borders, while
his memory of an awful
dinner party is indicated
by tinted speech balloons.

La Per<)l<ja
Clashes of culture, class
and politics spill over
in Mexico City, when
unwelcome American visitor
Carla is kicked out by an
ex-boyfriend, who is later
kidnapped. Her relationship
with Oscar, her new
Mexican boyfriend,
becomes strained after
he disappears for days
with Memo, a Marxist
revolutionary.
Here, on their return,
Carla's relief turns to
suspicion at their evasive
answers. In la perdida or
"loss," author lessica Abel
subtly stokes up the tension
and conflicted conscience
of a young woman, alien
and alienated, and
(X>M*e \
f*e, bu4- »PM be the getting increasingly out
whole ^uWly. of her depth.

READING ON: LOVERS 47 | MYTHS & LEGENDS 94 | ALIENATION 32 | MEXICO 48

Chapter 5
Right: Hitler, before and after,
on the covers of The Beast Is
Dead from 1944 and 1945
Opposite: The mutinous naval
lieutenant from Lorenzo
Mattotti’s Fires
The Lons Shadow
T hrough the walls of his darkened bedroom,
a young American boy’s slumber is shattered as
he is woken night after night by the cries of his
sleeping parents. They had survived the German
concentration camps, but their nightmares would never
leave them. Born after the war, their only son grew up
amid its lingering traumas and little daily reminders. A
child of survivors needs to find a way to survive himself.
Reading and drawing comics offer him some escape, and
later he briefly tries psychedelic drugs. At the age of
twenty, however, his LSD experiments trigger a deep
neurosis and he is committed for several months to a
mental hospital. Then, three months after he is allowed
out, his mother takes her life. The war casts a long
shadow, over parents and son.
Art Spiegelman
CM VOt-OANCt in
started using his short
The BEAST is DEAD
story comics in early 1970s
underground anthologies
to deal more explicitly
with his feelings about his
parents Vladek and Anja.
Justin Green proved a great
inspiration by his example
of the autobiographical
Binky Brown in 1972 and II World War among the animals
also by personally insisting
that Spiegelman contribute something to a comic called
Funny Amina Is [sic]. Green "even taped two tabs of
amphetamine to the letter to get me over the hump.
I never used the speed... but I did produce a three page
strip called 'Maus,' which later triggered my long Maus
project.” Another huge encouragement was Will Eisner's
first graphic novel in 1978, the year Spiegelman and his
Francoise Mouly established their imprint, Raw Books and
Graphics. Spiegelman adopted a similar format to that of
A Contract with God and 1979 he outlined his project for
"maybe a 200-page or more comic book novel, for want of
a better word, that will be the story of my father’s life in
Nazi Europe. It will also be the story of my relationship
with my father. I'm finding it very, very difficult, because
it’s just so painful. And yet I feel it is important for me to
grapple with those demons, and also, insofar as there are
stories still left that people should know, this is certainly
among them."
From the second issue of Raw, Spiegelman and
Mouly's irregular, self-published "graphix" magazine, in
1980, he began serializing his story one chapter at a time.
Instead of waiting until he had completed it, he took six
chapters to Pantheon Books, who published a first volume
in 1986. Any reservations about a comic tackling such
tragic history were swept away by the intelligence and
intensity with which Spiegelman engages the reader.
Maus climbed the bestseller lists, at first in the fiction
category, until Spiegelman pointed out that the Holocaust
and his telling of it were in no way fictional. With help
from a Guggenheim fellowship, he was able to complete
the second, concluding volume in 1991. Ayear later it
won him a Pulitzer prize,
although they had to come
up with a special category
to accommodate the book’s
anomalous status. Once
readers got over the fact
that it was in a funny
animal comic form, they
discovered how readily they
could identify with the
stylized, almost abstract
characters, as blank-eyed as
Little Orphan Annie, and how Maus presented a fresh,
involving way for them to try to grasp the Holocaust and
its toll on survivors and their children.
Spiegelman knew that he was working in a long
cartoon tradition of animals as symbols and stereotypes.
Back in the mid-1930s, Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse
had been attacked in an anti-Semitic editorial in a
German newspaper, which Spiegelman cited, as "the
most miserable ideal ever created... the dirty and filth-
covered vermin, the greatest bacteria carrier in the animal
kingdom, cannot be the ideal type of animal.... Away with
Jewish brutalization of the people! Down with Mickey
Mouse! Wear the Swastika Cross!” In fact, Hitler and the
Germans went on to be caricatured as versions of Disney’s
Big Bad Wolf in The Beast Is Dead, a triumphalist re-casting
of the Second World War into the animal world. This large
The Lons Shadow
Right: Sam Glanzman’s self-
portrait from his autobiography
A Sailor’s Story
Opposite: A Commando tale by
Ferg Handley and Keith Page
about a budding cartoonist
drawing in the trenches of the
First World War
An inmate of the concentration
camps from Joe Hubert's
Yossel, April 19,1943
format, fully painted graphic novel was published in two
parts in 1944 and 1945, during the early, heady period of
France’s liberation. The writer-artist team of Victor
Dancette and Edmond-Francois Calvo have no time for
shades of grey in their nationalistic menagerie; they brand
whole countries as either all good, such as French rabbits
and squirrels, British bulldogs, and American buffaloes, or
all bad, as in Italian hyenas and Japanese yellow monkeys.
In their oversimplified, jubilatory fantasy, they give the
persecution of the Jews very short treatment, portraying
them as rabbits on only one page.
The primary visual sources for what life and death
were like in the concentration camps were the drawings
made by the inmates themselves, which Spiegel man
found vital in illustrating his father's history. Among the
surviving pictorial record are three narrative cartoon
booklets by Florst Rosenthal, born in Silesia, that depict his
daily life as a prisoner in Gurs, the largest camp in France's
Occupied Zone. In one of them, Rosenthal criticizes the
Vichy regime’s betrayal by depicting the cruel irony of
Mickey Mouse being interned in Gurs. Arrested for having
no papers, Mickey is asked if he is Jewish and writes, "I
hung my head and admitted everything.” Unpublished,
Rosenthal’s ironic satires existed as one-off, hand-drawn a brave soldier dog and a giant, spike-booted robot.
originals, passed between fellow captives. It was after the Allies’ victory in 1945 that war
There used to be few opportunities within comics comics about the ordinary soldier proliferated in America
for the victims and critics of wars, in the services or among and Britain, especially from 1950, when the Korean war
civilians, to get their stories into print, unless they could began to be fought on the battlefields and on the comic
be used by the other side as propaganda. For example, book pages at the same time. At worst, these comics could
Taro Yashima, an exile from Japan, found a publisher in be crude and jingoistic, dehumanizing the enemy. Even at
New York in 1943, mainly because The New Sun, his their best, such as the stories supposedly based on real
graphic account of his punishment for anti-militarist accounts in Harvey Kurtzman’s EC series or Joe Simon and
protests, served the purpose of supporting America's Jack Kirby’s Foxhole, the common soldier might come
involvement in the war. Comics made ideal morale across as unheroic, cowardly, fatalistic, but he was usually
boosters and recruitment tools. They waved the flag, resigned to getting the job done. He would seldom
saluted the troops, and accepted the official line. Many question, let alone protest against, the war he was
popular characters in the Second World War set an fighting. Read by servicemen, ex-servicemen, and would-
example and signed up or fought on the home front. In be servicemen, these comics frequently tell of a private
the battle of the imagination, Americans were fired overcoming his fear and performing some act of heroism.
up by mighty superheroes, many uniformed in In Britain, endless variations on this theme have filled over
stars and stripes, while the Japanese took 4,000 editions of Commando, small-format, 64-page
courage in graphic novels, still issued eight times a month. Aimed
partly at young potential army recruits, these "pocket
libraries” omit the true horrors of war, because they would
be too disturbing for these gung-ho adverts for bloodless
combat and macho bonding.
America's Vietnam war also generated its share of
mostly patriotic comic heroes at the time. Any hint of anti¬
war dissidence was not tolerated. When Archie Goodwin
wrote a humanist story for Blazing Combat in 1966 that
empathized with innocent Vietnamese peasants killed in
 The Long Shadow

crossfire, the magazine was banned by the U.5. Army from imagery. Distributed abroad electronically, his Regards
being sold on their bases and folded after the next issue. from Serbia bypassed frontiers and was published via
It’s surprising that in the rebellious underground comix papers and websites in the lands of the "enemy," as the
that followed, there was little specific criticism of the war. bombs were still being dropped. More War Stories
One exception was the topical, brooding Legion of Charlies More or less fictional stories of war can naturally American Splendor:
by Tom Veitch and Greg Irons, who interweave the Charlie also carry a powerful charge, when backed by thorough Unsung Hero
HARVEY PEKAR & DAVID COLLIER
company responsible for the My Lai massacre and the research or perceptive imagination. Who would have
Vietnam in one G.I.’s words
Charlie Manson murders. Only in the eighties, once the thought that Pat Mills could present the harsh facts Fax from Sarajevo
war was far enough removed, could more attempts of the First World War in Battle, a British boys' weekly? JOE KUBERT
A family's desperate flight
be made to interpret it, ranging from Marvel’s Code- "Censorship was never a problem. The incidents
Nambul War Stories
approved The 'Nam to more faithful records happened, therefore they couldn’t be HYUN SE LEE
by Will Eisner, Don Lomax, Cosey, and gratuitous.” More recent conflicts of Japan goes to war for oil

Harvey Pekar. resistance, for example in Prague, Algiers, Apocalypse Meow

MOTOFUMI KOBAYASHI
Through autobiography in graphic and Belfast, had hardly been touched The real 'Nam with cats & mice
novel form, others answered the need to upon in comics before, but are now Adolf
bear witness, for a loved one who had died, the subjects of graphic novels. Such OSAMU TEZUKA
What if Hitler had Jewish blood?
or for themselves. In Japan, when Keiji fantastical allegories as Lorenzo Mattotti’s
Vietnam Journal
Nakazawa's mother died and was cremated Fires convince the reader with their DON LOMAX
A Nam vet's battle record
in 1966, her bones disintegrated from the psychological insight. Even the purely
Regards from Serbia
radiation stored in her body from the hypothetical —Hitler’s Jewish bloodline
ALEKSANDAR ZOGRAF
Hiroshima bombing. This shock drove or Japan’s future war for oil —can be Yugoslavia's mental breakdown

Nakazawa to tell the story of their survival compellingly plausible. Safe Area Gorazde
JOE SACCO
as Barefoot Gen. Amazingly, considering its horrific In the real world, cartoonists are becoming
The unseen Bosnian War
imagery and political sensitivity, this was serialized from war correspondents, to witness for themselves the Alain’s War
' 1972 in a mass-market weekly for boys, Shonen Jump, flashpoints and frontlines. Joe Sacco's visits to Palestine EMMANUEL GUIBERT
A soldier's modest memoir
without any complaints being received. In Tehran, the and Bosnia have resulted in documentaries of history as it
From Iraq
young Marjane Satrapi, daughter of Marxist parents and is happening, intimate and sometimes devastating, that GREG COOK
great-granddaughter of Iran’s last emperor, grew up under fix decimated streets and ravaged faces in maniacal detail With American troops in Iraq

the Islamic revolution. On the eve of the Iran-lraq war, her
uncle Anoosh was arrested as a Russian spy. He asked for
Marjane as his last visitor, before he was executed. He
gave her a little swan that he had sculpted out of bread to
remember him by and entrusted her with the family’s
history. "I will never forget,” she promised. Years later,
exiled in Paris and inspired by Maus, she resolved to tell
her story in comics. In Persepolis, Satrapi is keeping her
In the wake of September 11, there is a curiosity and
urgency in many people to understand more about the
so-called "outside world." Sacco has been commissioned
to produce new graphic reportage by Time magazine and
The Guardian newspaper. Other cartoonists are
finding the complexities hidden behind
the simplistic headlines, from Ted Rail
in besieged Afghanistan to Mark The true story of

childhood promise. Stamaty’s tale of one woman's an Iraqi librarian

After decades of telling make-believe adventures, courage in war-torn Iraq. As Satrapi who rescues books,

American veterans Eisner, Joe Kubert, and Sam Glanzman has commented, "The news hides the in Mark Stamaty’s

used the graphic novel to look back afresh at their own complexity of a society. They talk about Alia’s Mission

experiences of the Second World War. In Kubert’s politics but never about people who are
alternative life story, he speculated on how different his suffering its consequences and who are
fate might have been,.if he had been unable to leave his fighting for more freedom. Nor about
native Poland for America and had fought and died as a the poor, who don't have the
boy in the 194S Warsaw ghetto uprising. In another possibility of leaving.” The comics
Kubert project, he adapted a stream of fax messages, a medium seems ideally suited to
friend's only lifeline trapped in Sarajevo, into a graphic shedding light on the shadow
novel about the Bosnian war of 1992-95. Meanwhile in of war and exposing the
Serbia, young cartoonist Aleksandar Zograf responded to humanity, that is all but
NATO attacks on his hometown Pancevo by drawing a ignored or trivialized by
weekly strip, fusing hard truths with dreams and dream- much of the mass media.
tAaus ft focus
Maus is there at the heart of it. Like all great stories, it tells us more about ourselves
Animal types
Art Spiegelman's
animalistc metaphors
of lews as mice
and Nazis as cats
become even more
pertinent, because
Hitler compared lews
to vermin and used
rat-poison Zykion B
in the death camps.
Art regularly plays
with these stereotypes
to expose their
absurdities and lies. /
Here Vladek tries to /
disguise himself and
his wife as Poles,
portrayed as pigs,
by wearing quite
obvious masks.
To keep past and
present clear. Art
captures the distinct
Jewish sentence order
of Vladek's narrative
comments, but keeps —
the way he and
others speak in
the past normal.
The Real Vladek
After the Holocaust,
Vladek Spiegelman
had this somewhat
idealized "souvenir
photo" taken of him
wearing a dean camp
uniform, one of the
only photos which Art
shows in the book.
READING
“Maus is a masterpiece, and if the notion of a canon means anything,
than we could ever suspect.”
PHILIP PULLMAN
Drawing choices
Spiegelman first
vJE/U. WRLK-roufVW) $0>- STM CALM-WALK M If W£’R£ JU*T
dealt with the effects
KOUJ\6c- «T LEAST W£'LL STA0U-1M6-... AHD SPEAK GERMAN. of the Holocaust on his
kHovO OUR UM fcROvMD.
childhood in a three-
page "Maus" strip
in 1973 introducing
the cat-and-mouse
metaphor. For the
longer version, he
started drawing in a
rendered, expressionist
style, but rejected it,
as it told the reader
too much how to feel.
He chose a modest
directness, almost
diagrammatic, drawn
same size or smaller.
You almost feel as if
you are reading the
one surviving original.
Mother
After his mother Anja's
suicide in 1968, Art
tries to comfort his
grieving father in this
panel from "Prisoner on
AND HERE we WAITED A the Hell Planet." This
Colo FEW HOURS FoRTXE DAY- 4-page strip from 1973
about Art's own mental
anguish portrays
human characters in a
fevered scratch-board
Maus: A Survivor's Tale technique. It is printed
again in maus, when his
Art Spiegelman
father finally reads it
Volume 1 1986, Volume 2 1991, Complete 1999, 295 pages
years later.
ON: FATHERS & SONS 94 | IEWS 68 | SUICIDES 40 | HOLOCAUST 63 | FUNNY ANIMALS 160
 tAaus scene tv scene

Anger and guilt

Time flies-
The final page of the first
volume, far left, brings
the strained relationship
between Viadek and his son
to a head. Recovering this
oral history enabled Art
to rebuild his relationship
with his father, but it also
exposes painful truths. His
fury fills a jagged speech
balloon and becomes black
lightning over his head. His
accusal "Murderer" stands
out in a larger balloon as if
spoken under his breath.

Art's anxiety and guilt over

his success with the first
part of maus becomes a key
element in the second part.
Art draws himself wearing a
mouse mask, his desk atop
a pile of emaciated, mouse¬
headed bodies, the death
camp visible through his
window. To underline his
complicity, a big, barely
visible black swastika
holds the page together.

SO. THE TRAIN \«IM GOING, WE 01 OUT KNOW WHERE.
W*E£,PEOPLE BEGANTOtllE.TOFAINT..
to! MV UU,1\ m *H!
6£iNG STA&red!
VT WMNT ROOM to fall ...ano
IFHEFE-UL.THEy STOOD ON HIM.
FOR. DATS MW RIGHT* ROWING £.tvCHft*mV5 JowCOHC
CfSM VJHOIJ 5,eK».
CXotec
Survivors' tales
These pages show how
Viadek negotiates his
survival in the camp by
helping others but also
helping himself. Art does
IF SOMEONE RAO TO MAKE A VAlNE OR A
BOWEL MOVEMENT, HE 010 WHERE HE STOOD not make his father out to
be a hero or saint, but
records the sacrifices he
was forced to make, going
so far as to injure his hand
repeatedly and leaving him
I ATE MOST UT SNOW FROM IIP ON THE ROOF.
with scars, physical and
emotional, which he carried
for the rest of his life.

Another way Art subtly

shows shifts between the
>0 HE iABBEP To THEIR LEG* WITH A
KNIFE, BUT USUALLY HE ANVWAV OIEP
present and past is by
Some hap Sugar Somehow, but it Borneo. omitting the panel borders
MW THROAT'. \ n£EP I LANONlV
WATER.' WATER.'. REACH A LITTLE
or expanding them beyond
GIVE ME SOME SNoW FORMVSEeF!
the usual grid of the page,
\m as if time is evaporating,
demonstrated left in the
opening and closing
panels of this page.

READING ON: WARS 148 | MIGRANTS 176 | DISCRIMINATION 70 | PRISONERS 50 | SURVIVORS 129
FoUowinj on frot* tAaus

A Jew
Tn Cowvianfrt
Prague
After his father is sent
to a labor camp for anti¬
socialist activities, young
Czech lonas Fink and his
mother become suspects
and their opportunities
narrow, lonas lands a
job in a bookstore, but is
forced to spy for the police
on his employer, who is
involved in an underground
literary movement.

Somehow love blossoms in

this climate of suspicion
and anti-semitism, but
can it endure when Ion as's
girlfriend reveals that her
parents know all about his
criminal father? Cold War
1950s Prague comes alive
in the meticulous research
by Italy's maestro of "clear
line" art, Vittorio Giardino.

To the Heart
of the Storto
Will Eisner's most explicitly
autobiographical novel
examines prejudice
against lews, and among
lews, during his youth
and young adulthood, as
the Second World War
approaches. Willie joins the
army, and while riding the
troop train to basic training
he thinks back on what
has brought him to fight
for his country.

Here, years after high

school, Willie bumps into
Buck, his best friend from
childhood. Buck's memories
of their good times together
soon dissolve into a
racist tirade. Eisner uses
the mounting downpour to
convey the gathering storm
of ethnic tensions in
‘.-th¬
pre-War America.

reading ON: JEWS 60 | LIBRARIES 71 | FRIENDSHIP 32 | DISCRIMINATION 110

 FoMowTnj on froivt tAaus

Y ossel,
A f>rft 19, 19*3
In 1920, when loe Kubert
was two months old, he and
his Jewish family left Poland
for a new life in America.
But Kubert was haunted
by the thought of how life
might have been, had they
stayed and endured the
Nazi invasion. At the age of
77, he wrote his speculative
autobiography.

Yossel is a 15-year-old boy

whose drawing talent wins
favors from the Germans
but can't save his family
from being deported to the
death camps. Rather than
meet the same fate, he
chooses to die fighting in
the Warsaw ghetto uprising.
Here, in raw, uninked pencil
sketches, two prisoners try
to escape, and Yossel sets a
bomb in the Germans' base.

If) Search
1
A/HA YOU THINK
WE HAVEN T
of Shirley
WHAT
NOTICED THAT
do you
MEAN
LIGHT IN
YOUR EYES?
Arthur and Ian grew up
competing for the elusive
EVERY TIME YOU
HAVE ONE OF YOUR
BRAINSTORMS, Shirley, before they were
THERE'S THAT
LIGHT IN YOUR
STARE, UKE
drafted to fight in Vietnam.
YOU JUST

THERE!!
SHARED Now, as veterans struggling
A COKE.
GOT ONE
WITH JESUS
HIMSELF
to adjust to civilian life,
WHEN IM IN THE STATES, I LL INVITE you
they hear from her again,
OVER TO MY FAMILY'S HOUSE FOR
GRILLED FISH AND MARSHMALLOWS living as a nun in Italy.
i Feet GOOD me truth
I'LL BRING THE SHIRLEY
WHEN I'M WITH
VOU GUYS. I MARSH- ^ Their reunion rekindles past
HOPE. WE LL BE MALLOWS 4m
FRIENDS conflicts between them, till
FOREVER

Shirley introduces them to

Keo, a young Vietnamese
THEY FOUND KEO illegal refugee in her care.
me TRUTH HIDING IN THE HOLD OF
A CARGO PLANE FULL OF
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
Here, the two guys discover
IT LANDED IN ROME i
<3 ON ITS WAY TO j ACCORDING TO THE
POLICY ON RE¬
Shirley 's scheme: to get
w EVENTUALLY UNITING families
KEO SHOULD BE them to help Keo avoid
THE HIGH
COMMISSION SENT TO THE CAMP
ON REFUGEES RATHER THAN PUT
UP FOR ADOPTION
being deported to a camp
FOUND A
THE CATCH IS THAT
RELATIVE
OF KEO'S KEO CORN T WANT in Thailand, by taking her
TO Go BACK TO
l FEEL PRETTY I STOP LYING' THE IN A
UVE WITH AN
GOOD. TOO I TROTH IS YOU FEEL
__M EXTREMELY GOOD 1 CAMP IN
THAILAND AUNT SHE DOESH T with them to America. In
jjMSHMMH AND THAT 'S JUST EVEN KNOW
this scene, Swiss author
'JRfcr'vaM me '
THE MOTHER
SUPERIOR
\ PUT HER
Cosey's crisp art and
W
IN MY
CARLthey elegant pacing convey all
r UNTIL
I
FINISHED
the.
the interplay of emotions
\INVESnGATlON
set around a fishing jetty
as night falls.

READING ON: HOLOCAUST 6o | JEWS 166 | LOVE TRIANGLES 178 | MIGRANTS 60

Barefoot Gen in focos

“Gen effectively bears witness to one of the central horrors of our time. This vivid and
harrowing story will burn a radioactive crater in your memory that you will never forget.’
ART SPIEGELMAN

Manga Militarism
The publication of Nakazawa shows the
barefoot GEN in English in
power of the military
1978 caused a culture establishment pushing
shock to many Western Japan to war and the
readers. This was due imperial system behind
not only to the searing it. The police persecute
honesty of Hiroshima Gen's father for his
survivor Keiji Nakazawa, pacifism. His children
but also to some of the are also made to suffer
alien characteristics of at school and at work.
1970s boys' manga, or
lapanese comics. Here, the victimization
drives his eldest son to
These include faces with enlist. Gen's father is
large eyes, gaping angry at Koji's choice,
mouths, and overstated his fury emphasized by
expressions; unfamiliar the shadow over his
symbols or techniques; face and swirling lines
and a blend of casual around his head like a
violence with cuteness. psychic aura. A shadow
also falls across Koji's
Once you adjust to face in the last panel.
these quirks, they in
fact contribute to the
compelling fascination Project Gen
of this account of one
Project Gen was formed
boy's survival of the
by Masahiro Oshima
atomic blast. The spare,
and other young peace
shorthand cartooning
activists, Japanese and
allows readers to look
non-Japanese, in Tokyo
at the bomb's horrifying
in 197b. Several of
physical effects and
them, while taking part
complete the picture in
in that year's walk for
their Imagination.
peace across America,
had been urged to put
Alter ego gen's strong anti-war
Nakazawa explains, message into English.
'My alter ego's name
Gen has several Reading right-to-left,
meanings in lapanese. manga are complex to
It can mean the 'root' convert and translate.
or 'origin' of something A volunteer group
but also 'elemental' in reliant on donations.
the sense of an atomic Project Gen managed to
element, as well as a translate and publish
'source' of vitality and the first two volumes in
happiness." 1978 and 1979 and
distribute them abroad
on a non-profit basis.
Over time came another

Barefoot Gen two volumes. In 200k,

new translations of all
Keiji Nakazawa ten volumes began.
4 of 10 Volumes, 1978,1979,1989, and 1994,1,096 pages

READING ON: ATOMIC BOMBS 83 CHILDHOOD TRAUMAS 8o RADIATION 148 PACIFISM 67

 Barefoot Gen scene fry scene

August 0, 1945
At 8.15 in the morning, the
bomb was dropped and
"created hell for the dying
and hell for the Hiring."

Here young Gen and his

pregnant mother watch as
Gen's father and younger
brother perish, pinned
under their burning home.
For some time after, his
mother goes into denial and
refuses to accept that her
loved ones are dead. Gen
holds onto his father's last
words, as he struggles to
carry on.

Few, if any, comics have

sustained such an
emotional pitch. This
tragedy is all the more
powerful, because over
the story's first 270 pages,
Nakazawa has made this
vulnerable family so
vividly real to us.

New life is born out of the

destruction. On the far left,
Gen's mother gives birth to
a daughter, Tomoko, but is
unable to breast feed her.
Another mother, whose
baby son has died, forgets
her sorrows for a while by
I want to see my face.. giving her milk to Tomoko.
I want to know...
Isn't there a mirror
around here?
Puff puff... Gotta get The scene cuts to Gen, who,
out to the country and
\ bring back some rice, despite his efforts, fails to
or my sister will die.
Mama's waitina* save a soldier from dying
from radiation poisoning.
Here, Gen becomes terrified
when he shows the same
symptoms. The summer sun
beats down on them all.

Underlining the massive

scale of the physical
horrors is the plight of
individuals. Here, his face
in shadow, Gen has to lie
to a disfigured girl, to
preserve her hope of
dancing again.

READING ON: SURVIVORS 28 IAPAN 162 CHILDREN 96 FATHERS & SONS 3°

Following on froiv* Barefoot Gen

Cbarley’y War
Reading letters by working-
class soldiers writing home
during the First World War
gave writer Pat Mills the
human angle he needed to
put across the horror of
the trenches. Mills plunged
readers of the British boys'
weekly comic battle into the
challenges faced by Charley
Bourne, a Cockney lad aged
10, who starts as an eager,
under-age private.

Here, during the battle o f

the Somme, Charley arrives
with an urgent message to
alert the artillery to save
his mates, but callous snob
Lieutenant Snell refuses to
let this interrupt his tea.
Charley learns a lesson in
class-consciousness. Artist
loe Colquhoun is superbly
adept at both savage
caricature and the details
of warfare and carnage.

Troubled Sooty
Dropping out of college to
pursue comics in 1989,
Belfast newcomers Garth
Ennis and lohn McCrea took
their story straight from
the streets of Ulster. The
Northern Ireland "Troubles"
create a bond between two
very different men: Damien
McWilliams, on the left,
explaining why he became
a hardened IRA killer, and
ordinary coward Tom Boyd.

Here Damien has ensnared

Tom into planting a bomb
in a trashcan to blow up
a British Army Landrover./
Notice how six extra top /
panels cut to the vehicle's
approach. Tom's chief aim
is to get himself and his
girl out of danger, but his
curiosity, shown inside
parentheses, makes him
want to look at what he
is about to cause.

READING ON: WARS 148 | CLASS 150 | RELIGION 140 | IRELAND 156
 FoMowinj on froiv* Barefoot Gen

Fire*
Italy's Lorenzo Mattotti
relates one young naval
officer's mutiny, following
his return to nature on an
island that the navy is sent
to destroy. To save his
paradise, he abandons his
crew and ship, which sinks
in an explosive inferno.
loot/1 HAI t
SHIVERS UP Mr
SPINE. THE AIR. AND
THE GREEN ALL
This sequence marks the
TOGETHER IN THIS
Light overwheim
Mi WITH
point where he decides to
desert. Mattotti's oil-pastel
techniques harness the
narrative power of fine art:
the warmth and vibrancy of
Post-Impressionism for the
magical isle; the harsh
A>J9 I ’.tSTEbJ To
THE SMELL OF mechanics of Futurism for
MEMORIES.
the massive battleship; the
distortions of Expressionism
for the sailor's altered
mental state. No clever
homages, these shifts in
style always serve the story
as well as communicating
atmosphere and feeling.

A Sapor’s Story
Here is another young
serviceman's record,
this time the two-volume
autobiography of 18-year-
old American sailor Sam
Glanzman, fighting the
lapanese in the Pacific
after Pearl Harbor.
Although he omits his most
horrifying experiences,
Sam brings home the
combat pressures and
cramped conditions that he
and the "tin can soldiers"
faced serving on board the
destroyer U.S.S. Stevens.

Here, even at quiet times,

a small slip could leave a
fellow seaman injured. In
the other incident, Sam
shows how eight long years
in the navy push one man
over the edge. As Sam
discovers, life in the navy
is "nothing like the comics
or the movies. "

READING ON: PACIFISM 64 | NATURE 93 HIGH SEAS 156 | WARS 82

Palestine in focor
“With the exception of one or two novelists, no one has ever rendered this terrible state
Reporter
Among toe Sacco's
role models were such
passionate seekers of
truth as George Orwell,
Hunter S. Thompson,
and Vietnam war writer
Michael Herr. Sacco's
dreams of being a
hard-hitting reporter
turned sour, however,
when he found himself
stuck on a boring city
magazine, hacking out
advertorials. He quit
and committed himself
to another vehicle
for his journalistic
ambitions: comics.
Why comics? "The main
benefit is that you can
make your subject very
accessible. You open
the book and suddenly
you're in the place. “
In this mixture of
documentary and
autobiography, we
accompany Sacco
into the unfamiliar
territories of Israeli-
occupied Palestine and
make discoveries at the
same speed as he does.
Here, Sacco takes us
inside the prison and
mind of a Palestinian
detainee. When all
speech and narration
disappear, we are left
with the awful silence of
solitary confinement.
In the next panel, sleep
deprivation makes him
hallucinate, conveyed
by the unexplained body
of his daughter lying
at his feet. After all
this, Ghassan is
released without
charge after 19 days.
READING
of affairs better than Joe Sacco, as he moves and tarries... attentive, unaggressive,
caring, ironic... a political and aesthetic work of extraordinary originality.”
EDWARD SAID
Pressure
[He punched me with his then shook me "..and threw me back in we HAVEN T V
in "Moderate Pressure,"
shoulder... i- ■the chair. Found any ^
new documents,
■Tnow YoiA Sacco sees for himself
Your, honor
HAVC A
Heart the fresh marks on the
> attach! Palestinian Ghassan's
back and wrists, after
he was held without
evidence on suspicion
of belonging to an
illegal organization.
Sacco illustrates
...BUT WE'LL HAVE OUR EV¬ YOUR HONOR, THERE IS "The judge agreed to u The lawyers left the
IDENCE IF YOU GRANT US NO EVIDENCE.’THE COURT another seven days. roopv i ' y; the innocent man's
ANOTHER 15 DAYS. BX SHOULD RELEASE MY DO YOU Have VSTTN
CLIENT IMMEDIATELY. account of the physical
ANYTHING to say L Nu/
. TO THE court?/; rf' and psychological
techniques applied
by Israeli security to
extract a confession.
To convey Ghassan's
claustrophobia, Sacco
X don't want to Pur
increases the number
You in this cell...You're
A professional man,.. of panels on successive
But You'Re not cooP-
pages, making them
. crating
smaller and smaller,
going from four, six,
nine, to twelve and
here twenty.
The black background
to this episode reminds
4I was hallucinating I “ I decided it was ANYTHING to tell
was in a big cell- better to sit. There was US? IF NOT, YOU'LL us that blackness is all
a small dry area on HAVE TO STAY IN
the step, gypjaigpjgas w HERE- * Ghassan can see when
the urine-smelling sack
is put over his head.
Interviewer
in spite of his
“After one or one and "It was very, very cold exaggerated self-
a half days, they On the !2.th day, the
returned me to the night of the feb 4
caricature and
chairs storm, they took me unappealing qualities,
to another place
Sacco comes across
as likeable, determined,
and persuasive. All
kinds of people open up
to him, from Palestinian
detainees and feminists
to Israeli soldiers and
American tourists.
Self-aware without
being self-righteous,
Palestine Sacco manages to
avoid being polemical
Joe Sacco
or pompous.
Volume 1 1995, Volume 2 1996, Complete 2001, 286 pages
ON: RELIGION 108 | INJUSTICES 40 | JEWS 63 | TORTURE JOURNALISM 147
 Palestine scene by scene

Injustice
TEWS CAME X--
:cupifo The \jH . .T"-
RESTED Some of the most telling
■ WHO WAS AN OLO "straight- to - camera"
NO COc/LDN r MOVE

1talked with
accounts of injustice are
MT W/F£ WHO WAS

WS',~T f0,! «w
the most simple, taking up
R«ES,Pr,AN
just a single page. Here on
L^£,rr the lefthand page, a family
(sJZL-x** X
returns briefly to their
home village, only to find it
has been obliterated.
/ It WAS
A BLACK
DAT WHEN
I l£e r
mTlano j

■ TOOK
Always on the lookout for a
1 fatt|L'1
, see MT strong story or photo—"It s
LAHlO >
good for the comic"—here
wrt£R£
v house
WAS AND Sacco ends up cowering in
“^SCHOOl.
fear, when a street protest
/ sons'
in Ramallah turns violent
/ PEOPLE Affr
'f*RAL7£eSe
After The/
and Israeli troops move in.
hAv£ a Chanc
yTo go sack
\ And see

Instead of keeping balloons

and captions neat and
horizontal, Sacco often lets
them tumble across the
page at all angles. This
adds a feeling of urgency
and disorientation, of being
unstable, unmoored from
normality, swept along in
the rush of the moment.

And both can

look back to
Women’s views
COWER ancestors who
“One day 1
was doing TOOR
HE/kO/
helped make
a home -for Here on the left, he tries to
some shop¬ the Jews n'flJvt

^HAMAS
ping on Omar here-. Naomi
says her rel-
grasp what women think
el-Mukhtar atwes were
/considers The ^
intifada a wav
OF SPREADING
Street. I saw1 well known
Zionists, 2nd
about wearing the "hijab,"
a lady phy¬
541 ITS AGENPA¬
TH EY WANT TO
I FORCE WOMEN
sician driving rwHAT >
f&ula sags her
granddad was the veil that conceals their
her car, right AR£ YOU a Pioneer...
V TO WEAR THE
'Mw HI TAB f
by the hos¬
pital. She
DOING?
SHE IS A hair, and the outfits that
CHRIS-
wasn't wear¬
ing the hijab,
c TIAN /j
cover all but their face and
WANT TO <50
Three or four
youths began
hands, as approved by
^HOH£/ X
stoning her
car, injuring
the Koran. Their answers
her, she was
Weeding-” And what | /—at
X have
' ToULOOKED \
\
//Mings are \ confound his expectations.
' seccR.iT~f AT A MAP? HAVE / NOW. we ha i/e
they want cowsjoe^- TOO SEEN HOW J Ooa hh us. rwc
to Jo now concerned l small israel/ JORDANIANS HAve
I u/ith secur¬ AT,ogsI>o
is live or¬ V 1ST ^ JXEiR HILLS. AnP
ity consid¬ u MEAN - TNG RlVcR Jon- .
dinary erations... < pan Runs >
• - -A hert.«**
\OOWN TH£
\M1DDL£... Sacco also brings in
inP®^
peace,and
JV, ahnoSt something of the Israeli
perspective, for example
40i3*ilM, up jue V here in a discussion with
Bank, tue]
/X SEE > /wu. have
•fou'RE
not WEAR¬
Y C WANT y
f TO BELIEVE
Old I
catch
backar»lftrtt' e H/u.s, j
'ey xu y
two women in Tel Aviv, who
ING the Strongly ont*'ePa'tlc'
l that
ulars ■■
L HlJAB Enough td
WEAR THE
[right?.
—
seem unwilling to give up
HlJAB rr not \
l ALWAYS... A TwiuiT ' the high ground, moral
0ufc they Ve got Other misgivings about whafc
ai:
IN WEARING .
Hills' It* high ground? Ask anyone with a
fwtnd for corvibat, the. high 9rownd Conors peace might briny, namely' or otherwise.
the greatest advantage__— ' can WE
/ SOME trust rue
Ijr BUT THEN N, ( PEOPLE SAT VARA6SZ
r THERE WERE THE MISSILES
The iRaqi missiles SHOWED ISRAEL
V IN THE gulf y\ IS VULNERABLE
Note that Sacco places his
. wTTMOR WITH-,
L OUT THE
.~
A
private thoughts in boxes in
upper- and lower-case text,
while dialogue is spoken in
—&* wE CAN
ows\jj7realixe rTn'xi / MAKE PEACE ye&4, I
*7 WITH THEM NOW,
capital letters.
j then £«* 7 OK AT, BUT WHO'S TO W X
SAT THET wonr GET pft;
SOME LEADER IN THE
t,e Uxf
liike w , \V‘
a >p
i Future who wants to/J-.w
V OeSTRPY ISRAEL-
^LIKE nassar
have faith-J\ r7

READING ON: WOMEN 140 | TRAVELOGUES 159 | WARS 67 | GENDER ROLES 140 | DISCRIMINATION 62
FoMownoj or> fro<v» Pa(es+<ne

Roa^ to America
During Algeria's long and
bloody struggle in the late
1950s to free herself from
French rule, gifted boxer
Said Boudiaf rises from his
poor Algerian background
to become champion of sergeant!* BOUOlAf! rue , 1 50, CAPTAIN,
■kwecxfc WANT’
GuTves!.1.. ioiot !
TUB^OTOS IN TO PALACE OUR
France aged 22. Said's win ^CHAMPION\A

is not without controversy;

here, when he arrives in
Paris for the fight, he is
subjected as an Arab to
police brutality. T
uenri
TRAPP ”
So, f CAPTA'W,
SCU/v\,y0( 56cRETARD TO
-rug NMNIST&K
DfAri OF 5FOTTT5 /
The French team of Baru
and lean-Marc Thevenet
take a totally convincing
documentary approach to
this fictional sports icon,
who finally cannot refuse WHAT ARE
you
to choose sides between LAUGHING
^ ABOUTT!/
the colonial oppressors and
his countrymen's resistance
movement. Baru fills his
crisp, expressive lines with
washes of subdued colors.

To Afghanistan
ar)d Back
During the attacks on the
Taliban after 9/11, radical
American cartoonist Ted
Rail distrusts the mass
media's propaganda and
decides to spend two and
a half weeks in Afghanistan,
to witness for himself
the effects of the bombing
campaign on everyday
existence. Rail finds
great kindness, but is not
prepared for the wholesale
terror and resulting
cynicism on both sides.
Here, Rail realizes that he
is part of a group of
foreign journalists being
hunted and killed for their
money. The final straw
comes when Northern
Alliance thugs shoot
a Swedish cameraman,
and Rail knows how easily
it could have been him.
I I'D COME TO AFGHANISTAN TO GET I
I THE TRUTH. THE TRUTH TURNED OUT|
TO BE OBVIOUS AND CLEAR ', WHY
WASN'T IT THAT WAV IN MV LIVING
] Boom Back in Manhattan?
' NOTHING IS EVEN 1
I SLICHTli LIRE
THEY SAY
f COME ON-YOU
KNOW JOVRN-
I AUSM IS FICTION
I CNN SAIP THAT THE ALLIANCE WERE
OUR ALUES. I'D ASSUMED THAT
THEY WERE JUST AS SCUMMY AS THE
TALIBAN, BUT THEY WERE NOT ONLY
JUST AS BAD BUT 7W£ SAME EXACT
I PEOPLE
AMERICANS WERE BEING TOU) THAT WHAT IF ONE OF THE
THEIR BOMBS WERE. HITTING WITH PORTUGESE NEEDED SOME¬
PINPOINT PRECISION. I'D THING? MY NEW LANDLORD
SUSPECTED SOMETHING LESS THAN RAN A PHARMACY, COULD
1001. PERFORMANCE, BUT HERE. SOMEONE FROM THE HOSPITAL I
THEY WERE, CARPET B0M8ING NEED SOME DRUGS7
NORTHERN ALLIANCE CITIES.
I CHECKED MY WATCH. WHO THE HELL
WOULD KNOCK ON MY DOOR AT 3 IN THE |
MORNING?
I'D EXPECTED TO FIND PAWNS IT SOUNDED LIKE 3 00 A MEN. THEY | Finally they went away
BEING VICTIMIZED BY CYNICAL WERE INSISTENT, THEY POUNDED
SUPERPOWERS. AND I DID- 1 LOUDER and LOUDER. THE LONGER
BUT DAY AFTER DAY OF GETTING THEY POUNDED, THE MORE 1 WAS ASSHOLES'. NOW »*►
GOUGED, RIPPED OFF AND TREATED I TEMPTED TO OPEN THE DOOR. BUT IT | THEY YE GOT
BADLY COULDN'T HELP BUT I WASN'T MV PLACE TO JEOPARDIZE AN THE ROOSTERS
HARDEN YOU. ENTIRE FAMILY-AND IT WASNT MV GOING
HOUSE
I WAS ROILING UP MY BAG 11 The suedes lived 3 doors down next i
WHEN PEDRO RAN IN, i 1 DOOR TO THE POLES AND RUSSIANS. I'D §
WEARING A STONE-COLD SERIOUS j i SEEN THEM AT MOUD'S PRESS CONFERENCES |
[EXPRESSION i II m AT THE FRONT.
A f{ tou'0 IT HAPPEN?') 1
LAST NI6HT SOME
SOLDIERS KILLED 3 OR 4 GUYS KNOCKED^
ONE OF THE on his door wntN 1
SWEDISH TV am. hi openeo it tvky y . :-
SHOTHW TVteY’D 3i||| :
EVERYONE'S
LEAVING.
HMt KlOED HI5 5
6.00MILS SOT THtlU
L_ \
I !
TRANSLATE* BtbfctO A Ml
m THt4» j|

READING ON: MIGRANTS 63 | DISCRIMINATION 82 | TV Si MEDIA 97 | WARS


IM SPITE OF EVERYTHING,, THE
SPIRIT Of REVOLUTION WAS STILL
IN THE AIR. THERE WERE SOME
OPPOSITION DEMONSTRATIONS.
ALL DAY LONG,
ALIA THINKS ABOUT
WHAT TO DO. BY
LATE AFTERNOON,
SHE HAS AN IDEA.
BEARING THE BULKY LOAD, SHE
WALKS AS NORMALLY AS POSSIBLE
PAST THE GOVERNMENT WORKERS,
DOWN THE HALLWAY,THROUGH THE
LOBBY, AND OUT OF THE LIBRARY.
READING ON:
SINCE THE -19*6 REVOLUTION, I'D
61ROWN OLDER (WELL, A YEAR.
OLDER) AND MOM HAD CHANGED.
W\\
AT QUITTING TIME, ALIA GOES TO A SHELF I
IN A BACK CORNER AND FILLS HER HANDBAG
WITH BOOKS. THEN SHE HIDES TWO MORE
ARMFULS UNDER HER SHAWL.
^PnBaB
BY THE TIME SHE REACHES
HER CAR, HER ARMS AND
SHOULDERS ARE ACHING KNOTS,
HER HANDS NUMB ANDTINGLY.
WOMEN 176 | TOTALITARIAN
FoMowin.? on froM Pa(ej+Fne
Perse*> o(fs
Politically aware from an
early age, Marjane Satrapi
grew up amid the Islamic
Revolution and the outbreak
of the Iran-lraq war. She
escaped Tehran to study in
Europe, and later returned
to Iran. In persepous, named
after Iran's ancient capital,
she tells her family's history
and her personal growth,
as she struggles in Europe
and her native land to find
some sense of belonging.
Here the young Marjane
experiences the perils of
demonstrating against
fundamentalism in Iran,
and spends her last night
with her grandmother,
before leaving the country.
The bold simplicity of her
woodcut-style drawings
I S/WELLED MY GRANDMA'S
BOSOM. IT SMELLED 6O0D . l'LL matches the directness and
ME VCR FORGET THAT SMELL .
honesty of these memories.
Alfa’s Mfsyfon
WHO DID THIS? IS WHERE ARE THE ^ THIS CAN’T BE Alia, the devoted chief
WHAT HAPPENED^ FIREFIGHTERS?! HAPPENING! WE
WHO’S IN CHARGER TRIED SO HARD' librarian of the central
Hlk W^wedon’t
KNOW. I IfWASKEDTHE library in Basra, fears that
all BRITISH ARMY,
111 BUT THEY irreplaceable books will be
KlvWONT HELP
destroyed in the coming
Iraq war. Her pleas for help
from Saddam's government
are ignored, so she starts
to smuggle books out of the
YOU DON’T REALIZE
HOW MANY BOOKS library under her coat,
WE DIDSAVE.... A
storing them in safe places.
NOT
ENOUGH Soon her family, co-workers
and friends are helping her.
When the library is hit and
burns to the ground. Alia
imagines the books as
FOR ALONG TIME, ALIA
STANDS THERE, STARING "living breathing beings."
INTO THE FIRE .... In fact, she and her cohorts
have saved over 30,000
.THOSE BOOKS
ARE LIKE PEOPLE volumes. In his book based
TO ME. LIVING,
BREATHING BEINGS on a true story. New Yorker
DEAR, DEAR Mark Stamaty chronicles
friends....
one woman's determination
to save the printed
culture of Iraq.
STATES 128 | RESPONSIBILITY 146 | LIBRARIES 54
Ll\\(e one.
We ha\/e always fe(t you c(ose to us.
We wHi stay here and become forest.
tfayao Miyazaki, Nauslca
Chapter 6
Right: The Justice Society of
America from All Star Comics 22,
Fall 1944, drawn by Frank Harry
Opposite: Superman ponders
how much even he can do in
Peace on Earth, art by Alex Ross
The Superhuman Condition
f ife behind the masks and disguises used to be a lot
" simpler for America's supermen and wonderwomen
of the 1940s. Their "Golden Age” dawned in 1938,
when Superman, the first of their kind, came down to
Earth and walked among us as Clark Kent. Their costumes
and adventures might come in many colors, but their
moral spectrum was usually limited to black or white.
They never had any doubt that they were the good guys,
and gals, and that ultimately they would always triumph.
They filled the role of a modern pantheon, that could
answer an anxious public's longing for secular saviors to
fight for them against crime and injustice on the streets
and against the Nazis in a looming world war in Europe..
Not all Americans endorsed their country's entry
into the Second World War. After their
front cover showed Hitler being socked on
the jaw by the flag-wearing Captain
America in late 1940, his creators Joe
Simon and Jack Kirby were flooded with
hate mail and telephone threats from
anti-war, pro-German agitators. Their
attitudes were harder to shrug off when
some of them started loitering
menacingly outside their offices. Then a
call came through from New York's Mayor
LaGuardia himself. He praised Simon and
Kirby for "doing a good job” and
guaranteed their studio round-the-clock police protection.
Patriotic champions like theirs were significant in
convincing Americans to enter the war, months before the
attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Part messiahs, part
golems, it’s no wonder that so many of these
"superheroes” were fabricated by the city's predominantly
Jewish comics industry.
Though quintessential^ American, superheroes
have roots that run deep, stretching through early 20th-
century pulp fiction magazines like The Shadow and Doc
Savage and 19th-century European fantasy fiction, back to
some of the planet's great founding beliefs and legends,
to individuals with exceptional gifts and cosmic
responsibilities. Jacques Derrida has suggested, "We are by
nature messianic. We cannot not be, because we exist in a
state of expecting something to happen, awaiting the
arrival of someone whom we hadn't anticipated.” These
heroes also feed on our inadequacies and our aspirations
to be superhuman, to exceed normal human ability or
experience, to be something a little more than we are.
Their reincarnation as colorful urban crime-fighters had
real mythic potential, as became clear in their earliest
forms as brief, brash entertainments and stirring
propaganda. But what if they could be made to mean
much more?
At first, for each issue to be instantly accessible to
an absolute beginner, superheroes would usually operate
in inconsequential short stories and isolated worlds,
unaware of any others of their type, unaffected by any
previous story's events, always restoring the status quo at
the end of every case. It wasn't long
before a few writers tried bringing their
heroes together and telling serialized,
multi-issue sagas. In 1943, Otto Binder
was given a two-year, 25-part serial,
"Captain Marvel and The Monster Society
of Evil,” modelled on the "Big Cheese's"
Saturday morning cliffhanger movie
serial. Binder's sinister secret villain Mr.
Mind turned out to be a tiny green worm
with spectacles and a voice amplifier. At
232 pages, it was the longest, continued
and complete comic book story yet.
Gardner Fox, another workhorse from the science
fiction pulps, imagined the ultimate exclusive club, The
Justice Society of America, where some of the most
popular heroes could finally meet each other. They would
convene in book-length yarns as long as 58 pages, to pool
resources in the opening chapter against that issue's
mutual menace, then battle individually in separate
chapters, before reuniting in the finale. Not all the JSA's
menaces that Fox devised were super-villains,■ he also
involved them in important social concerns, from juvenile
delinquency to prejudice about race and disability. For
example, "The Test of Time” in All Star Comics 22 sends
the team on a time-travelling history of intolerance and
the need for understanding. This story was written in
response to a request from the Office of War Information
and the Writers' War Board.
The Superhuman Condition
Right: The Silver Surfer soars to
new heights in Fireside Book's
first original graphic novel in
1978 by Jack Kirby & Stan Lee
Below: Planetary’s frosty Elijah
Snow, mystery archeologist, art
by John Cassaday
Opposite: Promethea, mystical
embodiment of imagination, art
by J.H. Williams III & Mick Gray
Superheroes dominated more or less half America’s
market during the waryears, but rapidly lost their purpose
and appeal in the post-war, Cold War climate. The public
preferred to read about real men, not supermen, fighting
the Korean War. Aside from perennials Superman,
boosted by his television show from 1953 to 1957,
Batman, Wonder Woman, and a handful of others, all the
others hung up their capes and
cowls. The genre accounted for no
more than a meagre three to five
per cent of the comic books for
sale throughout the 1950s.
It was science and science
fiction that engineered their
revival by the early 1960s. Market
leaders DC Comics tapped into the
optimism of the space race and
technological advances to invent
entirely modernized versions of
their lost properties The Flash,
Green Lantern, Hawkman, and
Atom, all clean-cut, well-adjusted
adults. In contrast, the new, darker,
misfit heroes at struggling
competitor Marvel Comics
resulted mainly from the
bizarre side effects of radiation and mutation,
drawing on their B-movie monster comics and
the period's fears of an atomic war. While DC
reintroduced their heroes' Golden Age counterparts,
happy and well on a parallel Earth, Marvel's three
most successful wartime stars returned to everyday
New York: as the hot-headed teen The Human Torch
in the Fantastic Four-, as an amnesiac Bowery bum
who remembers he is the vengeful ocean king The
Sub-Mariner; and as a man out of his time, thawed
out of an iceberg, Captain America.
The legends could now live on and
their history could be added to that of a new
generation of superheroes. Marvel’s storytelling
artists Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and others with
principal writer and overall editor Stan Lee began
asking how unexpected, perhaps unwanted super
powers might affect an individual's life. Wouldn't
a young Spider-Man rather seek fame on television
than take on the great responsibility of fighting
crime? Wouldn’t the orange, craggy Thing long to be
his former human self again? Wouldn’t a teenage
mutant feel like a freak always having to hide his
strange ability? Lee and his collaborators made the
superhuman human. By situating all their heroes in
continuing soap opera melodramas set in the same
interconnected "universe,” they were building stories into
histories, with the possibility of consequences and change.
They turned every issue into part of a larger whole, of the
expanding back-story or “continuity." Shrewdly, they were
also attracting an older, hipper student audience and
enticing readers into picking up every issue of every title.
Marvel's continuity meant
that their stories mattered, but
also resulted in stories never
reaching an end, only a pause, in
their ceaseless, momentum-driven
spinning of yarns. By contrast,
DC mostly preferred complete
adventures, starting afresh each
time, letting readers jump on
with any issue. Notably, the
1960s Superman line specialized
in "Imaginary Stories," whose
attention-grabbing covers
promised that the most unlikely
or tragic plot twists would be
inventively explored inside and
taken to their logical conclusions.
One of the finest was "The Death
of Superman" in 1961. Jerry Siegel,
appropriately the writer who first gave him life, relates
his final, fatal adventure with such grace and depth of
feeling, that readers can care and be touched by even an
"Imaginary Story.” Because, in a way, aren’t they all?
Meanwhile, in the best soap traditions, Marvel
superheroes fell in love, married and gave birth, lost and
found loved ones and super powers, discovered unknown
relatives and secrets from their past, all while saving the
world. DC eventually adopted this approach too, and
month after month, increasingly vast continuities were
accumulating within their separate superheroic universes.
But major characters are allowed to alter only by so
much, because they are primarily commercial properties,
recognizable brands, to be licensed and merchandized.
This is why, in the 1970s, Stan Lee allegedly instructed his
writers to convey only "the illusion of change” in all future
stories. When Superman’s death in 1993 sparked massive
media coverage, six million copies of the comic book were
sold, some bagged with a free armband. The public may
have believed that this truly was the end, not another
"Imaginary Story," but fans and collectors knew he would
be back. Sure enough, some ten months later the original
Man of Steel rocketed again from the grave, little changed
apart from a cooler, longer hairstyle, which proved as
temporary as his extinction.

A crucial element was missing from the stories of
these immutable, immortal icons. English writer Alan
Moore identified it as time. "All of our best and oldest
legends recognize that time passes and that people grow
old and die. In comic books, however, the characters
remain in the perpetual limbo of their mid-to-late
twenties, and the presence of death in their world is at
best a temporary and reversible phenomenon.” In two
landmark graphic novels, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
in 1986 and Watchmen in 1987, DC Comics granted their
acclaimed creators the rare opportunity to examine what
superheroes might be like if change was not always an
illusion and time caught up with them at last. In
Watchmen, Moore and artist Dave Gibbons make the
death of a superhero undeniably permanent from its front
cover and opening page, where, fittingly, The Comedian
has plummeted to the ground, blood splattering his yellow
smiley button. In Dark Knight, “a good death” is a
tempting prospect to an ageing Batman from the first
page, where his alter ego Bruce Wayne decides that a
blazing motor-racing accident is "not good enough." Both
books are wound tight like watchsprings, set ahead in
time, with time racing and an end ticking closer on every
punctuated nine- or sixteen-panel grid. Even in these
works, however, Miller's death of Batman is not terminal,
while Moore and Gibbons had to invent replacements,
when DC vetoed their plan to play with the pre-existing
Charlton heroes.
Far from sounding the death-knell of the genre, the
bestselling Watchmen and Dark Knight have sparked all
kinds of responses ever since, for or against, imitative or
innovative, in a so-called "Dark Age” of unprecedented
questioning and experimentation. True, there were lazy
creators who, rather than learning and advancing from
the books' examples, pounced on only their grim, violent
surface. Still, there were several who perceived the
potential of exploring what might happen if, in the words
of English writer Neil Gaiman, "all this dumb, wonderful,
four-color stuff has real emotional weight and depth, and
it means more than it literally means.” In search of more
Moores, the American publishers headhunted the British
profession for talents like Gaiman. They set them to work,
applying a bit of thought to their forgotten and
forgettable properties, sometimes injecting them with
unexpected nuances. Grant Morrison speculated on how
fourth-rate hero Animal Man, unemployed and married
with kids, might kickstart his career, become a vegetarian
and animal liberationist, only to realize eventually that he
is a character in a comic book. Over fifty years, various
versions of Starman had never quite clicked, until James
Robinson tied them together through a young, reluctant
The Superhuman Condition
successor who learns from his father. Perhaps there is no
such thing as a "bad" character, just a badly handled one.
More avenues opened up by allowing creators to
re-examine established characters’ "origins," how they More Superhero Stories
came to be, or formative adventures during their "Year Marvels
One", and reveal unsuspected facets, hidden in the gaps KURT BUSIEK & ALEX ROSS
Views from the sidelines
between the panels, that do not contradict but enhance
Supreme
continuity. So, for example, Miller could introduce Stick, a ALAN MOORE & VARIOUS
mentor who trained the blind boy Matt Murdock to be Sixties Superman homage
Daredevil, or Matt's unseen mother, now a nun. Just when Batman: Year One
MILLER & MAZZUCCHELLI
you think that there can't be anything new to say about There’s a new bat in town
these heroes, somebody finds another wrinkle. These 1602
days, because publishers want to offer a way in to the NEIL GAIMAN & ANDY KUBERT
Marvel's 17th-century roots
majority of the public, who discover their characters
Animal Man
through television, games or movies, a superhero can GRANT MORRISON Si VARIOUS
A hero meets his creator
appear in a plethora of series and spin-offs for different
Rising Stars
ages and tastes, as well as "Imaginary Stores,” now called
J.M. STRACZYNSKI 81 VARIOUS
"Elseworlds.” On top of this are the many other unofficial 113 babies born to be "Specials
tangents, presenting barely-disguised facsimiles of the Starman
JAMES ROBINSON Si TONY HARRIS
major hero franchises. As well as the sense of wonder
Reluctant hero makes good
in Kurt Busiek's Astro City or Alan Moore’s Supreme, this
Top Ten
strategy enables merciless satirists Pat Mills and Kevin ALAN MOORE 8i GENE HA
N.Y.P.D. Blues in spandex
O’Neill to skewer their famous targets in Marshal Law,
The Ultimates
while Warren Ellis and John Cassaday can send the MARK MILLAR Si BRYAN HITCH
archeological team Planetary to unearth suppressed Marvel's icons get darker still
truths. Can there be any other legends that have been Essentials & Archives
VARIOUS
embroidered by so many and for so long, up to sixty The classics
years or more, and continuing to this day?
More than ever,
the superhero story
is becoming "more than
it literally means,” such
as compelling detective drama
in Powers or personal allegory
in It's A Bird. Having renounced the genre
after Watchmen, Alan Moore has since returned
to it in force in his own vast universe for the
America’s Best Comics line. Moore’s epic intention
was to create a vast, referential, reverential universe
and guide it to its transcendent destruction at the
hands of Promethea, his symbol of imagination,
and beyond death into a cycle of renewal. Neil
Gaiman in 1602 explains that superheroes are
governed not by the laws of physics, but
the laws of story. He has a past version of
Mr. Fantastic observe, "We are in a universe
which favors stories. A universe in which
no story can ever truly end; in which
there can only be continuances."
Because the imagination, like the
stories themselves, is endless.
The t>ark Knfrbt Return* 7n focus
Vigilante
To Frank Miller, a 19-
year-old country boy
raised on comics, crime
fiction and Catholicism
in Vermont, moving to
New York in 197b was a
rude awakening. He
found that The Big Apple
was no Gotham City.
Muggings, robberies,
murders were no longer
on the printed page, but
on his doorstep.
Miller recalls, 7 had to
adapt to survive and
that involved some
changes inside myself,
changes which
contributed to the
macho fantasy of the
street vigilante."
Miller found an ideal
symbol for his fantasy
in Batman, now aging,
granite-faced, battle-
scarred, his costume
and stomach sagging.
Here, Bruce Wayne
resolves by the last
panel to end his ten
years of retirement.
Nothing, not even the
law, will stop him from
taking his vendetta
against criminals onto
Gotham's mean streets.
Production
Impressed by the
quality of French
albums. Miller insisted
on the best production
values ever seen in
American comic books:
card covers, good
paper and printing,
and moody, fully
painted colors by his
wife Lynn Varley, which
set new standards.
READING
“...probably the finest piece of comic art
ever to be published in a popular edition...”
STEPHEN KING
Before his eyes
Nobody before Miller
had made us feel so
vividly the childhood
tragedy that gave birth
to Batman. Its every
moment is branded
onto Bruce Wayne's
memory. Here, when
the movie the mark of
zorro comes up on TV,
it takes him back to the
night, when, on leaving
the cinema, he watched
his parents get gunned
down by a robber.
He stares, transfixed,
not at the screen but at
his memories, in slow
motion, of the moment
when the shot is fired
and his mother's pearl
necklace snaps. His
switching stations
doesn't help, with their
reports of fresh crimes.
Notice how the rapid
“K!ik"s of the remote
suggest the sound of
the scattering pearls.
Surprises
&6HT, LOIA Miller uses a dense,
RI6HT r&M/N
THE HEAT'S four-by-four grid to
FlNfluy SONS
TO 8A£AK instill claustrophobia
and an adrenaline¬
pumping pulse. He
interrupts this with full-
page shots like the one
above, nearly all over
The Dark Knight Returns the page on the left-
hand side, to maximize
Frank Miller with Klaus Janson & Lynn Varley
their surprise.
1986,1 volume, 192 pages
ON: CHILDHOOD TRAUMAS 64 | VIGILANTES 126 MIDLIFE CRISIS 272 | GANGLAND 120 NOIR 122
 The Park KnfrM- Re+orns scene hv scene

Supporting cast
Miller refreshes all of the
supporting players and
props too. On the far left,
we see an injured Batman
being driven home in his
huge, tank-like Batmobile
after a gruelling brawl.

Tending him is bright young

Carrie Kelly, whose wish
is to be the new Robin the
Girl Wonder. The circular
balloons carry the radio
voice of Alfred, long-
suffering Bat-butler, who
has some of the funniest
repartee in the book.
Superman is also a major
player, portrayed here as
a government lackey.

Miller also satirizes the

banality of television that
intrudes into many scenes,
here with a gang leader's
rant and the President's
address on imminent war.

The last laugh

Miller s Joker is a terrifying
psychopath. On the far left,
he has left a victim, Selina
Kyle, bruised but alive.
A former flame and villain
Catwoman, she now runs an
escort service—hence the
kinky Wonder Woman outfit.
Notice how Robin's mention
of her friends at the county
fair triggers Batman's
momentary flashback, in
one silent panel, to the
young Bruce Wayne seeing
his parents murdered.

With no Comics Code to rein

him in. Miller has Batman
almost kill The loker, but
finally pull back. Here, in an
awful, last "twist," The loker
finishes the job himself,
so that Batman will be
condemned as a killer. In a
manga technique, images
like this suggest that time is
bleeding off the page.

READING ON: POLITICAL SATIRES 84 | RETRIBUTION 81 | TV & MEDIA 144 | TRICKSTERS 126 MADNESS 122
FoHov/lng on fro<v>7V>e t>ark Knight Return*

bared evil
Frank Miller rose to
prominence on Marvel's
lone blind man, who fights
for justice as a lawyer
and a vigilante. In the man
without fear, drawn by lohn
Romita lr.. Miller expands
on the hero's growing years
and inner turmoil before he
put on the costume. Here
Matt Murdock finds himself
again in the ghetto where
he grew up, and his
heightened senses bring
memories flooding back.

Most of all he remembers

how he was bullied at
school, and forbidden
by his boxing father from
retaliating. From this comes
his nickname, "Daredevil,"
giving his eventual secret
identity an extra relevance.
Miller breaks the narration
up by scattering caption
boxes across the pages.

Weapon X
British-born Barry Windsor-
Smith answers some of the
questions about the man
who became Wolverine, the
wildest, hairiest, and most
mysterious of the X-Men. In
a visceral psychodrama, he
shows how Logan's healing
powers are perverted by
heartless scientists to turn
him into a killing machine
under their control.

Here they monitor him,

naked and feral, battling
a snow leopard. Windsor-
Smith uses his own painful
recovery from a driving
accident to convey Logan's
ordeal at the hands of .
surgeons. Notice how he '
color-co-ordinates their
voice-over commentary:
green for the professor,
yellow for Dr. Cornelius,
pink for Miss Hines.

READING ON: CHILDHOOD TRAUMAS 78 I BLINDNESS 118 MONSTERS 28 I SCIENCE 90

 FoHowin^ on frow77re Park Kni$h* Return*

PI P
VPU VO
AW-
OF
'NXAT'T
-TH6
VATICAN
Powers
TWV4< ll-OTAH.
AU. OF
-rm4-r you measure a hero's
powers from one to ten,
"level eight or higher, and
we as a society are just
praying they're good
folks." Supershock, the sad
Superman in "The Sellouts,"
goes off the scale, and off
the rails, when a fellow
team member's sex scandal
pushes him to murder and
revenge against the world.
’ "too
CArfit uexe
-n> a*k /vie
iWVf .
Here Supershock suddenly
appears to specialist
homicide detective Deena
Pilgrim, who hopes to
reason with him. Writer
'MHi'T
Brian Michael Bendis has
an ear for naturalist dialog
and timing and with artist
Michael Avon Oeming's bold
cartooning infuses the
Afcpur
WHAT? genre's spectacle with
a noir grittiness.

Ws a Bird
no. ^ Is there anything left to say
YOU CAN'T
. HELP' j
about Superman? Scripting
tales of invulnerability
rings hollow to comic book
writer Steve, when an
incurable disease threatens
to claim another generation
of his family. Through his
eponymous, blocked author,
r VO N'T BARK At ^
ME. SOMETHING'S
MAYBE I CAN
HELP IF YOU PON'T SHUT
Steven T. Seagle challenges
MAKING YOU ANGRY- v ME OUT _-
. YOU'RE MAKING ME
ANGRY' y the cliches and paradoxes
of the Superman myth with
artist Teddy Kristiansen.
now...you
HAP AN I PEA ANP ,
EVERYTHING WAS GREAT.
_ THEN SOMETHING
is. HAPPENEV...? Here, Steve is infuriated by
Kryptonite, the Man of
Steel's weakness. It reminds
him of how arbitrary their
HE THOUGHT I
COULPN'T HEAP
WHAT HE SA/P genetic disorder is and the
BUT X PIP HEAR...
day it took his grandma. He
is a boy again, distracted
from the unread balloon in
m teu his superman comic, because
r YOU WHA* NAPPCNEV
KRYPTONITE IS ANTI W
THETICAL TO SUPERMAN' V
. IT'S THE OPPOSITE /
he can overhear his father
OF LIFE.
^^SOME SICK BASTAPP'"' EVERYTHING
whispering the family's
..EVERY WROTE THE WORP "KRYPTONITE," WILL LOOK BETTER
WOPP... ANP SUPPENLY SUPERMAN IS
^ VULNERABLE! ^
.IN THE MORNIN6^,
strange new vulnerability.

READING ON: VIGILANTES 78 | RETRIBUTION 98 | FATHERS 81 SONS 30 | ILLNESSES 167

WaK^toen In focus
“Moore’s writing is remarkable. He catches the rhythms of speech
so naturally, presents his world so seamlessly,
that the whole seems effortless.”
NEIL CAIMAN

Watch closely Multiple levels

Timing is a central This scene is set
Ta/s WORLD T'O TRIED TO SAVE \ AND FROM THE DECKS ABOVE
theme and mechanism. lVAC LOST BEYOND RECALL. T WAG a cheer went up, Both 6boss at the newsstand
A HORROR-AMONGST HORRORS and black, its stench
The grid of nine uniform \ MUST 2 DWELL- . AFFRONTING HEAVEN . /A and junction, which
panels on each page become the crossroads
U ROPE 1 T SEE,
allows you to follow the SNAKED PEOPLE anchoring several
DOWN. - PDN’T REACH
fine-tuned passage of SPLUTTERING, OUT AND narrative threads. In
T GRABBED MAKE
multiple stories moment IT,.. ^ v CONTACT. the foreground, the
by moment. Panels tick newsvendor and his
by like a metronome or comic-loving young
a timebomb, counting customer struggle to
down to midnight. connect over the next
Several different stories f THAT'S WHY five panels shown from
THERE'S THIS
interweave on the same COMMOTION/ a fixed point of view.
ALL THE TIME ,
page, setting up visual THIS CONFLICT.
PEOPLE DON'T
Meanwhile^ a conflict
CONNECT WITH
and verbal links and -o
EACH OTHER. between two lovers
counterpoints. breaks out behind
LISTEN, WHEN MY ROGA MY NAME'S ' &ERNIE? SHORT WELL,SURE,
THAT DIED, MOST OP OUR FRIENDG SERN/E T'fA HERE POR BERNARD ? K SO? AIN'T Ni BUT them, which then draws
AIN’T WERE HER FCIEND5= THEY BECAUSE MY WELL I'LL BE NO 616 DEAL. '
The first panel here ^ THE STOPPED CALUNG I TOOK MOM'S WORKING, HORSEWHIPPED! LOTTA PEOPLE ' WAIT A in other secondary
POINT. THIS T08 TO MEET A AN' MY SISTER, THAT'S MV CALLED BERNARD MINUTE. WHAT
shows the climax and V PEOPLE, Y'KNOW 7 SHE'S OUT TOO,
AND THESE
V NAME! Y MAN. DON'T
SIGNIFY POP
THE HELL'S characters. As the kid
GOING ON.,.?
HYDRANTS . NOTHIN'. A
lurid treasure-map ARE WARN1, L says, with comics this
Y'KNOW7 M
captions from a pirate multi-layered, you
comic, through the eyes "gotta read 'em over"
of a black youngster to "make sense."
reading it. His reverie
is interrupted by the
lonely newsvendor's
complaint, which
echoes the image
SO... WHAT'S
of a reaching hand. YOUR NAME
WHADDAYA
OO/N' HERE'

Why pirates?
The TALES OF THE BLACK
freighter comic book
is a nod to Bertolt
Brecht and Kurt Weill's
Pirate lenny from the
Who are they? THREEPENNY OPERA, OS Well
Moore and Gibbons as Bob Dylan's song.
dreamt up their own This approaching
archetypal superheroes: deathship parallels the
the near-omnipotent catastrophe to come.
superman, the perfectly It also rewrites comic¬
evolved man, the book history by showing
wondrous woman, lurid swashbucklers
the ordinary man becoming the staple
gifted in science, genre instead of
the vengeful vigilante, superheroes. After all,
the patriotic soldier.
Then they gave them
a long history and
Watchmen if superheroes were
real, why would you
Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons want to read about
psychological depth. 1987,1 volume, 398 pages them in comics?

READING ON: ATOMIC BOMBS 148 | VIGILANTES 122 | PARALLEL WORLDS 84 | PIRATES 158
 The Superhuman Condition

Potent symbols
OH NO,
sr watchmen is full of recurring
WELL,
OBVIOUSLY
1 LI ATS WHAT symbols and shifts of
YOWS 601 NO
TO SAY SE04L.Se
Anythin^ I'M
STUPID EuouM perspective. Here on lifeless
TO BELIEVE IS
TOue.vou just
PiSAOffEE
WITH IT
Mars as we pull away, the
nine panel grid dissolves
into three wide-screen
O panels to reveal a crater
shaped like The Comedian's
_
"Smiley" badge which opens
and closes the book.

This change of viewpoint

reflects the crucial change
of mind in this scene by the
blue-skinned Dr. Manhattan.
His extraordinary powers to
read atoms and see across
time and space have made
him alien to his wife Laurie,
but enable him to marvel at
the "thermodynamic miracle"
of Laurie's birth, and of
"anybody in the world."

Notice how Dr. Manhattan's

speech appears in blue with
an extra outline to convey
his very different voice
and worldview.

On the left page, psychiatrist

7
g<J ...THEI?e 1 V NO Z MEAN I
WERE PEOPLE, '
JUST STEPPED
OUT THE EUNCr A 1-AciBlE, >
/ NEED VOU WEED YOU
/ NOW OAN.AU- THOSE
; peone
Dr. Malcolm Long finds out
ptN0i. THAT P INK USTEN, ABOUT they can t oisAoaee
AMD YELLOW
eice, IT WAS
u6... do you
THINtf TON
\ oe EAT INDIAN
\ POOD, oe LOVE
Uiv EACH OTHE«... .
what pushed Walter Kovacs
ALL SP'LLEO, A MINOS ? .
AND..,
over the edge to become the
vigilante Rorschach. Almost
as dreadful as the child-
murder Kovacs relates is the
Jr on.
' rr s sweet. spiritual death he causes in
SE'nO alive
IS so OAAAN
SWEET Long, who is dragged down
into Kovacs' nihilism, losing
i want wnuiiu^
LAUft'E"’”
WW-WHAT
LOVE ME rr WANT
YOU To
his wife and job.
DO YOU 7m LOVE ME
WANT ME J|M BECAUSE
TOPO? J ;vE Sc k.-'- Y WHAT fS ~
DEAD. " THAT, DAN?
WHAT'S THAT YOU
. SMELL Of ? The story climaxes with
a devastating attack on
New York (eerily prescient
from a post-September 11
NOSTALSIA

perspective). After seeing

this horror, Laurie finds
comfort and meaning
making love to Dan. This
moment of life-affirming
grace fills a wide, wordless
panel. The shadow they cast
is another recurring symbol,
invoking the Hiroshima
shadows, silhouettes
imprinted on surfaces by the
force of atomic explosion.

READING ON: MADNESS 106 | WARS 70 | DISCRIMINATION 115 | SCIENCE 80 | ALIENS 136
Following on from Watchmen

Astro City
Welcome to another
busy day in the life of
Samaritan, the equivalent
of Superman in this
metropolis, where mortals
and marvels live cheek by
jowl. The goal of writer Kurt
Busiek, with artist Brent
Anderson, is to show us
“not what it would BE like if
superheroes existed in our
world, but what it would
feel like if we could wander
through theirs. “

Here, Samaritan juggles

with the pressures of his
human guise as a magazine
editor and the incessant
call of duty. Being
Samaritan has its price: he
has no time for friends, for
love, and can hardly spare
two seconds to reassure a
little girl. How does a hero
cope knowing that he can't
save everybody?

SOU MAY HAVE LOVE? HEP.'

BUT SOU LOVEP ENCC£SS

Marshal Law EVEN A'OPBi VDU HAP TO

SATISFY SOUKO^N RUTHLESS
AMBITIONS YOUP PESIRE
TO (BET to THE TOPS
Not for the easily offended, TO THE STARE' NO
MATTER WHAT
THE COST/
this bleak satire by
Britishers Pat Mills and
Kevin O'Neill envisions an
America overrun by false,
decadent superheroes,
whose corruption is finally
punished by the aptly
named Marshal Law, a I PIPN’T COME
neeg to
"fascist cape-killer," who WHIPPED POUUP
THE PAWN
PROVE py VCU
seems little better than the I'M NOT EVEN
<SOlN(3 -TO
ANHWEI? THAT.
scum he hunts down, s'

Here the body of serial

I THINK*
murderer Sleepman's SOU JUS-T
^pip. ^

latest victim falls past the

windows of the block's ($ET HI/VI OUT OP HERTE

EEN£ A
«TOF FiUVUN<2/
ANTONB $CX
oblivious residents, as they NOPP OP TH& A«P
THEY-RTE FAOU&E/P£
UHPER THE ACT i
are regaled by TV hype for
WAS "HERE A COVER-
their beloved Public Spirit. UP? WAS IT ALL
HUSHEP-UP, HUH T
PiP<T LEAVE VOU
FEELIN6 LIKE $H\T T
How will the masses react KILL I NS YOUR OWN
CHILP T PIP IT FPA6
UP YOUP HEAP T
if Marshal Law exposes POES THAT EXPLAIN
THE NI<SHTALA RES
SOU HAP OUT THEP6
this ruthless hybrid, part IN THE COUP OP
SPACE AMP WHAT
you pip when you
Superman, part Captain SOT BACK * ANSWER
HE. TOO. FRASSINS
l/ARS
America, as a murderer? I It

READING ON: PARALLEL WORLDS 90 | CITIES 164 | POLITICAL SATIRES 126 | TV & MEDIA 78
 Fo((owro^ or) fro(V) V/a+chtoer)

1-1 WAG JUST WATCHING

YOU ON TV, ANP,,,
MTS ALWAYS HAPPENING.
EVERYTHING'S ALWAYS HAPPENING.
Promethea
s NO,
GOP. GOP, THIS Schoolgirl Sophie Bangs
GARL.N<
a joey 16 GO WEIRP . RIGHT. RIGHT. 1-1 KINP
OF UNPERSTANP, YOU KNOW?
T-l FEEL I UNPERSTANP WHAT YOU is the latest in a long line
LIKE ALL THIS MEAN ^

Y-YOU'RE PROMETHEA, of hosts of Promethea,

YEAH?THE SCIENCE-HEROINE
FROM NEW YORK.
the female embodiment of
OF MY LEAGUE NOW,
imagination, who promises
to bring the end of the
world. Before this takes
7HATS place, however, her quest
OKAY.

through the ten levels of the

r you
ALWAYS Kaballah exalts the magic
, WERE.
of art to create something
from nothing.

Here, Promethea tells a

T 1-1 CAN ~
former boyfriend of the
FEEL WHAT YOU'RE
SAYING, YOU
is. KNOW? A
, wonders she will perform,
CALL HER, CAUL-. ANP *CARL, THERE/,£
YEAH, IGUESS
S ;OYOU &OT7A GO PO ~
SOMETHING PRETTY IMPORTANT
.
J KINP OF KNEW THAT.
OH GOP. -
WA LOT OF ^ r JESUS, JOEY,
^CAlLYOUR S/GTER NO AFTERWARPS.
not in punishment, but by
s RI6HT NOW, HUH? PEOPLE WILL THIS IS *$%*EP UP. 1 FARE WELL,
HURT THEM - MEAN, YOU'RE LIKE THE SHE'S ANGRY “
^ TH-THAT IS . SELVES HORNIEST THING l'\£ WITH yOU, ANP THE RES
NO T/ME FOR THAT NOW
MY LOVE.
a timeless enlightenment.
WHAT IT FEEL& . EVER BEEN, ANP... .
W-WELL, » PUT rr RIGHT. .
s LIKE > OKAY THAT S COOL
WE SORTA OBSERVE
Alan Moore's visionary epic
fT, PON'T WE? ALL
. THIS 4#*& WE
L. PULL. A
.
I LOVE " is illuminated in a variety
YOU GO MUCH,
CARL. I LOVE
r MS IT™
60IN6TO All OF YOU of apt palettes and artistic
SO MUCH m
rtu/rr?
homages by I.H. Williams III
ind Mick Gray. As here, the
^...ANP J FEEL ^ majority of pages are read
LIKE Ml TALKING WITH
. MV/HOM. .
WILL jH
as inventively structured,
^ L-LISTEN, WHEN
THIS IS OVER, MAYBE I'LL
"wide-screen " spreads.
SEE YOU AFTERWARPS,
^ HUH? ^

Planetary
Three mystery archeologists
are determined to expose
the secret history of the
20th century's scientific
wonders, denied to mankind
and thought to be merely
the stuff of fantasy. In
this conceptual conspiracy
theory, the alien baby
that would have become
Superman is shown far
left being incinerated
upon landing.

Here Planetary's Elijah Snow

corners the culprit, one of
The Four (a nod to Marvel's
Fantastic Four), scientist
r KICK IN TVI£ N
gods who since 1961 have
unmentionables... ?
YCUYl CHANCED.
^ MR- SNOW. A been keeping our world
mediocre. Warren Ellis and
John Cassady rewire the
popular culture of the past,
from lames Bond and Doc
Savage to Japanese rubber-
suited monsters.

DING ON: MAGIC 98 IMMORTALS 98 HISTORIES 162 | TIME WARPS 112

Chapter 7
Right: The French Barbarella by
Jean-Claude Forest from 1964
Opposite: A Jules Verne-inspired
vista by Francois Schuiten
Of Futures and Fables
he fantastic and the futuristic seem perfectly suited
to comics, because the only limit on visualizing the
impossible in pictures and words, and on outdoing
Hollywood’s biggest special effects budget, is the
author's imagination. That is why you never know in
comics where dreams, or dreams of science, can take you.
Sleep sends Little Nemo, the great serial dreamer of the
funnies created by Winsor McCay in 1905, to a tantalizing
other life of adventure in Slumberland, where he can
never stay longer than one night. Roused from his reveries,
Nemo is a nobody again, a momma’s boy, home in his
safe, boring bedroom. Comforted by his secret, he waits
for night to come and steal him back to Slumberland.
Not every fantasy character in comics has Nemo’s
luxury of finding himself restored to normality. When a
peculiar gas puts First World War fighter
pilot Buck Rogers to sleep, he wakes up
unchanged five whole centuries later to
BARBARELLA
find the world ravaged by another war
fought with startlingly advanced
technology. Nerdy David Ellis Norman,
intent on tracing his missing uncle,
follows his plans to build an electrical
gateway. Stepping through it into
Neverwhere, David is transformed and
lives as never before as the naked, virile
warrior Den. Pacifist Alcide Nikopol is
JEAN-CLAUDE FOREST / LE TERRAIN VAGUE 1964
preserved in suspended animation and
incarcerated in space, only to be revived
after three decades into a bizarre new existence,
possessed by an alien on the run. In the same way that
these ordinary humans are thrust into extraordinary
circumstances, readers can also lose themselves by
stepping into the panels of comics and lingering within
their unknown worlds. Transported there temporarily,
each of us can be a Little Nemo, knowing we can always
get back to reality.
Comics are part of a long and fruitful synergy
between science and fiction in all its forms, each inspiring
the other. Writers speculate on the latest discoveries and
theories and experiment with their repercussions in
stories, wildly exaggerating or sticking within the broad
bounds of plausibility. From the far-sighted 19th-century
French novelist Jules Verne, who predicted such marvels
as cars, submarines, and rockets to the moon, to some
of today's graphic novelists monitoring cutting-edge
research, they offer us glimpses into the best and worst
of all possible worlds. As the new 20th century rushed
forward and make-believe inventions became everyday
newfangled wonders, America's science fiction and
fantasy pulp fiction magazines of the 1920s and 1930s
were well-springs of the newspaper strip and comic
book industries, of many of their principal founders and
contributors, and of their earliest fantasy archetypes like
Tarzan, John Carter of Mars, Conan the Barbarian, and
Buck Rogers. Buck, originally Anthony Rogers, rocketed
to life in a short story written by Philip Nowlan in a
1928 issue of Amazing Stories, but it was through the
newspaper strip written by Nowlan from
1929, and the radio and movie serials,
that Buck reached millions. His name
entered the dictionary as the byword
for all things futuristic. To author Ray
Bradbury as a boy, "Buck Rogers, now,
was the coming reality, fantasy with a
vengeance, dreams suddenly peeling off
the bedroom wall into three dimensions
that moved, re-created themselves, and
became yet further dreams.”
Tapping into this fever of
anticipation, science fiction became a
staple of the comics, some of it from the
pens of the genre’s celebrated authors. However wildly
fanciful their galactic operas of ray-guns and bug-eyed
monsters became, the writers of Buck Rogers and others
would sometimes take advice from scientists on how their
imaginary inventions might really work. The more space
technology advanced, the more vividly accurate artists
became, notably England's Frank Hampson on Dan Dare,
Pilot of the Future and Herge in Belgium on Tintin's moon
trip, the two of them launched in 1950 at the dawn of
the space age. Hampson and Herge relied on scientific
advisors (Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey,
assisted during Dan Dare's early missions), and a staff
of assistants to produce the most realistic renditions in
comics so far of space exploration.
Of Futures an<j FaMes
Above: Aizach and his winged
companion survey their prey,
in his 1975 debut by Moebius
Opposite above: Enki Bilal’s Jill
Bioskop, a reporter of the future
with blood on her hands
Opposite below: Mike Mignola’s
Hellboy defends humanity
against the monsters of legend
Renowned novelist Isaac
Asimov was convinced that comics
had played a key role in priming
the public for the rapid advances in
technology during the 20th
century, by presenting "a dilute
science fiction to all levels of the
population. The concept of
scientific advance became a dim
part of the general consciousness,
therefore, so that when the time
came, for instance, to reach the
moon, enough romance had been
created around that theme to
make the concept acceptable to the
general population.” The ability of
comics to explore and expand on
all kinds of theoretical concepts has
also fed back into the minds of
scientists, architects, and designers.
For example, the fact that Japan is
so advanced in robotics stems
partly from their experts’ childhood
passion for robots in comics. It's no
surprise that they hire comic artists
to design how their robots look. It's
as if the future is being invented
and made tangible to fulfil these
imaginary predictions.
One prediction, the science
fiction graphic novel, was made in
1941 by American pulp and comics
writer Otto Binder, who foresaw
that comic books, "by a process of
evolution another year from today,
may see 60-page stories comparable to your favorite
novelettes by science fiction authors, with pictures telling
the story instead of Oust] words." In the 1950s, authors
like Binder and Bradbury had their short stories adapted
into comics, but steps towards more sophisticated 5F
graphic novels aimed at adults properly began in France
with the publication in 1964 of Barbarella by Jean-Claude
Forest. His voluptuous blonde heroine recalled America’s
cheesecake beauties from the simplistic Planet Comics of
the 1950s like Mysta of the Moon, Futura, or Gale Allen,
except that Barbarella was no vamp or victim, but a
strong, sensuous, independent woman in her own right, a
Brigitte Bardot in space, a symbol of the decade's sexual
revolution. Forest started serializing Barbarella's exploits
in 1962 \nV,a naughty quarterly magazine for
Frenchmen, where he combined an eroticism (daring at
the time but quite innocent today) with witty dialog,
conceptual flare, and literary allusions. This unique
concoction became the first luxurious hardback collection
of comics from Eric Losfeld, until then a publisher of
surrealist writers. Barbarella became a succes de scandale
in France, banned from being publicized or sold to minors,
appreciated by adults for its poetic, pop art intelligence. In
1966, the book was translated by bold literary mavericks
Grove Press in New York, and two years later adapted by
Forest and Roger Vadim for the big screen.
Barbarella can be seen as a harbinger of what
became, in the wake of May 1968, a French revolution in
bandes dessinees or comic albums for adults. Losfeld went
on to publish more, including Lone Sloane in 1966, in
which the young debutant Philippe Druillet detonated
orderly panel conventions in favor of warped layouts and
vistas bursting across whole pages and spreads. Druillet
contributed to Pilote magazine from 1972, where he
joined Moebius, Jean-Claude Mezieres, and Enki Bilal and
found that they shared an enthusiasm for the new worlds
of modern science-fiction literature and the artistic license
of American underground comix. Eventually, Moebius,
Druillet and others clashed with Pilote’s limited freedom
and quit in 1974 to found their own magazine, L’Echo des
Savanes (“The Echo of the Savannas"). Ayear later,
Moebius and Druillet united with young writer Jean-Pierre
Dionnet and one otherto launch the slick, rebellious SF
comics magazine Metal Hurlant ("Screaming Metal").
Moebius fully flowered here in the painted flights of the
silent Arzach on his pterodactyl and the unravelling arcana
of The Airtight Garage.
Metal Hurlant had an energizing effect on the
medium, not just in France from 1975, but via 12 different
translated editions, including an American version since
1977 retitled Heavy Metal. This network of glossy, color
newsstand magazines and graphic novel collections
propagated the French masters alongside an inspiring
wave of multi-national talents, like America’s Richard
Corben and Britain's Angus McKie. The timing could not
have been better. The release of Star Wars in 1977 brought
science fiction back with a bang, while the rediscovery
since the 1960s of Lord of the Rings, Robert E. Howard’s
Conan and others had established a market for fantasy
and "sword and sorcery." American and British book
publishers eyed the opportunities for novels in comics
form, but it took time for the format and content to gel.
Despite the lousy pay, American comic book artist Gil Kane
jumped at the chance of an eight-book series of fantasy
comics in paperbacks for Bantam Books in 1971. Kane
completed two volumes of Blockmark and pencilled most
of a third before the project was dropped after the first
 Of Futures and Fables

two Japanese cautionary

masterpieces, both begun in
1982 and later animated by
their creators. The soaring
cityscapes of Belgians
Schuiten & Peeters and the
More Fantasy Stories
The Last American
WAGNER, GRANT & MCMAHON

A post-nuclear war requiem

alien ethnic diversity of Carla
RanXerox
Speed McNeill take us to TAMBURINI & LIBERATORE

tomorrows that are fragile, A robo-punk pet runs amok

wondrous, and alive. Nearer Rocco Vargas

DANIEL TORRES
to home, Y: The Last Man Pilot of the retro-future

picks a single Wyndham- Ghost in the Shell

MASAMUNE SHIROW
esque hypothetical, the end of
Life is such an unscientific word
all male life, and runs with it.
Orbiter
book underperformed. Its cramped size, typeset text, lack In recent years, comics creators in America have WARREN ELLIS & COLLEEN DORAN

of color, and uniqueness in the market didn’t help. enjoyed greater freedom to tread fresh paths of fantasy, It came back on the shuttle

Publishers and punters preferred the larger, Slaine: The Horned God
and this has resulted in some unusually rich, pleasurable
PAT MILLS & SIMON BISLEY
"European" art book size, which displayed the illustrations storytelling. The Sandman was a failed DC Comics property A goddess's way with a warrior

better, as in the first book compilations of Hampson’s in limbo, so there were no expectations when a novice The Books of Magic
NEIL GAIMAN & VARIOUS
Dan Dare (1979), George Metzger's Beyond Time and Again comics writer from Britain turned him into a pale,
The testing of a teen wizard
(1976), and Corben's Neverwhere (1978). Securing big- shrouded Lord of Dreams. Neil Gaiman recalls, “There is a Den: Neverwhere
name authors, though, by adapting their classics or paying joy to being allowed to create something, while you don’t RICHARD CORBEN

A barbarian's lucid, lurid dream

for brand-new stories, seldom clicked, especially when know what you’re doing. The joy of Sandman was the
One Hundred Per Cent
their prose was left uncut, deforming comics into freedom to fail.” Out of this, Gaiman and his artistic PAUL POPE

overdone picture books. Premier Star Wars comics artist collaborators wove a seven-year tapestry of tales of gods A future where love still counts

Howard Chaykin labored on his share, and also on more and humans, spinning it carefully through to its end. The Invisibles
GRANT MORRISON & VARIOUS
engaging original graphic novels written by Samuel R. Its ongoing success in book form helped foster the more Spy-fi supertextual revolution

Delany and Michael Moorcock, but it was when he was
given total writer-artist control that he found his voice,
in his barbed satire American Flagg! from 1983.
Darker, stranger, more complex strains of SF
literature gradually began to be reflected in SF comics.
Working for most of a decade from a wealth of influences,
Bryan Talbot conceived the three-part Luther Arkwright,
Britain's first epic graphic novel. Talbot was one of a
generation of British talents from children's comics and
the underground press who proved that the future was no
longer what it used to be in the weekly 2000AD. In what
experimental Vertigo imprint and an openness in the field
to finite artistic statements. This supportive climate has
nurtured remarkable works, like the warm, wise Bone,
self-published by Jeff Smith over a dozen years, or Mike
Mignola's Hellboy, a hornless demon in a trenchcoat.
Fantasy and SF graphic novels are often accused
of copying movies, but the opposite is more
commonly true. It's no secret that film¬
makers have been more or less officially
exploiting the visions of comics creators
for decades. Bilal was told by director .
9

was a surprisingly ironic, grim-witted read for a supposed Michael Mann that "all the albums
boys' comic. Judge Dredd stood out from his debut in 1977 of French BD artists like Druillet, •
as an arresting, coldly efficient futurecop. His violence Moebius, Mezieres, and myself
avoided being dubbed gratuitous because it was inflicted were lying around every
by an officer of the law, in the name of the law. Gaining American studio.” Perhaps
popularity during Margaret Thatcher's years as prime we can look to modern
minister, Dredd seems to appeal to polarized readerships, graphic novelists, free and
who recognize him as either the nightmarish extreme of idiosyncratic, to go on
police state brutality, or the best way to combat crime. bringing us previously
It's an example of the power of much science unimagined fantasies
fiction to comment on current concerns by extrapolating and reinvigorating
them into the future or to other worlds. Man's next step in populist folklore in
evolution as Akira and the ecological heroine Nausicaa are pen, paper, and pixels.
The Airtfaht Garage in focus
“I have been impressed and affected by Moebius’s keen and unusual
sense of design and the distinctive way in which he depicts the fantastic.”
GEORGE LUCAS

Another side Our story so far

Can there be a more Why stick to the same
amazing transformation old, overfamiliar plots?
of an artist in comics Moebius prefers “the
than lean Giraud? creativity of surprise,"
By 1973 he looked all like free jazz or ad
set for a lifetime career libs, spinning off onto
drawing the classic detours, dead-ends
French Western hero and deviations to keep
Lieutenant Blueberry. the reader and himself
But there was another constantly off-balance.
side to him, longing
to break free from Originally serialized,
the shackles of first at two pages a
literalism and all time, many episodes
his personal history. open with a summary,
which can be as
When he had started a puzzling as the
decade earlier to create events themselves.
surreal, humorous tales
he re-imagined himself, Here we cut from the
adopting a new pen sinister president in
name, Moebius. An apt fishnet and earrings
choice, because it is on his trail to Major
also the name of a Grubert, dressed like
19th-century German an old colonial
mathematician, who explorer, and Okania,
devised the intriguing as they are escorted
"Moebius strip." This is to the mysterious Room
a strip of paper, twisted Number Six.
and joined to form one
continuous, one-sided Name games
surface. It seems as
When it ran in the
strange and unearthly
French magazine
as some of the strips
metal hurlant starting
that the new Moebius
in 197b, the serial was
would now develop.
titled THE AIRTIGHT GARAGE
OF IERRY CORNELIUS, an in-
Moebius brought to
joke alluding to the
science-fiction comics
character created by
such a rich sense of
Michael Moorcock. In the
alien places and
1987 color translation,
cultures, all the way
Moebius changed the
down to food, furniture,
name to the similar¬
and clothes. Here, he
sounding LEWIS carnelian
gives the incidental
(perhaps a nod to ALICE
“exo" Mikey a touch of
author Lewis Carroll,
individuality as a
while carnelian is a red,
grouchy intellectual
translucent gemstone).
from this society's
underclass.
The French title has a

The Airtight Garage playful double meaning,

because "hermefique“
Moebius (Jean Giraud) means both airtight
1976-79,1 volume, 120 pages and impenetrable.

READING ON: TRAVELOGUES 178 PARALLEL WORLDS SCIENCE 82 ADVENTURES 156

 The Alr+foht Garage scene by scene

levels
Unchaining the stuff of the
unconscious mind, Moebius,
like his helmeted hero
Grubert, is operating here
on a variety of levels. Far
left, before he can report on
the first level to the Major,
Samuel L. Mohad is shot in
the head. Notice that, as he
is an android spy, his blood
runs green. In fact, Sam
does not "die" until several
panels later.

Graad, left, three-horned,

bearded keeper of Room
S hots to the
Six, and Okania s father,
REAPER.' BgHOuC’1
THE MAJCPIR
sATHeg Peg PI. V helps Grubert gain access
M HI? ABRPMgN

7
•HE EXTREMITIES
<PF Hlg FiNcSE*?. to the first level with a
^ SOT Alii COHfOOV*
? <pFH»$uwaptiNPiNtfe
=x he croNceM-rjrATES
>&i EVEN MORE P66PLV
crystal. Moebius adds some
r- OHC&TWH COVFA
/
. within mg molecular
structure. Hl4
bizarre touches to this
^jpertsegAL gNELL

-,v—r
SEEMS TC PiggOlVE
(A\Al/6#r scene, such as his long,
tz'&Tf APPEAR? INgIPe
'■Nill HI? EYE?. THAT
‘ \ t\, LK5HT (5RPWS crazy sound effect in the
VA 'fc7 anpsrows
>* J/--W UNTIL IT FILL4
HIM WITH 1CTAL
-V'-r eNLIiSHTENMENT.
first panel, and the "(A)"
footnote to pinpoint
Grubert’s dissolved body.

\ >✓<>

In a graphically arresting
whole-page image, far left,
we finally meet Lewis
Cornelian floating on high,
while black "sky cracks"
ravage the city below. He
can sense that the Major
has arrived, in fact in a
similar form to his own
but in white. These aerial,
costumed figures are part
of Moebius's very personal
homage to superheroes.
GARAGE j? LEWIS l/UQJEMAN (WWW* PU^^TipRy. IT WAS ALLA SAKAUTE TRICK/

In the final episode, left,

£v
Lewis and Grubert are
hbWS v
transported to a paradise
, . •> "
/*
OAgTLB- ,'...
of giant plants and insects.
Moebius gathered together
all the threads in the last
15 pages, created in one
sitting. By leaving the story
open-ended, as Grubert
flees to our reality, he
shapes a story as cyclical
and unending as the paper
loop of a Moebius strip.

READING ON: ALIENS 94 | SURREALISM 136 | CONSPIRACIES 156 | NATURE 67

Following on froiviThe Garage

Lafher
Arfcwrfrh*
Time is being distorted,
allowing revolutionary
Oliver Cromwell to keep
control of England. Now,
after three centuries of
puritanical oppression,
Nathaniel, the latest in the
Cromwell dynasty, is
sinking into debauchery.
Disgusted zealots from his
ranks plot to kill him. Notice
the political hoardings and
arrest in the background.

Psychic temporal agent FBI 13 OCT LOBO PROTECTOR'S PRIVATE QUARTERS. WESTMINSTER 20.1*

Luther Arkwright has been

sent to bring this reality
into accord with the future.
Here he aligns himself with
Anne, heir to the throne,
who bears his child. Bryan
Talbot's dense, intense work
of English historical science
fiction proves as multi-
levelled as reality itself.

Finder WHAT I DO fop. & uvJlMG DceSHTeeAieV SQUIRE Bor TYfe SMART CHOOSER VCjJOWS THERE'5 HO
SocH SriMlSTiCA-T^p 'JlCTOAL REAUTV tMTERfACE'S, too* LIKE- IT. THES GlME OS STATE-OF-THE-ART
One of author Carla HoBODS HtBVS A HACK THIS FAHC'/. COMECT10NS, MAltiTAlM AMD UPGRADE THEM
SCROPOLOOStV, PtiD WE- ARE THEUZS MAkI-
Speed McNeill's concerns
about the future is the
dehumanizing impact of
technology's guest for ever
more stimulating escapism.
In "Talisman," a vanished
book read to her as a child
makes Marcie long to learn
to read it for herself.
Reading is a dying art when GOO HELP OS AU_

people can hook up to her KV M fAOTKML MAOt

UWEM A GoMPAMS
G€T5 WHAT LOOKS
HER. LNiNG OFF OF UKEAGCCD IDEA.
mother's wired imagination. GCTTiNG U^r in
her OWN WCfiLD.

For the ultimate sensory

experience, Ayo and
thousands of workers like
BEaIEFvts? HO-HO-
him are happy to be packed RETTREMEaIT? fock it.
CHILDCARE ? ICAM MAMAGE.
in "like a cocktail weiner," if STOCK OPHOH ? X*U- PASS.
DOT (HMMEE THAT

they can go to Elsewhere, ^»-T»-Peuiry/

the mindscape of Magri
White, in "Dream Sequence,"
McNeill weighs the price of THE COMPAWV
MAXIMIZES rrs
FlOOR PLAM
passive consumerism and
unused creativity.
IT LOOKS BAD,
I W40W--
&JT THIS vSWV
WHAT WfSEt-

READING ON: CONSPIRACIES 128 | PARALLEL WORLDS 82 | BOOKS 178 | DYSTOPIAS 97

 Following on froMTbe Garage

Nausicaa of the
l/a((ey of Wine/
A great tidal wave
or "daikaisho" has
shrouded the pollution -
wounded earth in gigantic
tr$ the
FOZEST
THE SEA OF
mushrooms exhaling
COZEUmON.
ITSELF IS
MOVING.
poisonous miasma. Their
guardians are giant
insects, or "ohmu," and
here Nausicaa rides and
communes with one. By
staring into its deep
blue eye, she comes to
understand their healing
role. Will Nausicaa, a
chieftain's daughter wise
beyond her years, embody
the prophecy of an
environmental messiah?

Deeply concerned about

ecology, Hayao Miyazaki
animated his manga saga
in 198k. Nausicaa is named
after a brave princess from
Homer's odyssey.

The /nvTriMe
Frontier
In an elegant blend of lules
Verne and Franz Kafka, the
trained architect Francois
Schuiten and author and
historian Benoit Peeters,
both from Belgium, imagine
strange, allegorical cities.

Here, the ambitious new

marshal of Sodrovno-
Voldachia arrives on a vast
dirigible at the country's
neglected cartography
center. His orders are for
them to re-draw the official
maps to extend the nation's
frontier. But could his
conquest by geography be
undone by the secret map
found on a young woman's
body? Though alluding to
the former Yugoslavia,
Schuiten and Peeters keep
their retro-future tale
intriguingly enigmatic.

DYSTOPIAS 94 I CITIES 167 I JULES VERNE 109

READING ON: NATURE 54
The Nikopol Trilogy in focus
“Before Enki Bilal, directors like Orson Welles or Wim Wenders impressed me with their
remarkable aesthetics, playing with beauty and gentleness, and with a dirty, damaged, run¬
Who is Nikopol?
Time is on his side.
Alcide Nikopol is a man
who fell to earth after
orbiting in suspended
animation imprisoned in
space for desertion. His
"miserable mortal life"
alters radically when he
is revived, injured but
unchanged, 20 years
later in a world where
everyone else has aged.
His missing leg is
grata you muppep.
replaced with a metal
PATS LONG, MA Boy...
graft welded by Horus,
a naked, falcon-headed
alien renegade, who
looks like his namesake,
the Egyptian god.
Nikopol can no longer
call his life or his body
his own because Horus
needs him to act as his
instrument of revenge
against his fellow gods.
Here, Nikopol and Horus
inside him communicate
by thought. Note
that Horus's mental
comments appear in
rectangular balloons.
Influences
The son of a Bosnian
father and a Czech
mother, Enki Bilal's
baroque, overwhelming
visions derive in part
from his childhood in
the Yugoslav capital
Belgrade, living in the
shadow of communism
and the Second World
War. Moving to Paris in
1901, he was inspired
by film directors like
Andrei Tarkowsky
whose films include
SOLARIS and STALKER.
HEADING
down world. They are true visionaries, and Enki Bilal is their equivalent in comics.”
PIERRE CHRISTIN
Confusion
Gods, and men, are in
chaos. Disoriented and
NO PouBf ABouT
IT, you'pe on edge, the possessed
hopelessly
CHILPISH, My POOR ney, PEPE Nikopol stumbles
PRIANP- MlStAH through the sickly
NIKOPOL'S
BACK... streets of Paris, where
HUH- ]UST PUT
youRseif in My he is suddenly spotted
s. PLACE... r
by a bearded stranger
guarding a grave. It's
a shock for him to
learn that Clementine,
CALM DOWN, DOH'f GCT UPSET... the woman he loved,
COOP P/W6 GOT OLD w you wiovi This
GORGON. He USDS . CIEMEN/WS M0N6AN/D0N? has died and given
WATCHING OMAR pa birth to thejr son, also
clementine.
GONe Two MONTHS, named Nikopol, who is
now about his age and
virtually his twin, hence
the confusion.
Bilal surrounds his hero
with sordid goings-on
in the backgrounds,
this is au nary clear- pemembep, nihopol... you wara supposbd To marry this clamantina \ teeming with mutated
inhabitants, signs and
graffiti. The giant
broken shells are
debris from the bizarre
terrorist "egg war."
mm
Trilogy to film
Bilal took 12 years to
I HAVE A SON ' complete his trilogy
ANP CLAMANTINA
L IS PEAP... A while working on other
3 yes, dead at ss projects, including
BUT she’s lefr you
A SON WHOSE NAME directing his first film.
/s /He same as youes
AND WHO Is JUST The trilogy began with
about you) Aoe-
GODS IN CHAOS in I960,
his first solo graphic
novel. He returned to it
in 1986 with THE WOMAN
trap, and completed it in
1992 in COLD EQUATOR.
In 2009 he directed his
third film, condensing
part of the trilogy, shot
entirely using ''blue
screen" digital art for
the sets and for the
The Nikopol Trilogy aliens. Its title, immortel
lad vitamj, translates as
Enki Bilal
Vol. 1 1980, Vol. 2 1986, Vol. 3 1992, Complete 2002,176 pages “immortal (for life)."
ON: TIME WARPS 85 | MYTHS U LEGENDS 136 | FATHERS & SONS 124 | JOURNALISM 143 | ALIENS 82
 Tte Nikopol TrUosv scene tv scene

Appearances
Global power politics have
devolved into a bizarre
Iht P/55/PEWf NlHOPOl HAS ceii? ppiewp, i Am happy Anp ppoup To court'
yoy among My suBjscK- i PEEPiy apppecmse
uh... we Ape vgpy... circus. Here, on the far left,
.APPIER OOYSpNOB--^ Me AW. / AM Vgpy MOVEP
yoyp coypA&goos A«p gxgwaApy sesHjpe. >
B£U£V£ Mg- yoy APE WELCOME HEPg- /
Byyoyp HosP/JAufy-
/swr ppggpcM wopm
in a bid to seize power,
. sAuifKiw, a ume
\bioop amp pa/«? Horus, inside the body of
STOPItmOPoU Nikopol, has infiltrated the
chambers of the governor
of Paris, Choublanc (French
for loser), who is painted in
his honorary make-up.
you A*e Pone rac«y jwwmb.
•'ft wcPeu oa eat you' ll conn
ms waoa APP«ii- me «5wBiA*?tMjr
skws o o« o' me w»r wofli
W Au etffcPE PeettAPJ evew ft whATs .
ier cf me iiFe HoeiP- y\ Horus's appearances are
ftAf s ewoosh, not always so deceiving.
L AUBBJSHlI!
Here he has trouble
i have a retgv/sgp obciabatoh ro make, peap /cAwseeyow >
manipulating another
PPlEWP, AWPI fWwK /r Aw OPPOpTUHB TIME HfSSWW WtH yOilli AM JAK/W6 COWSPOt
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functions pop
human, while dining on
P&HOi- A PyKAMK AW
fe. AS A HgPO By My SUBJECT- AHP iPEAfgp secuPilY-
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sswftcysPcMftov
foeyw-i/APt^ i
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a train with till Bioskop
/s A vepy difficult Apt,
BP\ PEcywEs ApnsiS or yoyp
S^D^-f-^j^CAI/BEP...
>
(Serbian for cinema).
She can't help noticing her
partner's altered behavior,
the presence of Horus
You hohop
ME MtiCH- indicated by the blue light.
fHWSS APS OOI16 PAWEP The blue-haired reporter Jill
weu, moPoi-
/ JWWK We'Ll BE ABIE
To SHIP A PEW STEPS- types her story in white-on-
black captions. Overhead
fly Nikopol and the cat
Gogol, tracking them both.

Far left, Nikopol, Horus and

-re wear buht to ike pus aho bscaw couxfiM men- m ysiow ones Awp Two peps~ hs Took foot of Thbu QxLuom Two net> owes)... just iwTlbHM Gogol look on as Jill's
m A Houew, ecHom me
masked, murdered
protector miraculously
reappears to save her with
memory-scouring pills. Here
the narration is by Nikopol
to till, who become lovers
after they flee Berlin for
IT IS lives: UHRSPSTAHOA&ie. OUBM
The last few stuns op ms sout
Cairo. Notice how the cat
Aoiexcs is SO SXtJSMS THAT iT Blows
Tie top mshT opp ms B*ss sais' cu
OX ms SCAie Or SCAL£ OlSBUPTiOX.)
under the shower reverts to
his green and white stripes.

soppy KtxePoi- ns's t Tcush one,

) awp i caw's use wy ma muit
' SSttHSTn BSCAI/SS (0 USOCX Later, in Africa's Equator
i US HSAO CPs- POP'S WAWf To
secuse suspiooh... w^u mat him
qusTy m Th£ chsss 6AH£~ City, Till and Nikopol's
LOOK AS W! identical son cross paths,
Ato/s
lOOPXUl!
while they watch a
big-screen broadcast
of the chess-boxing world
championship. Nikopol
senior achieves his dream
of winning the title by being
possessed by Horus. It's a
payback for his services.
Nikopol is also given a new,
mmssiou os ms bis sceux M»«s T»s wait
H)9 Tie V.AJtw Or WITS- KM WAltHSS AS JU.
blank memory and a bitter¬
nam seen swoosh. iSAves me souaps.
’SHOW) I AUKS COHTACC 00 HOT?" sweet sort of immortality.

GHOSTS & SPIRITS 108 | IMMORTALS 98 | MYSTERIES 121 | DYSTOPIAS 92

READING ON: MEMORY 172
FoUowTnj on frow The Mkopo( Trilogy

Af(Jr a
Destructive psychokinetic
forces are mutating the
children of Neo-Tokyo after
World War Three. The most
terrifying of these is Akira,
whose energies are being
contained by The Project,
a covert government
operation, until the
presence of a potentially
even more powerful boy,
Tetsuo, awakens Akira here
with devastating results.

In this mammoth opus of

over 2,200 pages, Japan's
Katsuhiro Otomo harnesses
his precision drawing and
measured, relentless pacing
to turn his manga into a
widescreen, “sensurround"
experience, in fact, before
he had finished the manga,
Otomo directed an
animated version in 1988
which led to the graphic
novel being translated
worldwide.

Averted
Towering over the shattered
Statue of Liberty, her torch
broken, stands the Statue
of judgement, a symbol of
judges like judge Dredd,
whose iron rule of law has
erased the rights of all
Mega-City One's citizens.
But a few refuse to be
intimidated, like young
America. Puerto Rican
and named after the
American dream, she
dares to protect her friend
Benny and answer back.
In adulthood, America
becomes a hooker and a
rebel political agitator,
while Benny achieves
celebrity as a singer.
Their paths cross again
tragically through her
terrorist activities in this
timely warning about the
loss of civil liberties by
writer John Wagner and
artist Colin MacNeil.

READING ON: CHILDREN 26 | PARANORMAL 124 | TOTALITARIAN STATES 242 CIVIL LIBERTIES 42
 FoMowTn.? on froiM The Nikopol Trilogy

American Fiaggl
What can one man do?
A has-been video hunk
and patriot raised on Mars,
Reuben Flagg is in despair
after only one week on
Earth as the new deputy
Ranger, policing the
corporate-run madhouse
of Chicago in 2031. Here,
Flagg guards the mayor at
a Jewish society wedding,
with firearms as gifts and a
tank made of chopped liver,
till the event degenerates
into a shootout.

Introduced in 1983,
Howard Chaykin's satirical
projections of a violent,
TV-saturated, death-and-
sex-obsessed, amoral
wasteland seem rather
prescient. The media's
excesses buzz around
Chay kin's fractured layouts
in letterer Ken Bruzenak's
swarms of logos and icons.

Y: The La& Man

Women rule, now that
all men are dead from
a "gendercidai" plague.
r Tea IT ^ All except V, as in the
TP THE ARAM'S
^ APPLE. A
"Y" chromosome and the
question "Why?," real
name Yorick Brown, young
American, amateur escape
artist, maybe the last man
alive and the last hope
r I'u ASK THE ^ for the future.
>
questions aeouHp weae.
AMP MAXINE a
rFUCK
LIKE-WWT THE ^
\SMKMS
Here, instead of naively
with you people?
PIPN'T 'iCU ALL LOSE
ifmUE&r7 &ROVJFRST
expecting to repopulate the
i KIEHOS? j
planet with his girlfriend,
THE Y CHROMOSOME IS
AN tmSRmON. TCAfRE
ICCN'T
KNOW...
Y gets directed by his
NOTHING PUT A
VEFORtteV FEMALE.
A. A tfKXVSTBK
mother to a bioengineer,
KxsoNEvevxxjeami
L HOBM0NES ^ who might explain his
survival. Later, Y unwisely
confronts a man-hating
Amazon gang defacing
Washington's monuments.
Writer Brian K. Vaughan
and artist Pia Guerra
slyly undermine male
r ..BUT ITS {_
AN CVECSISWT \
WE IWTENC1 ID L sexism in their brave
. oxBScr A
new matriarchal world.

READING ON: TV & MEDIA 84 | DYSTOPIAS 93 | GENDER ROLES 68 | PLAGUES 109

The Sandman in focus
“These are great stories, and we’re lucky to have them. To read now, and maybe again.
Then, when we need what only a good story has the power to do: to take us away to worlds
that never existed, in the company of people we wish we were or thank God we aren’t.”
STEPHEN KING

Family matters Mere immortals

Families are meant to Much more than blank,
"SHESAIP WEALL abstract concepts,
look after their own, NOT ONLY COLYLCV
even The Endless, a kn o'M everyth\NG. Morpheus and his
disparate family of brothers and sisters
seven beings, who each come alive as complex,
embody a different engaging characters
phenomenal force in in the hands of British
the universe, that all writer Neil Gaiman and
happen to start with the his artist collaborators,
letter "D": Dream (also here Jill Thompson and
known as The Sandman Vince Locke.
and Morpheus), Desire,
Despair, Destiny, *live JUST TELL OURSELVES The first panel from
WE PON‘T TO MAKE IT ALL this page from brief
Delirium, Destruction, BEARABLE."
and Death. lives is a flashback of

THAT WAS WHAT 1 SAW TO HER , I 1 SOUP YOU. SHESAIP Destruction, shown in
SAIP, IF THEY VO THAT, WHY VO THEY EVERYONE KNOWS EVERY-
When Destruction goes KEEP WANVERIN& AROUNI7 ANP THINO. IVE JUST PRETENP his former costume
FALLING VOWN MANHOLES ANV .TO OURSELVES WE DON'T. . and beard, recalling a
missing, his siblings . TRIPPING ON BANANA SKINS? M
Dream and Delirium 3 NEVER KNEW conversation with his
WHAT TO MAKE
search for him. Here,- . OF THAT. ^ sister Death. It might
they have found him come as a surprise that
and, seated around a even as powerful an
lantern under a starlit entity as Destruction
sky, they discuss why he can feel insignificant
left and why he chooses and wish he knew
not to return. more. Gaiman uses
his cast to give
Notice how the style of- unique perspectives on
balloons and lettering P WHY VOES IT SEEM LIKE immortals and mortals.
NONFOFUS-ENVLESS OR MORTAL
convey the different GHOST OR&OP- KNOWS WHAT
V WE'RE VOIH&?
characters and voices. The Endless
The Sandman's serious
So what are The
words appear in upper
Endless? Destruction
and lower case, in
describes himself and
black, amorphous
his kin as "merely
shapes. His sister COURSE V ioS«-[7.
patterns, ideas, wave
Delirium talks in an
functions, repeating
eccentric script in
motifs." He goes on:
unstable balloons of
"The Endless are
shifting colors.
echoes of darkness,
and nothing more.
Here, while she
We have no right to
strokes Destruction's
play with their lives,
dog Barnabas, she
to order their dreams
fashions a plaything in
are hie embodiment and their desires."
the form of Cerebus, in
a friendly nod to Dave
I'M SORRX
LASSIE. n&SUF’Z:
He also suggests that
Sim s much-admired
The Endless are not
aardvark warrior.
eternal. "Even our
existences are brief

The Sandman and bounded. None of

us will last longer than
Neil Gaiman & various artists this version of the
1990-97,10 volumes, 1,993 pages universe."

READING ON: MYTHS & LEGENDS 109 | RETRIBUTION 108 IMMORTALS 94 | HISTORIES 166 | MAGIC 8s
 The Sandman ycene f>y r^ene

In dreams
Gaiman began his saga,
serialized first as 75
monthly comic books,
with a strong horror theme.
He also drew on previous
BUT SHE, BCIN6 MORTAL^
OF THAT BOX PI PPM, AMP FOR.
versions of The Sandman
HER SAKE X CO REAR UR HER
80Y, AMP FOR HER SAKE X
. »VILL M7T PART HTTH HIM y
created since 1939.

TMATCHIM?--THE ONE
.
Pt-AYIWO THE INPIAN ROY
«VH0/®HE»
In the doll s house, far
left, drawn here by Chris
Bachalo and Malcolm Jones,
Morpheus has ended the
unnatural afterlife of the
ghost of Hector Hall, the
197U superhero Sandman.
Remote from all human
feelings, Morpheus ignores
his pregnant widow Lyta's
fury and intends to claim
her child. Mother and son
have crucial roles to come.

Gaiman also inserts dream-

related short stories. Here,
Morpheus aids Shakespeare
HN THE OIPTALE THERE WA« A LOVE'
fOTlON, THAT LEFT THE GOPPB08
Buttimp *ith an a&&.
with his plays and brings
the Faerie Queen herself to
watch the first performance
Of A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM,
illustrated by Charles Hess.
The bard returns in the
saga's last tale, the tempest.

Nobody understands
The Sandman quite as well
as his little sister Death.
Gaiman brings out both
personalities in this sharp
brother-sister dialogue,
far left, staged by artists
Thompson and Locke.

Past actions come back to

haunt Morpheus. Here, his
realm, drawn by Teddy
Kristiansen, is assaulted by
The Kindly Ones, agents of
vengeance, incited by Lyta
Hall, sure that he has
murdered her missing son,
Daniel. In red captions. The
Kindly Ones seek another
revenge, for Morpheus's
mercy-killing of his son
Orpheus, tragic poet of
Greek myth. How do you
end an Endless? Death and
young Daniel hold the keys.

TRICKSTERS 125 FATHERS & SONS 118 | LIBRARIES 62 | DREAMS 100

Following on fro<v>77>e Sandman

Bone
Something is disturbing the
Dreaming. Dragons, hooded
men, and locusts fill the
nightmares of Thorn and
her small friend Bone. Here,
they follow Thorn's tough
Gran'ma Rose out in a
storm to press her for
answers, leff Smith raises
the tension with claps of
thunder. Imagine Walt
Kelly's pogo meeting lord of
the rings and you have an
idea of the warmth, wit,
and fantasy of this 1,300-
page epic. Bone arrives with
his two cousins, scheming
Foney and good-natured
Smiley, below.

Rose
For all Smith 's slapstick
and humor, behind bone lies
a gripping drama rooted
in myth. Crucial background
is revealed about the youth
of Thorn's grandmother
Rose and her sister.
Princess Briar. In this
encounter between Rose
and her dragon guardian,
she makes a promise to
him, whose importance is
accented by dropping the
light in this key panel and
illuminating her eyes.

Notice how cold is conveyed

by showing the figures'
breath-the dragon's
being naturally larger.
Written by Smith, this story
is drawn by Charles l/ess
in delicate lines and rich
colors, reminiscent
of such masters of
fantasy illustration
as Arthur Rackham.

READING ON: FORESTS 110 DREAMS 106 FAIRY TALES 136 FAMILY SECRETS 106
 Fo((owIn^ on fro^T/te Sarx/wan

Held? oy
At first, Hellboy was in
denial about his demonic
origins. Raised on a U.S.
army base and given
honorary human status by
the United Nations in 1952,
Hellboy joined the Bureau
for Paranormal Research
and Defense to deliver us
from evil. Here his creator,
Mike Mignola, adds more
dimension and sympathy by
revealing that Hellboy has
rejected his mission to wipe
out mankind. He symbolizes
that act by showing him
breaking off his horns.

Mignola draws on all the

old tales he loved as a child
from world folklore. His use
of color and black creates
a stained-glass effect, the
red of Hellboy grabbing the
eyes like a car crash or
autopsy, the only other red
on the pages being blood.

King 4 oiv* of
the Wfcfced
Move over j.K. Rowling.
Chris Orahame's books
have made him today's
most successful children's
author. His make-believe
realm of Castrovalva
sprung into his head after
suffering as a boy from
blackouts, which are now
taking him back there.

Far left, Grahame wanders

his mental playground,
desecrated by a dictator,
and resolves to save it.
A later scene zooms in on
an anomalous twin found in
Grahame's brain, before
cutting to its form in his
mind, himself as a despot.
Notice how British duo Ian
Edgington and D'lsraeli use
the "camera" reference to
slip between worlds, from
X-ray to framed photo.

READING ON: MYTHS & LEGENDS 166 HELL 108 | MENTAL DISORDERS 147 | PARALLEL WORLDS 92
Chapter 8
In the MirKf’r fye
S upposedly, it was all being done for the kids'
own good-and maybe for the photographers too.
Standing with his pals, hands in pockets, a young boy
is caught on camera, looking on in sullen silence, as a
man, maybe his father, cheerily throws another much-
read, much-loved book onto the piles of pages going up in
flames. This is not a book-burning in Nazi Germany. This is
America in the paranoid early 1950s, an era of communist
witch hunts, and the book being chucked onto the funeral
pyre is Harvey Comics' Chamber of Chills 25, cover-dated
October 1954. Little did those round the bonfire know
that it would be one of the last of the era’s infamous
"horror comics.”
Their end was nigh. The month of
October 1954 marked a turning point in
American comic books. It saw the majority
of publishers start to pay to submit their pages
for spring 1955 in advance to the newly formed
Comics Code Authority or CCA, an independent
regulatory commission financed by the industry
and empowered to remove anything remotely
objectionable. Without the CCA’s big white
postage stamp of approval printed up to one
inch across at the top right corner of its cover,
a comic book would not be handled by distributors and
retailers and thus would not reach the public. Only Dell's
wholesome fare and Gilberton's educational Classics
Illustrated were exempt. For the rest, it was either clean
up or close down.
No doubt the fire-starter stoking that blaze of
four-color chills thought he was doing the right thing.
Perhaps he had been persuaded by the media's barrage
of accusations that this "marijuana of the nursery” was
corrupting the minds of his young son and his friends
Right: Stoker’s classic and threatened to turn them into delinquents. After the
is adapted by writers Second World War, America’s moral guardians became
Otto Binder and alarmed by the rise in juvenile crime. Rather than deal
Craig Tennis with art with issues within society or the family, they looked for
by A1 McWilliams an easier cause and found a perfect scapegoat in comic
books. These were misrepresented as solely for children,
Opposite: Fear and whereas new post-war genres, including horror, were
loathing fill Charles increasingly also consumed by adults. Horror comics by
Burns’ Black Hole definition are meant to unsettle, but certain publishers,
greedy to sell more copies, resorted to cruelty and gore
that many thought unsuitable for children. Among them
was New York psychiatrist Dr. Fredric Wertham, who
became convinced that violent comic books influenced his
young patients' troubled behavior. In 1954, he stated his
findings in the alarmist book Seduction of the Innocent and
in televised Senate Committee hearings into the comics
industry. Wertham has been demonized as a censor by
fans and collectors, but he never proposed or endorsed
the CCA, let alone book burnings. His solution, "that the
most gory comic books should not be directly displayed to
children 13 and under,” sparked little interest, because
the public outrage that he helped to inflame
was baying for much tougher curbs. The
industry’s exaggeratedly severe Comics Code
was partly an overreaction to pressure, and
partly a public relations exercise, but it was
effectively also a sly business maneuver by the
major conservative companies, led by Archie
publisher John Goldwater, to drive annoying
competitors into line or preferably out of
business, stifling divergent points of view and
making more rack space for their own product.
Horror had never been all that welcome in wartime
comic books either, aside from a few superheroes’
monstrous foes or brief versions of Edgar Allan Poe stories.
Poe's tales later featured in Classics Illustrated, as did
Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Gilberton never
got around to adapting Dracula, perhaps because it was
too bloody; Ballantine Books eventually put out a quite
faithful 160-page strip version in paperback in 1966. As
for an ongoing American horror comic book, after the false
start in late 1946 of a single issue of Eerie, it arrived as
Adventures into the Unknown in 1948 from the American
Comics Group. From its debut, entirely written by prolific
author Frank Belknap Long, editor Richard Hughes relied
on the ghosts, werewolves, and vampires of the weird
mystery pulps and their roots in 19th-century fiction.
Adventures into the Unknown weathered the moral
panic and industry crackdown of the 1950s by banishing
all monsters in favor of clever but tamer yarns, and would
notch up 169 issues by its end in 1969. In contrast,
William Gaines, publisher of Entertaining Comics, or EC,
In the Mine’s £ye
Above: In Kazuo Umezu’s 1978
horror manga Orochi: Blood,
why is this little girl fascinated
by the color of her blood?
Below: Everyone rejects the
pitiful, maggot-ridden monster
Hell Baby by Hideshi Hino
Opposite above: Frank Frazetta
paints EC’s Crypt-Keeper on this
1964 reissue paperback
Opposite below: Swamp Thing,
a plant that walks like a man, is
back in his element, drawn by
Steve Bissette
decided to close his Tales from the Crypt in
1955 after only 27 issues. Like the comic's
cackling hosts, however, Caines would
have the last laugh. In a twist ending as
twisted.as any he published, Crypt later
came back from the dead in movies and
television series, and along with the rest
of the EC titles it has been repeatedly
reprinted in comic and book form.
Ballantine's black-and-white paperbacks
started this process from 1964, followed
by a color Nostalgia Press tome in 1971,
before the ultimate accolade, Russ
Cochran’s Complete EC Library from 1978,
the first time that a single company's
output was repackaged in deluxe,
slipcased, annotated hardcovers. How
their 1950s critics would have been
stunned to see these comics live on and
inspire global popular culture for over 50
years. While Crypt and its companions
Vault of Horror and Haunt of Fear deserve acclaim, there
has been a tendency to overlook the qualities of other
companies' wild, eccentric horror output before the
Comics Code, when over 50 went on sale each month at
their peak from 1951 to 1954. EC tales were limited to 6, 7,
or 8 pages in length and by the need for shocking, and at
times gratuitous, finales. Their captions, written first and
lettered onto the artboard, could be rich with description
and tongue-in-cheek wit, though at times they repeated
what the superb illustrations clearly already showed.
Yet how different the landscape of modern horror
might now look, had young Stephen King, George Romero,
and many other masters of the genre not been
steeped in EC horror. Clive Barker never
forgot how "those comics really grossed
me out when I was a kid, and they also
fired my imagination.” Gaines and
crew had little time for flimsy ghost
stories; they relished contes
cruels. They dared to suggest that
everything might not be perfect
in the 1950s American dream by
regularly showing one wronged
partner in a romance or marriage
inflicting a fittingly grotesque
punishment on the other.
Revenge fantasies of this type
might account for some readership
surveys finding that women, notably
married women, were a sizeable
percentage of horror comics fans. Stephen King
also pointed out that, "when EC started to produce
supernatural tales, they did it after the worst holocaust
that people had ever known—World War II and the deaths
of six million Jews and the bombing of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki." Are their vengeful corpses warning us that
we cannot bury and forget the wartime inhumanities
that we committed?
In comics as in literature, horror seems well suited
to short stories, lean and mean, with no need for recurring
characters because they usually end up condemned, mad,
dead, or living-dead. In America from the early 1960s,
short-story anthologies of darker, more dangerous horror
comics escaped the clutches of the Comics Code by
abandoning the racks of color comic books next to the
candy counter. They converted to black-and-white
magazines shelved with Time and Newsweek, amd to
underground comix sold via counterculture outlets. Many
contributors revered and rejuvenated the EC style; a few
ventured into stranger areas. In Bogeyman in 1969, for
example, Rory Hayes delivered primal, desperate terror,
gushing straight from the id, unfiltered by aesthetic
finesse, an example to Mark Beyer, Savage Pencil, and
others to express whatever and however they needed.
The second-string 1970s Skywald magazines Psycho,
Nightmare, and Scream, of all places, spawned a distinctly
perverse voice in writer-editor Alan Hewetson. Praised by
Stephen King as "constantly moving ahead, breaking new
ground, using innovative stories,” Hewetson's "Horror-
Mood” menu offered some serialized "original illustrated
novels,” always intended to be put into books. In his
exploitive, fatalistic cliff-hanger Saga of the Victims,
compiled in 2003, he showed that "human rules don’t
count,” when an alien, beyond emotions or morals,
tested two female humans' endurance, before
casually destroying them and our inconvenient
universe. By 1971, times were changing and
comic book publishers persuaded the CCA to
permit "vampires, ghouls, and werewolves...
when handled in the classic tradition."
Though mild compared to the
1950s, tragic monsters old and new,
from Dracula, Werewolf, and
Frankenstein to Swamp Thing,
Man-Thing, and Ghost Rider,
stalked the stands again, now
in their own color series.
Lengthy, complete horror
graphic novels, however, caught
on elsewhere. Since the 1960s,
Japan’s Kazuo Umezu has become
 In the MTnd’y £ye

renowned for his horror manga, lending his name to a
major award and to a "haunted mansion” attraction in
Tokyo. Hideshi Hino followed in this tradition when he
began his Shocking Theatre series in 1971. "As a child, I had
a very acute sense of horror, probably more so than most
kids of my age. I’m able to exaggerate those feelings and
exploit them as the basis for my comics."
A crucial memory in his semi-autobiographical
masterpiece from 1983, Panorama of Hell, is
all-out, bloody grand guignol. The classic scenarios seem
ever ready for revival and reinterpretation, in the pitch-
black comedies of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
or Criminal Macabre, and in the psychological dissections More Horror Stories
of Strange Embrace or Frankenstein, Now and Forever. Swamp Thing
Steve Bissette's aptly named anthology Taboo (1988-95) ALAN MOORE & VARIOUS
Roots of modern eco-horror
permitted some provocative projects to first
Uzumaki
see print, not only From FI el I and Lost Girls JUNJI ITO
written by Moore, but also Jeff Nicholson's A town spirals into terror

theyakuza tattoo on his father's back of a Habitrails, an indictment of soul-destroying The Walking Dead
KIRKMAN, MOORE & ADLARD
bat that seems alive. Hino's accursed toil, and Charles Burns’ "Teen Plague,” an Learning to live with zombies
generational history assaults the reader with embryo that grew into his freakish hormonal Dylan Dog
its mutilations, no less visceral for being in love story Black Flole. TIZIANO SCLAVI & VARIOUS
The smoothest monster-hunter
black and white, and its narrator-confessor Unlike their fleeting effect on
Metropol
device "to remove the distance that allows a film or television, comics fix horrors TED McKEEVER

reader to be entertained without any sense of on the page from which many would Can five armed angels save us?

risk.” The dangeryou feel is justified, because Lovecraft

instinctively turn away. After the
RODIONOFF, BRECCIA & GIFFEN
his mad painter finally flings his ax out of the gleeful gruesomeness and sacrilege A mad author's secret life

page, straight at you. Italians acquired a taste of Preacher, there can be few taboos Orochi Blood
KAZUO UMEZU
for less menacing splatter from 1986 in Dylan Dog, 100- left unbroken. So what draws so many to such
Envious sisters and a cruel aunt
page monthly graphic novels of an occult London sleuth terrifying stories? Hellblazer writer Jamie Delano
Skywald Horror-Mood
styled on Rupert Everett, with Croucho as his "Watson.” asserts that they are "shining a light on the ALAN HEWETSON 8t VARIOUS
The sordid stories and history
John Constantine, aka Hellblazer, is another beast which crouches in the darkest
30 Days of Night
Londoner, a much harder, more ruthless Cockney magician corners of our minds, giving us a NILES St TEMPLESMITH
modelled on Sting, who emerged in 1985 in American chance to both recognize and oppose Alaskan vampire convention

comic books from British writer Alan Moore and artists it.” The horrors in comics may no longer Dead End
THOMAS OTT
Steve Bissette and John Totleben. Constantine was part incite burnings, but complaints and Silent scraperboard shockers
of their overhaul of DC Comics’ poor-selling Swamp Thing. prosecutions still erupt. One difference
They replaced the stock situation of the muck monster now is that pros and fans have
longing to be human again with the startling idea that the donated to a Comic Book
creature had never been a man transformed, but was Legal Defense Fund to defend
a dying man's consciousness absorbed by the swamp, creators, publishers, and
"a ghost dressed in weeds,” reborn as a kind of vegetable retailers. If necessary,
god. Straining the limits of the Comics Code, the creators the industry in America
experimented relentlessly by connecting standard horror is prepared to fight for
figures to horrors of the real world, from spectral incest the freedom to show us,
and a toxic hobo poisoned by nuclear waste to female as Delano puts it, that
werewolves’ menstrual pain. They also breathed new life "horror occupies half
into many of DC's dormant supernatural characters and our hearts and we're the
broke away from the Code, building the audience for a DC ones who let it out."
imprint dedicated to "mature readers," called Vertigo. The
Code was made slightly more lenient still in 1989, but now
it polices only the minority of comics sold from the
newsstands. Most publishers ignore it because they sell
comic books only through specialist comics stores, before
reprintingthem as graphic novels. Marvel quit the Code in
2001, opting to put its own advisory labels on its books.
Symbolic of the CCA’s shrinking power, its cover stamp has
been reduced to a quarter of an inch or less across.
In this climate, all tastes in horror can flourish,
whether you want some gloomy, goth-friendly shivers or
Strange Embrace in focus

“In part psychological horror, in part an existentialist study of the classic ‘Outsider/
it has the emotional, thematic, and historic sweep of a novel, but manages
to retain the immediacy and cerebral impact of the best comic.”
PETER MILLIGAN

Feed the hunger Into his dreams

In his teenage Having spent all his
years, Alex Steadman's life in this house, now
telepathic abilities grow Anthony Corbeau never
so strong that they leaves it. Corbeau
unhinge his sanity and (French for crow,
drive him to murder his symbolic of death) is a
uncaring parents. His decrepit widower and
powers turn him into broken recluse, bottling
a sadistic “psychic up terrible secrets.
vampire" with a greedy
appetite, not for other Alex begins to probe his
people's blood but for sleeping mind to find
their thoughts, the more out about his past and
nightmarish the better. why his wife-killed
herself. He learns that
Leaving the now Corbeau was a listless,
empty family home, withdrawn youth whose
Alex is drawn to a wealthy father forced
huge lodging house, him to enter the family
where he rents a room. business, dealing in
The attraction here is antiques. He showed no
the house's seriously interest until he
disturbed owner, discovered African art.
Anthony Corbeau, who This fired an obsession
must be Alex's next with amassing a vast
victim to satisfy his private collection of
hunger. "It was all tribal carvings.
falling into place. I was
a writer and Corbeau Now these figures loom
was my story." on the stairs, in the
hallway, and surround
him in bed. Notice
in these interiors how
author David Hine uses
a distorted, angular
perspective to create
an unsettling mood.
This technique is
reminiscent of German
expressionist movies
Sukumar such as THE CABINET OF
DR. CALIGARI from 1919.
The stories of Alex's
past and his discovery
of Corbeau's tragedy Often scarified and
are framed by another pierced, the African
present-day story that statues and masks
opens and closes the strike a stark contrast
book. This introduces with the genteel
Sukumar, an Indian formality of the story's
errand boy, above, turn -of-the-cen tury
setting. They also
who delivers Corbeau's
shopping, and whom
Alex lures into being his
Strange Embrace glorify ritual physical
punishment and refer
David Hine
unfortunate audience. 2003,1 volume, 204 pages to another object of
worship, the crucifix.

READING ON: FAMILY SECRETS 28 RELIGION 26 MASKS 30 AFRICA 156 SEXUALITY 175
 Strange Embrace scene tv *cene

Sins of the past

Cor beau's father has told
him that his mother is dead,
but he cannot forget her
excessive moral tyranny.
Here, far left, little Anthony
recalls her repulsion on
seeing two dogs copulating
in the street. Notice how
Mine exaggerates both her
teeth and the dogs' teeth.

Only on their wedding night

does Corbeau's bride Sarah
realize her mistake. She had
admired his unorthodox
views, seriousness, and
reserve, but discovers that
he married her merely to
please his father and get
the antiques shop and an
allowance. Here, Alex reads
from Sarah's diaries with
the knowledge that she will
take her own life. Notice the
diary's handwritten script
and the two crosses formed
by shadows across their
loveless marriage bed.

Sarah finds out that Agnes

Corbeau, Anthony's mother,
is alive but insane, and
visits her in an asylum.
Here, far left, Agnes insists
that she is "not a cruel
woman," but Sarah sees
how, in her zeal to keep
her son pure, she has
permanently scarred his
body and mind. Agnes
relates the night she was
taken away. Notice how she
believes "my Anthony would
have stopped them," when
in fact his father lied to him
that she had died.

Beneath the veneer of the

Cor beaus' respectability,
Sarah uncovers the scandal
of syphilis, carried by
the father and spreading
madness to his wife and
son, and now to Sarah and
their illegitimate child. No
one will be spared in this
spiral of tragedy.

MADNESS 78 COLLECTORS 144 DREAMS 28

READING ON: FATHERS & SONS 163
Following or) froIV) Strange Embrace

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use the miraculously
empowered Texas minister
Jesse Custer as his puppet
messiah. When this goes
painfully wrong, the
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Custer's vendetta is with

God, and resurrecting his
girlfriend Tulip, right, won't
deter him. Custer learns
more when he saves his
vampire mate Cassidy from
The Grail, far right. Blood
and blasphemy aside, at WELL HE CAN SHOVE MIS LAW HP HIS
ASS, IP JUST ONE WCCP Of IT SANS I
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heart Garth Ennis and Steve
Dillon's fable prizes human
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HeUblazer '

Cynical, self-interested
Londoner John Constantine,
latest in a long line of
magicians, has few friends.
All his old friends are
ghosts, because his well,
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come to him for protection, MUAI/VUF/BO.

but don't always get it.

SP'BF.
CONS TANTINC,
« A_
LUXUBY.
Here, Constantine has to
use a doomed addict as
bait to hold and consume a
AMO l THINK
A AT AO/Cl AM
MUST SEPARATE
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r
SOMETHING.
y • know
MIONITB7
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hunger demon. Hearing the Z MBeo mobb

ANMSTHBT/C.
/•iVt SLIGHTLY his humanity. YOU SET BIGHT
UP AiY BLOOOY

addict's agonies drives

•Cause the ghosts A/te having
Constantine to smoke and A PABTY. ANO Z DON'T SBBAA

drink himself into oblivion.

British writer Jamie Delano
and artist John Ridgeway
undercut the grotesque with
the humor of Constantine's
wry patter and the silent
ghost giving him the finger. -

HiADING ON: RELIGION 160 | RETRIBUTION 126 | GHOSTS & SPIRITS 28 | HELL
 Fo((owin^ or) froiv) Strange Embrace

The League of
Extraordinary
Gentlemen
Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill
alter forever some of the
19th century's greatest
fictional figures. Here,
over supper, Mr. Hyde tells
Captain Nemo and coach-
driver Samson how his
bestial nature has wiped
out his repressed, weaker
half. Dr. lekyll. As if in
proof, blood mysteriously
appears on his shirt, hands,
and the tablecloth. It is
the blood of Griffin, The
Invisible Man, invisible no
longer now that he has
finally died from Hyde's
unseen but unspeakable
punishment for being a
traitor and rapist. Notice
Hyde's huge, expressive
hands and his speech
balloons, as rough as his
voice and table manners.

Crtotfiodl Macabre
Ex-junkie and hard-living
investigator Cal McDonald
has seen his share of
weirdness, but nothing like
this conspiracy of creatures
who want to spread an
ancient plague and turn all
humans into monsters. On
the far left. Cal runs up
against a huge werewolf.
When bullets fail, he
realizes that all the old
methods, like a silver star,
still work to dispose of
these monsters of legend.

On their trail. Cal drags his

(VBS ARB OK
US. TM6V W WB
OKAY. dUYS.
IF YOWRB green-skinned dead pal
ARB -BR6. . rRVIN® TO FRSAK
MB CUT, IT'S
WORKINS. a Mo'lock and sceptical
detective Brueger down into
L.A.'s sewers, left. In their
splatter-noir comedy, Steve
Niles scripts snappy dialog
and Ben Templesmith fills
the panels with suitably
creepy atmosphere.

MYTHS & LEGENDS 28 PLAGUES no

READING ON: INVISIBILITY log I IULES VERNE 93
B(ac(< Mole In focus

“The work of Charles Burns is a vision that’s both horrifying and

hilariously funny, and which he executes with cold, ruthless clarity.
It’s almost as if the artist... as if he weren’t quite... human!”
R. CRUMB

Teen plague Physical love

Charles Burns explains "It was dark,
that his horror-romance I remember kissing his
"is directly based on neck..." Chris Rhodes
my life growing up in thinks back in the
the 1970s in Seattle, caption commentary
Washington. The here to when she was
characters and events making love to Rob
all reflect that period of Facincani, and she
my life. No, my friends discovered something
didn't have strange unexpected on his neck,
growths coming out of just below his T-shirt.
their necks, but I really
did feel like I was some Rob's freakish second
kind of diseased teen. “ mouth is one of several
vaginal symbols for the
In black hole, high- pleasure and pain of
school students become burgeoning sexuality.
infected after having
sex and experience Dissecting a frog in
alarming physical side- science class, removing
effects, different in a shard of glass from
every case. Parallels Chris's foot, splitting
with AIDS are obvious, her skin along her spine
but this is no simplistic when she starts to
cautionary tale. shed—these are a few
of the dark, bodily
Burns is not interested openings, the "black
in explaining this holes," that pervade
plague's origins or this drama. Another
meanings, nor the black hole in reverse
search for its cure. is the rising full moon
He prefers to explore across water, an image
how it changes these of release that beckons
young people's bodies Chris to the end.
and their relationships
with each other and In the last two panels,
with the "normal'' world. their split faces are
shown as one, as the
Rather than schlocky, B- shock sinks in that
movie ciphers, these are Chris has unknowingly
vulnerable, sympathetic been infected by Rob.
teenagers at the mercy
of their sex drives and Like the watery dissolve
peer pressure. Drugs of a flashback in
and drink offer only a vintage films, the
temporary escape. All rippled edges of
they really long for is to these panels indicate
get away from the memories. The same
sterility of home and technique is used
school and to connect for nightmares, drug-
emotionally with others. induced trips, or future
Black Hole hopes, acknowledging
the blurring between
Charles Burns
2004,1 volume, 368 pages memory and fantasy.

READING ON: LOVERS 55 | IDENTITY 44 | SEXUALITY 182 | ILLNESSES 81 | FREAKS 143

 B(ac(i Ho(e scene scene

AS I STOOD THERE
LISTENINS.I FOUND
MVSELF STARING AT
A LITTLE PAINTING
ON THE WALL NEXT
TO ME
IF THINS5 WERE
DIFFERENT, I COULD
06 WITW HER...OUT
THERE.,.
Freaks like us
Now both infected, Chris
and Rob feel ostracized
from their classmates and
families, yet increasingly
close to each other. The
doomed lovers skip school
and drive out to the coast
for a night of sex under the
stars, far left. But as Rob
OUT ON SOME ROAD,
WINDING THROUGH
A DARK,BEAUTIFUL
falls asleep, the mouth on
FOREST ..WE'D BE
TOGETHER AND his chest begins to speak
THINGS WOULD BE
RIGHT
sadly. As Burns zooms out,
he shows the couple lost in
the enormity of nature.

Chris has another admirer,

Keith Pearson, seen here in
the bathroom staring into a
painting and remembering
catching sight of her in the
woods. Notice how Keith's
static head is repeated and
the panel borders ripple
and return to normal. The
warped perspective and
sounds of lovemaking from
the next room capture his
stoned state of mind.

Keith knows the risks,

but cannot resist sleeping
with Eliza. Her mutation
is a seductive tail with a
life of its own, even after
Keith snaps it off, far left.
Phallic symbols recur,
such as branches, snakes,
or broken bones.

When the mutated kids are

shunned by society, they
take to living in the woods
in a supportive community.
Here, Chris is called back
to the sea, and thinks back
to another pupil, Dave, his
face now covered in hair.
She remembers how he once
looked and how she used
to despise "geeks" like him.
Now she is on the receiving
end of rejection herself.
black hole exposes in
psychological and
biological intimacy the
cost of the desperate
desire for acceptance.

READING ON: FORESTS loo | MISFITS 144 | DREAMS 42 | DISCRIMINATION 48

Following on frow B{ac(< //o(e

Panorama of He((
Born at the precise instant
when the bomb destroyed
Hiroshima, a demented
painter recalls the sick
cruelties of his childhood.
Warped by daily beatings,
here at the hands of his
insane mother, he becomes
a weird, disturbed boy,
fixated on the exquisite
beauty of blood and
using his own to make his
terrifying Hell Paintings.

Later, when the boy sculpts

a clay statue of the atomic BURN! BURN!
THE HOUSE, THE BURN
mushroom cloud, he finds PEOPLE... EVERYTHING TO
EVERYTHING MUST
that praying to it grants his BURN TO ASHES!!
THE GROUND!

darkest desires, far right.

With macabre glee, manga
author Hideshi Hino builds
one man's history of family
abuse and artistic excess
to a shocking climax. Note
that these pages read in
the Japanese direction, top
right to bottom left.

Stran.pehav'en
Gary Spencer-Millidge's
Strangehaven seems like a
quintessential cosy English
village, except that it's not
on any map and nobody
can leave. Newcomer Alex's
car mysteriously vanishes
while he is driving off on
the moors. After days of
hiking, he feels drawn back
to the village. Here, time
seems to be repeating itself
as he finds his car in
the same spot where he
crashed it weeks ago. He
also sees the girl in black
and decides to follow her.
Alex gets to know the locals,
far right, confiding in Brian
about how he rejected
Janey's advances. Both men
are still getting over broken
marriages, but Brian's last
words hint at something far
worse, as the slow-burning
paranoia mounts.

READING ON: TORTURE 116 | HELL 101 TIME WARPS 94 THE VILLAGE 48

I AM PLACATED, THEY ARE MADE SCHIZO¬ THE INSANE GERQTL RUNNING IN FRONT OF
MV ADVERTISEMENT ILLUSTRATION IS
PHRENIC. AND THE CWPoRATWN IS CREDITED
FOR WOE NUTTY IN INCREASED PRODUCTKJK A DOUBLE-EDGED METAPHOR .
I EMPATHIZE WITH fT. I AM AS
TRAPPED AS IT. WE ARE AS EQUALLY
OWNED BY THE CORPORATION .
READING ON: MYTHS & LEGENDS 151 | BOOKS
"OiMMY WRONG'
DIM MY WROAUUUUU-NG-NG.
TTS CROWN TiNKLED TO THE
GROUND AS ITS ARMS, NOW MORE
LIKE HOOKS, SV1D EFFORTLESSLY
THROUGH MY FOREARM LVKE FISH
HOOKS CURLING INTO LIVE BAIT.
162 OFFICE WORKERS 143
FoMownDj on froto B(ac(( Hole
THE ENOS REACHED MY BONE,
I THOUGHT, AS T FELT A SICK
PRESSURE IN PARTS OF MY BODY 1
MAO NEVER HAD SENSATIONS BEFORE.
[ MENTAL DISORDERS
Frankenstein
A/ow and Forever
The sanity of two young
women is threatened
after they find a strangely
annotated, stained copy of
Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein.
Eva starts dreaming of the
sad, man-made creature
and seeing herself in him.
Here, far left, she gets
swept over the edge, riding
him along a tearful river.
When the other woman
finds a photo in the book
by her ex-boyfriend Michel,
symptoms resurface of the
breakdown she suffered
after their split. Here, she
starts imagining that the
book's scrawls are by the
man in the photo, a modern
Doctor Frankenstein who
has killed Michel. Swiss
author Alex Baladi stitches
together a tense patchwork
of rejection and despair.
Through the
Hatf+ralls
Is work getting you down?
Peak productivity requires
placating leff Nicholson 's
semi-autobiographical,
blank-eyed employee by
tapping all his negative
fluids. These are then fed to
gerbils, empaths of stress
and anger, running through
tubes in the office, far left.
This "corporate biological
mind-screw" fails to stop
our hero from quitting. He
sinks into debt and drink,
helped by the sinister
"Gerbil King, “ who seems
intent on driving him to
suicide. He wakes here from
a dream to find a toy doll
that he bought for comfort
has been eaten by the vile
rodent. Nicholson's surreal
ideas examine the horror of
being exploited by others.
26
Chapter 9
V/
torso
a true crime graphic newel
Right: An American “picture
novel” paperback from 1950
Opposite: John Wagner and
Arthur Ranson’s Button Man
Harry Exton prepares for a kill
Murder, Swofce, ar»d Shadow*
hen police officers entered Room 91 at the Irving
Hotel in New York's genteel Gramercy Park on
August 26 1958, they found the battered body of a
woman in a negligee surrounded by empty whisky
bottles. Her drunken, blood-soaked murderer had told
everything to a cab driver while he drove him away to
another hotel. The cabbie informed the police and they
brought the man in for questioning. The next morning,
the newspaper report began: "Bleary-eyed, unshaven,
dirty, and shaken-looking like an illustration of a trapped
criminal in the Crime Does Not Pay magazine he once
edited-horror strip cartoonist Robert Wood, 41, was held
without bail yesterday on a homicide charge." Wood
confessed that, after he and 45-year-old divorcee Victoria
Phillips had spent eleven days drinking, he had lost his
head, apparently because of her demands that he marry
her, and had bludgeoned her to death with
an electric iron. Convicted of
manslaughter, Wood served three years in
Sing Sing prison. According to Joe Simon's
memoir The Comic-Book Makers, about a
year after his release Bob Wood was
unable to find work or pay back loan
sharks. His body was found dumped on the
New Jersey Turnpike. You can blame the
boozing, but he was also a victim of the
Comics Code's decimation of the industry.
Recognizing that tragedy does not
come much more deeply ironicthan this,
Art Spiegelman is developing the libretto and sets for an
operatic rendition of the story to be called Drawn to
Death: A Three Panel Opera. Bob Wood had been the co¬
editor from 1942 to 1953 of Crime Does Not Pay, America's
first and most widely read crime comic book, and yet he of
all people had failed to practice what it preached. In
contrast, hundreds of readers wrote in claiming to have
learned their lesson from its "all true crime stories.” One
hand-written letter was reproduced in 1947 on a full page
titled "Testimony," the correspondent’s particulars
obscured by "censored” stamps. Dated May 12 from the
Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, it read: "I am
a convict and a regular reader of your magazine. I didn't
start reading Crime Does Not Pay until too late. I really
enjoy learning the true facts in it. I hope others won't wait
as long as I did to read and understand the truth, that
crime does not pay. Thanks for bringing such a wonderful
magazine to Americans."
Not everyone would agree that their magazine was
so wonderful. It had started in 1942, when Bob Wood and
his associate Charles Biro proposed a no-holds-barred
"true crime" comic book, inspired by the popular
"confessionals" or true story magazines, to progressive,
leftist publisher Lev Gleason. Exceptionally, fair-dealing
Gleason gave them a share of the profits and total
editorial freedom. For all involved, it proved that crime
definitely did pay, and in spades. Hosted by the spectral
Mr. Crime in moustache and top hat, the biographies of
real criminals recounted through Biro’s copious dialog
would regularly conclude with the title's stern message, as
if to justify showing all the sleaze and
brutality that led to their capture or death.
By 1947, Biro's lurid covers were shouting:
"More Than 5,000,000 Readers Monthly!"
Nine months later that figure had leapt up
by another million. Between 1947 and
1951, a copycat crime comics spree pushed
the genre's market percentage into double
figures, up to 14 per cent in 1948. But they
were the prime target of the anti-comics
campaigners. After the Comics Code
curtailed violence from 1955 and
restrained the prominent use of the word
"crime" on covers, the genre could thrive in newspaper
strips, movies, and TV shows but withered away in comic
books, almost vanishing through the 1960s and 1970s.
During the 1930s gangster era, the outraged
American public felt powerless reading the newspapers’
front page reports of gangsters’ crimes going unpunished.
Turning to the comic strips, they found a champion from
1931 in the yellow-hatted, chisel-jawed Dick Tracy, the
premier plainclothes detective, whose preferred method
was "the hot lead route." Mystery writer Ellery Queen
argued strongly that Dick Tracy's creator Chester Gould
had pioneered police procedural fiction in his detailed
plotting and diagrammatic designs. He certainly ushered
unprecedented gunplay, anguish, and torture into
S.
Marker, S(v>ofce> and Shadows
Right: Jim Steranko’s retro-noir
“visual novel” from 1976
Centre: Dashiell Hammett’s X-9
in a 1930s Big Little Book reprint
Below: Benjamin Legrand and
Jacques Tardi’s Roach Killer
Opposite above: Backstage in
Vs “Shadow Gallery,” by Alan
Moore and David Lloyd
Opposite below: From 100
Bullets, Dave Johnson paints
Dizzy with her teardrop tattoo
America’s "funny pages,” as well as a
slew of rival operators. The classiest act
among them might be 1934's Secret
Agent X-9, glamorously illustrated by
Alex Raymond and written initially by
celebrated novelist Dashiell Hammett
himself. One of the most technically
innovative and influential newspaper
sleuths from 1940 was Will Eisner's
The Spirit, in reality Denny Colt, long
believed dead, but still alive and
working from his secret crime lab
beneath Wildwood Cemetery. Frank
Miller credits Eisner for bringing in "a lot
of expressionism into his work-stairwells that
were 50 feet long, ceilings that were 100 feet
high.” Tracy, X-9, and other law enforcers had
their completed cases compiled into assorted
book packages, including cheap and chunky
Big Little Books about four inches square.
These extracted the illustrations from
the strips and alternated them with a text
commentary opposite on the lefthand pages.
At ten cents for up to 424 newsprint pages inside
hardcovers, they were a steal.
When paperbacks muscled in on the enfeebled
post-war pulp magazines, there were a handful of bold
attempts at original crime graphic novels. It Rhymes With
Lust from 1950 was a "picture novel” in the standard
paperback size, written by "Drake Waller,” the pseudonym
for novelists Arnold Drake and Les Waller. It was their
first comics assignment and Drake had high hopes.
"We wanted to do a series of classy B-movies in
comic form, but looking like a book.” To heighten the
filmic effect, the players were drawn in black to stand
out "in focus” against the sets and backgrounds tinted
in gray screen tones. You can picture Joan Crawford or
Barbara Stanwyck playing the power-hungry Rust Masson
(it’s her name that "rhymes with lust”), a mine-owner
determined to keep control of Copper Town at any cost.
It was a demanding job to draw at nearly 128 pages,
so to keep costs down publisher Archer St. John
assigned it to gifted newcomer Matt Baker, one
of the few African-Americans in the industry,
with superb results. Another "picture novel”
was tried, The Case of the Winking Buddha
by Manning Lee Stokes and Charles Raab,
and Drake and Waller had plans for a
continuing private eye character, but
poor sales killed the series. It was
ahead of its time, hard to market,
and perhaps the contents were not adult
enough, promising much on the cover
but delivering no sex or violence inside.
On the other hand, Italy’s pocket-
sized, paperback/wmettv neri or "black
comics” tended to keep their covers'
promises, after the Giussani sisters set
the trend in 1962 with their villainous
anti-hero dressed head-to-toe in black,
Diabolik. Elsewhere, variations on the
paperback crime comic format caught on
in the 1960s, such as the British "picture
libraries," headlining master thief The
Spider or invisible agent The Steel Claw,
and the Japanese tankobon or compact books,
starring macho icons like sexist scoundrel
Lupin III and amoral assassin GolgoH.3.
In the "clear line” style and hardback
color format of the Franco-Belgian heroes
Tintin and Blake & Mortimer, Jacques Tardi
was commissioned in 1975 by Tintin
publishers Casterman to create Adele Blanc-
Sec, a female investigator in an early 20th-
century Paris plagued by cults and mad scientists. Playing
with the cliches of French thriller serials, Tardi's atypical
heroine is dry, determined, unglamorous, and single, and
makes her living from writing detective stories. Buoyed by
Adele's success, Casterman committed in 1978 to a
graphic novel magazine, A Suivre, or “To be continued,” in
which to serialize chapters of her further extraordinary
adventures and of other new series, including Manhattan
P.l. Alack Sinner by Argentina’s Munoz and Sampayo,
Benoit Sokal’s duck dick Canardo, and Tardi’s version of
Leo Malet's robust Parisian flic, Nestor Burma. It makes
sense that crime fiction has flourished so well since the
1970s in French-language graphic novels, given that the
French were among the first to appreciate the qualities of
American crime films and in 1946 branded their unique
mood of doom as "noir.” American director Edward G.
Ulmer defined that mood succinctly: "Whichever way you
turn, fate sticks out its foot to trip you.”
Starting in the late 1960s, veterans and upstarts
alike wanted to revive crime comics in America, but
opportunities were so thin on the ground that in 1968 Gil
Kane had to self-publish the aptly titled His Name Is
Savage. Aided by writer Archie Goodwin, Kane loaded his
41-page story with lengthy captions and the sort of
mayhem common to noir films of the time starring Clint
Eastwood or Lee Marvin, but permissible in comics only in
a black-and-white magazine beyond the scrutiny of the
Comics Code. Like Savage, Jack Kirby’s ferocious gangster
 Morc/er9 S^ofce* and Shadows

fiction. As two examples,

Brian Michael Bendis and
Ed Brubaker began by
drawing as well as writing
noir-oriented projects
for low- or no-budget
publishers. When they
eventually got work at
Marvel and DC, they
More Crime Stories
The Button Man
JOHN WAGNER & ARTHUR RANSON
Who wins if murder is a game?
Torpedo 1936
ABULI, TOTH & BERNET
A heartless Mafia hitman

applied their tastes to Whiteout

superheroes, from Bendis's
takes on Daredevil and
Alias, to Brubaker's
Gotham Central with
Batman hardly in sight.
GREG RUCKA & STEVE LIEBER
Woman marshall in Antarctica
Blacksad
CANALES & GUARNIDO
Feline private eye
You Are Here
KYLE BAKER

Both went on to helm Can a fiance hide a shady pajt?

The Bogie Man

their own crime series,
WAGNER, GRANT & SMITH
such as Bendis's Powers Glasgow’s own barmy Bogart

and Brubaker's Scene of Cabbie

MARTI
the Crime.
Barcelona's taxi vigilante
While noir is like Sanctuary
the color black, graphic FUMIMURA &i IKEGAMI
Two upstarts' rise to power
novels can now contain the
London’s Dark
eulogy In the Days of the Mob and Steve Ditko’s polemical, whole colorful spectrum that makes up crime fiction.
ROBINSON & JOHNSON
absolutist enforcer Mr A never really found their public. There's the chance to veer off into sharp satire, haunting Love and evil amid the Blitz

Returning to the medium after five years with Chandler in guilt, human folly, conspiracy theory, Tarantino-esque grit, Baker Street
CARY REED & GUY DAVIS
1976, Jim Steranko devised the "visual novel,” more a sort or echoing deoln Struct^. AldVi Moore and David Lloyd's V Punkette detectives
of lavish Big Little Book that put two-color, same-sized, for Vendetta f 2 in part as a retro hard
mostly silent panels on each page above a set 26 lines of boiled he^o?4 ufi>cop, until Lloyd hit
separated text. It remains a one-off experiment. on using ■ ^es mask, transforming
Growing up on Catholicism, comics, and crime him into/ /enin iSlce of
fiction in rural Vermont, Frank Miller at the age of IB was heartfel, jifbta/VtoZh John 4
blown away by the bruising prose of Mickey Spillane, a Wagner ioITw BfitTsliteam, 1
former comic book scribe himself. Beyond a childhood dreamt
affection for Spillane, Miller rates his "machine-gun-like Game” i_. .
firing of the words, and the sheer savagery of it.” Building who under c.
on masters like Eisner and 1950s EC Comics’ innovators for big money. 1
Harvey Kurtzman, Johnny Craig, and Bernie Krigstein, Not Pay now rin^
Miller pumped out his "knights in dirty armor” but found times of terrorism,
no takers: "The only game in town was men in tights." It and corporate guile,
was only after the massive success of Dark Knight Returns, novelists can raise i
basically a noir Batman, that Miller was given free rein in ts of i4iMivicljjal
about the acts
1992 to unleash his over-the-top crime romances in Sin or institutior
City. It's fair to say that the 1980s brought some new life shaping our ^cieties.\hey
to detective comics, specifically the 1980 graphic novel can air 'main. As \
Detectives Inc. by Don McGregor and Marshall Rogers, and Millet4
Dick Tracy writer Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty's in fiction has;
vengeful widow Ms. Tree, based on Velda, secretary to attached to it
Spillane's Mike Hammer. Even so, it was Sin City that fired People feel guiltys
up the 1990s crime renaissance and some of America's about it. I don't see
freshest scripters, all of them passionate about crime the guilt as necessary.”
Scene of +#>e Crime in focus

“With just the right mix of cynicism and sentimentality, this one’s a winner, sure to thrill
you, and then break your heart. The art and text work perfectly together, in the tough-
minded tale of loss and redemption, revenge and forgiveness.”
KEVIN BURTON SMITH, THE THRILLING DETECTIVE

In business Missing person

"You know, you’re kind
of a strange detective."
On the mean streets of
San Francisco, young
Jack Herriman is not
your typical hard-
boiled private eye.
Ever since the age of 12,
he has been damaged
both physically and
psychologically after
witnessing a car bomb
that mistakenly claimed
the life of his police
officer father.
The explosion also
cost the boy his left
eye. Notice how artist
Michael Lark cloaks
lack's false left eyeball
in shadow, while still
showing the line of his
scar. Irregular borders '
indicate here that
this panel is a
flashback, told in
Jack’s tinted captions.
Raised by his uncle
Knut, a famous crime-
scene photographer.
Jack grew up drowning
himself in drink and
drugs and wrecking a
A case comes Jack's
fOONEOAY VAO IS
propping /he Hotte after way from his father's
SOHOOC'-HE'S GOT HIS
PARTNERS CAR, 'CAUSE
HIS WAS IN THE SHOP. .. i
ex-partner Paul
anc he w/ves To me A Raymonds, the SFPD
AS H£ GETS BACK IN ^ ^
-'He cab..
detective sergeant
who was the intended
r ANP
THflT'S THE
target of the car bomb
I LAST THING
f . :■■■' * l ' rsee...
/ \ Jack is hired by
/ \ H ' Alexandra Jordan, a
woman he realizes is
loafer-they tell me I'm
lucky to be alive. Vot Raymonds' mistress, to
the bomb could have
gone off ary time, find her missing sister
'cause of a "bad ccmeet
Hoh in the wiriM or Maggie. He follows up
something.
the single lead to
a hippy commune
called Lunarhouse
where Maggie has
recently stayed.
" Then they tell me tkat
I'm lucky r only lost
Sight more eye. A lot
of times when there's Tracking down Maggie
trauma to one, the optic
nerve freaks out and to a Santa Cruz motel,
you lose the other
one, too." Jack tries to get to
know her in an
9UI you know, I ’ oh my rsoo.. r Birr, IT'S PROBABLY > maybe rr& YEAH... X &UE**. &UT5VU, 1 all-night diner. They
pony really feel I CAN'T EVEN NOT 7770 FAR FROM WHAT not except IT CAN KlNP OF PUT THING* INTO
7Zz? Av/exy when onetsove YOU'VE 0EBN FEELING perspective, fincxng our find they have a lot in
THEY'RE TELLING A WHAT THAT . for. me . L THAT SOMEONE ELSE NAP IT A
common in their painful
*1EAU_THIS.
. WOUCP0O
to you...
^ PAST few WEEK‘S ^ than xx/.
childhoods and self-
destructive urges.
Jack may think that
he has solved this
missing-person case,
but the next morning it
r 9URETT
can, but vino becomes a full-blown

KM
WSP^ NO"PEOPLE'* PAIN 1$ALL
~ YEAN, XT ^ r RELATIVE, IT'S NOT JUPGEP A&AltiST WANT* THEIR
romantic relationship. MESSEPME UP OTHER PEOPLE 5 YOU CAN ONLY EXPERl - LIFE PUT INTO murder mystery when
PRETTY BAP FOR ence your own life, anp Beueve rte,
A^XVG TIME... THERE '* NO SHAME IN 77YRT. 77V£?
Maggie is found shot
Now he is trying to YOU KNOW, YOU'RE dead with a gun in her
KINO OF A STRANGE
rebuild his life. He has ^ PRIVATE EYE. ^ bag and a suitcase full
moved in above the of cash.
"Scene of the Crime"
gallery and bookshop Brubaker has said that
run by his uncle and set the inspiration for his
himself up in business YEAN, ^ plot came from the
T (SET THAT
there as a detective who A LOT. . lives of two sisters that
refuses to carry a gun. he knew when he was in
his late teens. He writes
Giving Jack the family that Maggie just
name Herriman is writer wanted "a little piece
Ed Brubaker s tribute to of goodnight" she had
KRA7-Y KAT comic strip never known as a child;
creator George
Herriman.
Scene of the Crime he makes this the
book's tender subtitle.
Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark & Sean Phillips
1999,1 volume, 112 pages

READING ON: FATHERS & SONS 24 | PHOTOGRAPHERS 42 | B1INDNESS 80 | DRUGS 34

 Scene of tte CrFitoe scene tv scene

Unforgivable
lack suspects that he has
been set up. Here, far left,
he confronts Raymonds,
fittingly doing some target
practice, who admits that
he referred Alexandra to
"keep this in the family."
lack is determined to get
to the truth of why Maggie
Iordan was killed. His
parting remark hints again
at his distaste for guns,
rooted in a guilty secret.

lack has been drinking

again. When a pal tells him
where his jilted girlfriend
Gwen is working, he tries
to apologize but falls
down drunk. Writer
Brubaker deftly reveals
Gwen's conflicted feelings
of concern and anger
towards him. Notice how
she can t leave him on the
sidewalk and flags him
down a taxi.

Home late. Jack finds that

Uncle Knut and his friend
Mollie have unearthed new
evidence in their files, far
left. Knut's crime-scene
shot shows that years ago
the Iordan family had lived
in another local commune,
"The Earthlings." What
is more, Maggie's and
Alexandra's father
Geoff died in the fire that
destroyed it. How does
this connect to the drug-
farming cult Lunarhouse
and its leader Mitchell
Luna? Here lack shows the
photo to the sisters' mother.

While there may be no

escape from the damaging
mistakes of the past,
writer Brubaker shows how
denying them and covering
them up drag the Iordan
family down even further,
and how facing up to them
lets lack start to heal from
years of self-torture.

CHILD ABUSE 24 | COMMUNES 28 | ALCOHOLICS 138

READING ON: DETECTIVES 52
Fo{{ov/'tf)s on from Scene of +he Criitoe

Kane
It's a jungle out there for
the officers of New Eden's
39th Precinct. When two
deliveries get mixed up,
"big man" Rico gets a giant
novelty carrot, while a
man in a pink rabbit suit
named Mr. Floppsie Woppsie
receives a hot package of
drugs. When he is picked up
by the crooks, the police
are not far behind. Notice
how Rico s shocked outburst
fills the penultimate panel.

Moments later, far right,

female rookie Felix holds up
Rico's gentle thug Frankie,
who ends up floored by the
bunny man's carrot, in his
captions, Englishman Paul
Grist sends up Frankie's
grandiose internal monolog,
a nod to Frank Miller. Grist
subverts overearnest cop
shows with faultless timing
and crisp graphic economy.

Torso
In 1935, lawman Eliot Ness,
the "Untouchable" who put
away Capone and the Mob,
is eager to pursue his fame
and political ambitions as
Cleveland's new Safety
Director. When a string of
mutilated bodies point to
America's first serial killer,
Ness vows to catch the
"Torso Killer." His failure to
do so thwarts his career.

Here, Ness confirms that the

killer is preying on dwellers
in the city's shantytown like
this hobo. Ness's decision to
clear the slum and torch it
is decried by the press and
gets him no closer to
locating the murderer. From
this true story, co-written
with Marc Andreyko, Brian
Michael Bendis uses photo
collage and stark graphics,
putting the text into dialog
woven across the panels.

READING ON: MURDERERS 138 FUNNY ANIMALS 139 GANGLAND 124 | DETECTIVES 122
 Following or> froto Scene of +/>e CKitoe

I MET WITH LT. ANEMONE Of THE

OCEANA p. 0- IN WHAT THE COPS ALL
REPERRED TO AS THE 'MINI-M0P&U6 '
t>avld Boring
THE DENT IN WHITBY'S POREHEAP
LOOKED LU-'E A 6I6ANT1C THUMBPRINT David Boring lives as if he
is directing a movie of his
life, detached behind the
camera, always casting
for his "feminine ideal."
Mysteriously abandoned by
his artist father, every night
David closely studies two
Qlipdenly the clouds rapt and A M I.IUrllT U,.M
the BIRDS BE6IN CHIPPING- FACE AS SHE COMES INTO FOCUS panels from a yellow streak
ROMANTIC MUSIC BEGINS TO SWELL
BLOSSOMS BURST INTO 0LCOM •
CATERPILLARS explode into comic that he drew, sure
BUTT&RPLI6
that it holds answers to his
parents' lives and maybe
parallels to his.

Here, after his pal Whitey is

killed, any worries about
the funeral, his own safety
7 HE MUSIC RECEDES MOMENTARILY VOU For a moment. ALL MOVEMENT CEASES and the scene is one
Today is 3/27/00 i've sot to fly to
G6YSERVILL6 AND THEN TARE A BUS TO M£RRY-
A PERFECTLY TIMED SOUND EFFECT ,
THEN . ADDINS STRINGS AND ORGAN ,
OF CPYSTAUJNE STILLNESS. SILENT EXCEPT FOR A SCOW or imminent war evaporate
VALE BY NCON I’M TRYING TO C16UR6 OUT MELODRAMATIC HEARTBEAT •
PISES TO A FLORID CLIMAX •• •
WHAT TO SAY IF THEY ASX MB TO SPfcA* AT THE
FUNERAL, BUT ANOTHER PASSENGER (A PROF when his dream woman
prom O.uo iceeps distracting me
APPARENTLY THERE'S SCWE 016 POLITICAL
joins him in the minibus.
Author Daniel Clowes makes
his mystery beautifully
artificial, full of luck and
coincidence, because he
wants us to savor all his
layers of clues and not
hunger only for a solution.

Hard Boftecf An^e(

liran Ha, a ravishing,
three-packs-a-day loner
in shades, is Korea’s first
female detective working
hard for Seoul's Hard
Crimes Unit. She has to be
tough, even tougher than
her macho colleagues,
using her perception to get
inside the heads of the
killers she hunts down.

liran was driven to become

a cop out of her feelings
of helplessness, after she
fled from a sexual assault,
leaving behind her
boyfriend who ended up
dead. Here she has to keep
her cool in a hostage crisis,
when a man ’s similar past
tragedy has turned him into
a fanatical murderer with a
mission. Author Hyun Se Lee
is a master of ",manhwa" or
Korean comics.

READING ON: MYSTERIES 52 | DESIRE 176 | RETRIBUTION 78 I WOMEN 44

Sin City in focus
“What’s most distinctive to me about Frank Miller’s work is the voices of his characters.
They’re all looking for real estate-literal or psychological-to call their own... and
Frank has the good grace to comment on this neurotic drive with a sense of humor.”
ELVIS MITCHELL

Pure motives Imprisoned

It's not hard to see why Marv will avenge
everyone calls Basin girlfriend Goldie's
City "Sin City." Frank death, no matter how
Miller has taken the high up he has to go.
bleak, venal American Surprised and knocked
metropolis of classic out by the silent
crime fiction and films psychopath Kevin, Marv
and pumped it up to has woken here to find
hyper-real extremes. himself locked in the
He gets to make all the cannibal killer's tiled
cars vintage, all the prison cell-cum-trophy
women gorgeous, and room.
all the guys big and
tough with big guns. Inside with t\jm is the
killer's current victim,
What began as a short Marv's parole officer
serial in June 1991 Lucille. She breaks the
ended up stretching to news to him about
13 months and 200 Goldie being a hooker
pages of "The Hard and about what Kevin
Goodbye."According to did to her left hand, all
Miller, “This one ran the while gazing at the
away with itself. I d decapitated heads of
planned it as U8 pages, his previous victims
but I got carried away. lining the wall.
It's all Marv's fault. The
big lug started bossing Marv tries using brute
me around. It's like force to shift the bars.
that sometimes." It's only in the last
panel that we realize
Marv and his other that from the start
tough guys are heroes, Marv has been staring
in their flawed, tragic through the bars at
ways: "They might be Kevin, crouching in
disturbed, but if you the dark outside.
look at it, ultimately,
their motives are pure." Miller slyly matches
As Miller puts it, to them the zigzag on Kevin s
"the ends justify being jumper to the pattern
really mean." on Charlie Brown s
from the peanuts strip.
Beyond the blood-
soaked violence. Miller Miller's stories are
asserts that at heart propelled by the
each story is a romance characters' huge
of some sort: "You can't passions, like a high-
have virtue without sin. octane automobile
What I'm after is having careening off the road.
my characters' virtues There is also a jugular
defined by how they vein of black humor.
operate in a very sinful Marv loves his gun so
environment. That's how
you test people."
Sin City much, he has named
it Gladys, "after one
Frank Miller
1991-2000, 7 volumes, 894 pages of the sisters
from school."

READING ON: VIGILANTES 81 | NOIR 78 | MADNESS 82 | PROSTITUTES 164

 Sin City *cene tv rcene

This is big
He may look like unfeeling
granite, but Marv is
vulnerable, volatile, ruled
by his feral emotions and
by the medication he
needs to calm his mental
problems. Here, far left.
Miller abstracts him into
a dark hulk covered in
bandages, teeth bared,
snarling his determination
into Lucille's face.

Marv has learnt that these

killings go all the way to the
top, to Sin City 's Cardinal
Roark himself (named after
the architect in Ayn Rand's
book THE FOUNTAINHEAD).
Miller uses "voiceovers”
straight out of Chandler
and Spillane, stacked next
to images of Marv lashed
by heavy rain. This device
let us listen in to the storm
of his innermost fears.

I THOUGHT I COULD REASON

Femmes fatales
WITH HIM CALM HIM DOWN BUT
HE WAS WORSE THAN EVER HE
STRUCK" ME HE THREW ME TO THE Sin City ’s women are
FLOOR HE TOOK ME. HIS HANDS
AT MV THROAT STRANGLING ME
u/Ufl P UP TUP UULlOl P T1AAP no angels; they can be
beautiful but deadly. In "A
Dame To Kill For," far left,
Ava is a scheming siren.
Having set up her lover
Dwight for her husband's
murder, here she seduces
the investigating lieutenant
to protect her from Dwight.
In "The Big Fat Kill, ” fierce,
gun-toting prostitutes have
wrested control of the city's
Old Town ghetto from the
police and pimps. They rule
the streets and sleazy bars.
But tempers flare between
the women 's leader Gail
' *»*£> A//M AA/£>
and Dwight when this truce
ruerzi can?
v 4/S/
to* /
is threatened by their
X THE PITS.
slaying of rapists who turn
f I'LL MAUL THE >
BODIES TO THE PITS.
THE COPS WONT
out to be cops. Can they
CHECK THE PITS. GET
THAT GUN OUT OF
V MY FACE OR I'LL ,
dispose of the bodies? The
n. smack you y
oriental killer Miho allows
MIHO MOVES
Miller to indulge his love of
TO MY BACK ONE WORD FROM
GAIL AND SMELL
CUT M£ IN HALF martial-arts movies.

READING ON: RETRIBUTION 129 CHILD ABUSE 34 | MURDERERS 129 | DETECTIVES 164
FoMowin.? on frow Sin Ci+y

Roacf +o Perdition
THIS WW
Michael O'Sullivan's THE FIRST
OF SO MANY
TIME'S...THE
separate worlds as family FIRST INSTANCE
OF A RITUAL THfU
man and hitman collide PAPA FOLLOWED
THROUGHOUT
OUR MONTHS
after his son sees him and TOGETHER.

Connor Looney carry out a

killing for Irish godfather He WOULD
LIGHT A
John Looney. Ignoring the CANDLE
FOR THE
HEN HE'D
boy's promise to keep quiet, KILLED

Connor murders Michael's

mother and other son in
their home. After this tragic
loss of innocence for both
father and son, they form a
bond on the run as they
seek revenge on the mob.

As an Irish Catholic, Michael

confesses to his murders,
lighting a candle for each
victim, far right. Issues of
faith were largely left out
of the movie version. Writer
Max Allan Collins tells the
story from the adult son's
viewpoint, aided by British
illustrator Richard Piers
Rayner's photo-realism.

5 h the Perfect
Number
"Those were the good old
days. People killed one
another according to
the rules." Peppino, an
old-fashioned mafioso,
is forced out of retirement
after his son is murdered
by a contract killer
disguised as a street
mystic. Betrayed by his own
mafia gang, Peppino learns
that rules no longer apply
and kills his former boss.

Here, while a doctor fixes

up an injured pal on the
kitchen table, bald Peppino
feels back in the game. But
violence hits home when his
girlfriend Rita is caught in
a harrowing shoot-out, far
right. Igort's two-tone
elegance evokes his native
1960s Italy in a tale of one
man's need for redemption.

READING ON: FATHERS & SONS 106 | RETRIBUTION 122 | GANGLAND 125 | BETRAYALS 40 | PARANORMAL 96
 FoUov/ins on froivi Sin Cfty

M/sj
The seedy underbelly of
New York's roaring 1920s
brings together expelled
convent girl "Miss" Noia and
former Harlem pimp Slim.
When their luck and cash
run out, they hook up as
guns for hire. Here, on a
visit to a client to arrange
a hit, they come up against
the racial bigotry of the
day, but Nola gets the last
word. Survival may be more
important to them than
scruples, but their unusual
partnership means that
they wind up looking out for
each other and slowly,
warily, falling in love.

Subtitled BETTER LIVING

THROUGH CRIME, the American

paperback collects the
quartet of gritty French
albums by writer Philippe
Thirault and artists Marc
Riou and Mark Vigouroux.

Stray
”How's the old gang?" Wild
girts Beth and Nina easily
manipulate gullible kid
Orson into their scam to
steal cash and drugs from
hard man Harry and then
go on the run, hiding out in
a trailer home in the sleepy
town of Seaside. Their theft
catches up with them when
gangster Scott surprises
them in their bedroom.

Here, Scott asks Orson

"Where's my coke?"
Grabbing Orson by his balls,
volatile Beth insists on
doing all the talking. There's
a palpable menace with
Scott's knife and his creepy
cohort Monster looking in.
These desperate lowlifes
are caught in writer David
Lapham's tightening web,
which he spins out in a grid
of uniform panels like
a movie storyboard.

READING ON: DISCRIMINATION 44 | GANGLAND 31 | SEASIDE 34 | TRICKSTERS 78

V for l/eodeH-a in focus
England prevails
In a debased future not
unlike Aldous Huxley's
brave new world, ideas
are dangerous. After
a near-miss nuclear
holocaust, England
succumbs to a fascist
dictatorship, which
represses all human
rights, individual
freedoms, tolerance,
culture-and the idea of
living, fighting, and if
necessary dying for
these principles.
Terrorist or freedom
fighter, V will not let us
forget these ideas. The
authorities strive to
uncover who V really is
behind that papier-
mache mask, but that
revelation finally does
not matter. Evey, the
young woman whom V
rescues and transforms,
comes to understand
that "whoever you are
isn't as big as the idea
of you." He may be
killed, but she sees that
what he has come to
mean will live forever,
because "ideas are
bullet-proof."
The series was created
for the British magazine
WARRIOR in 1983. David
Lloyd formulated the
practice of omitting all
sound effects, thought
balloons, and outlines
on speech balloons and
captions. He also chose
the polarized graphics
of either deep shadow
or blinding light. Left
unfinished, the saga
was re-started and
concluded from 1988
in ten "colorized"
DC comic books.
READING
“I didn’t expect to leave with days and days of thinking about all the questions
it brought up-the moral issues, the philosophical issues and political issues.
It’s really relevant to our times.”
NATALIE PORTMAN
November 5th
Appearances are also
"REMEMBER OH OY THE HOUSES
vital here, the theatre
REMEMBER orfHeis444£A/r: of disguises, big
THE FIFTH OF NO* THEY'VE.THEY'VE
EMBER, THE GUN- BEEN. DIP YOU
POWDER TREASON DO THATT
gestures, and dramatic
AND PLOT I KNOW effects. The grinning,
OF NO REASON
VVHY THE GUN¬ moustached mask,
POWDER TREASON..
conical, wide-brimmed
hat, and billowing
cloak worn by "V" may
be all but forgotten in
this nightmare future,
but they are instantly
recognizable to anyone
in Britain today.
Every year, on the fifth
of November, bonfires
and fireworks are lit
across the land to
commemorate Guy
Fawkes (1570-1600),
executed for his role in
the "Gunpowder Plot,"
an attempt to blow up
King lames / and the
Houses of Parliament in
London in 1605.
Here, for an "overture,"
I REALLY DIP V succeeds where
THAT. NOW HUSH.
THERE'S MCteSu Fawkes failed. He
recites to Evey the old
P«SV MO FAiC&S L/rfVYrfr HlYe WA/O WVWO&e rhyme that she was
pCFEZSVar TTYBaU&VGCje/tnzSDYA/FYG&aV
Ttf&Afls/rr never taught and sends
up a signal, the first
firework she has seen.
This book's title plays
on the patriotic slogan
"V for Victory." Words
and phrases beginning
with V fill the pages. So
does the shape of the
letter, in V's signature
symbol, people's
outstretched arms,
even a road's receding
lines in the last panel.
Its translation into
Polish drew great
acclaim, suggesting
V for Vendetta that wherever it is
published, its message
Alan Moore & David Lloyd
of liberty will strike
1990,1 volume, 288 pages
chords among readers.
ON: MASKS 106 TORTURE 68 CITIES 24 VIGItANTES 82 RETRIBUTION 124
 V for /enc/etta scene ty scene

Stage fright
The Shadow Gallery is I/ s
base of operations, where
he takes Evey. It is filled
with the artistic wonders
banned by the new
government, as well as
housing a flexible stage set
for Vs performances for
others. Here, far left, V gets
"HCYVt FORGOTTEN
changed behind a screen
W th8 «ama of rr all,
'J|® wu see-hey abandoned
THEi* SCHiPTS WHEN the v* into a vaudeville costume
f/ilv -V£>R.D WITHERS IN THf
2?/i glare o* the Njct64*
footlights and Mr Punch mask.
w iw gong to ■ */*-
r ■ REMNP THfW. ABOUT
’ MELOPRAvLA. AlCuT THE
TUPPENNY *u5h and the
PENNY CXtADFUL.rOUSie,
ever; all THE vvPRlO-SA
Broadcaster and doll-
4TAOE. ANP EVERY-
collector Lewis Prothero,
loved as the official "Voice
of Fate," finds himself
trapped inside a terrifying
psychodrama that V has
created to return him to
Larkhill Resettlement Camp.
This was where V was kept
in Room 5, or V in Roman
numerals, and where
Prothero was in charge of
the ovens. It may all be a
stage set, but its impact on
him is shattering.

ANP WHAT ABOUT THE WHAT ARE THEY TO MAKE OF

Values
CHILPREN? IT'* ALWAYS VOUR BULLYING, YOUR PESPAJR,
THE CHILPREN WHO SUFFER,
AWARE
A* YOU'RE WELL AWARE. i
YOUR CO WAR PICE ANP ALL YOU*
FONPLY NURTUREP BIGOTRIES? Like the government,
V understands the power of
television and hijacks the
only channel to transmit an
address to the public. Here,
far left, we hear his video,
^ POOR LITTLE but what we see cuts away
MITE*. WHAT ARE
THEY TO MAKE OF IT?
to security closing in on
ReALLY, ITS NOT ANP IT'S NO HOOP ..THOUGH, TO BE SURE
HOOP ENOUGH. I* IT? BLAMING THE PRO? IN
WORK STANPARPS UPON
THE MANAGEMENT
IS VeKY BAP. _ wkZ
him, to the "management"
BAP MANAGEMENT,
. CITHER... _ monitoring him, and lastly
to the stunned viewers, the
people who are to blame.
In other words, ourselves.

In a deeply moving, pivotal

chapter, V comforts and
guides his confidante Evey
1 IN FACT, LET US
HOT MINCE WORP*...
THE AAANA&EMENT
after she has endured
£. IS TBftK/BLE/
torture and faced her own
BUT WHO ELECTEP
4. THEM?_ death, and not at the hands
of the state police as she
believed. Her ordeal proves
transformative, as now "all
the blindfolds are gone. ”
Moore and Lloyd ask us to
think how highly we as a
society value our freedom.

READING ON: POLITICAL SATIRES 151 | TRICKSTERS 98 | TOTALITARIAN STATES 71 | BIZARRE 136 THEATRE 50
Following on from V for l/'endeWa

Roach KT((er
Brooklyn, 1983. Walter
Eisenhower works for New
York's Blitz Exterminating
Corp. His mistake is taking
the elevator to the 13th
floor. He stumbles across
a sinister operation which
manipulates expendable
misfits like him into
assassinating prominent
targets, knowing that they
will be arrested on the spot
as the "insane" culprits.
itiemoe6 t- TuiMt- Aeoorrr how, -ore Mote t thInf-it
pYEwmim*. Aesdujtuh cy6km- ms AIL A MiSTAtt- THAT OHS SECDHP WAS W6
feJlHNllUr OF TMg 6WP. TM6 f&llir OP HO rCTUCrt-
tmingt about ►+/ ure ha v eon
SO 0MK POLL. FlHAtW swe-
Here, standing out like a THtMG UNUSUAL WAS HAfTEHlHGr
? evw MVSo-cAltfPVDrttoM'
IM ISOS WAS Noeg ut6 A
target in his red uniform, cents op rotmas tham a
QCEAf &GBC "THAT'S 1HC.
Walter recalls "the point of WAV J. FELT AI3O0T TT,
ANVWAV-.

no return." Later, far right,

he confides in a colleague,
the Puerto Rican Luis, whose
murder will soon be blamed
on him. Parisian writer and
artist Benjamin Legrand
and Jacques Tardi ensnare
their rootless bug-killer
in a web of paranoia and
political conspiracy.

Mauretania
In this "tale from a darker
world," bored clerk Susan
discovers that her
employers are actually
the state's thought police,
"Rational Control." She
becomes a reluctant agent
in their inquiries into the
motives of "Jimmy," a man
always in a helmet and
visor who is operating from
the building opposite. What
is his connection to the
closing down of "harmful"
businesses? How will he
"make a new world?" To
find answers, here she goes
to him for a job interview.

Welsh-born Chris Reynolds'

bold, woodcut-style art,
framed by thick borders,
and his sensitive writing
and pacing imbue the most
uncanny concepts with a
matter-of-fact solidity.

READING ON: MURDERERS 176 FATE 176 TOTALITARIAN STATES 96 CONSPIRACIES 90

 Fo((owTr>^ on fro(v> /for /endetta

I PIPN T
f fov. all as see-twe^^M
' SUNSHINE, THIS Y P/STRfBVTlOM ^ /in this/S£s-
100 Bo((ets
city loves its \ chaoses webe pcopped 1 r ATTACHE /
PfRT'CV WEBE ' PUB TO LACK OPEVIPENCE.
CONVICTEP BY THE I POSSESSION THOUGH l HWP Js Revenge is sweet and, it
A&pia terme I weu., the pictures webe
, YOU EVEN WENT ON YOUB HABP PBIVE, / r/>ANPA6^J
L TO TRIM- DECENT THEY? V K NOU CAN SEE,
A SUN ANP
seems, fully guaranteed,
ONE HUNPBEP
ROUNPSOP
AMMUNITION. / IF YOU
when Agent Graves offers
r use THEM, \ (SlMMEA
l rrsAU- t
By youbs A THEY CANT
EE UNKBPTO
BREAK .
powerless individuals one
YOU. YOU BE
, ABOVE THE i of his briefcases. Inside
each case are proof of who
' WHAT THE FUCK
/5 THIS AH ABOUT?*
TAlKIN’ A/ONSENSE/ wronged them, a gun that
. g,\s\u m A 6UN... .
cannot be traced, and 100
rounds of ammunition.

Here, Graves gives a rich

*50 you WEB6 LABELEDA PEC>OPHIlE^\ THS Z//5E KPD WOEKEP
YOU? WIFE PTVOGCED YOU, YOU? WPS WEfiE \
TEBBtFIBP OP YOU, AMP NO ONE WANTED
SO HARP TO BUILD A restaurant owner, reduced
lO EAT YOUR VEAL ANY-MOBE. YOU? BUSINESS
-W0/T &EU-YUP ANP YOU WENT BANKRUPT/ to slaving in a seedy bar,
YOU LOST EVERYTH/N<&\ PONT YOU \
the chance to kill the
mm

BECAUSE OP THIS WOMAN. ' THINK YOU

YOU ABE WHAT YOU ABE / SHOULD LET
NOW BECAUSE OFHEG.J HEB KNOW
— __ EXACTLY HOW woman who framed him
m„ l you Fvsa- „
/4wS\ \ABOUT THAT?’ •
and get off scot-free. But
why has Graves, once a
hitman for criminal cartel
The Trust, gone renegade
THATS
BlSHT. and turned on his former
bosses, baiting them
through their victims?
Chicago writer Brian
Azzarrellos street talk and
r BY THE WAY, LEE-
vou'Be/w?cyv<s
tight characterization are
A BA0E LIKE THAT
/P/CA PEEOUENT THIS
k ESTABLISHMENT.
teamed perfectly with the
sharp art of Argentina's
Eduardo Risso.

Four Woiv>en
Midnight, the middle of
nowhere. Four women stuck
in their broken-down car.
All that protects them from
two rapists outside, whose
truck has crushed the
women's car, is the car's
power locks. Each woman
has to decide if she will be
victimized or fight back.

Here, Donna recounts

events to her therapist in
dialog captions (Donna's
are light yellow). We stare
through her eyes into the
eyes of Marion, who gets
out of the car to divert the
men from the youngest
woman trapped in the
trunk, before she is seized
from behind. Author Sam
Kieth's claustrophobic
scenario asks what is
stronger-friendship or
self-preservation ?

READING ON: RETRIBUTION 78 | MURDERERS 138 | WOMEN 68 | SURVIVORS 64

There are iw/sterlous thinly In this (and...
(?ut te(( toe, where wl(( you now?
Hus o Pratt, Corto Maltese In Africa
Chapter 10
M
Above right: A mock biography
of East London rogue Ally Sloper
by Marie Duval from 1873
Right: Father-turned-infant Leo
Quog flees his responsibilities
in Jules Feiffer’s 1979 Tantrum
Opposite: Jim Woodring’s Frank
grins and bears his silent panic
BeMrxf -M>e Siv»7(e
arriage to an overworked, underpaid cartoonist
does not always run smoothly. When deadlines
loom, quite a number of "comic book wives” end
up assisting their husbands, perhaps on lettering
or tidying up their pages. Carl Barks' second wife used to
help him with his artwork for the uncredited Donald Duck
and Uncle Scrooge stories that he wrote and drew for
Walt Disney’s multi-million-selling comic books. All this
changed when she became addicted to alcohol, which
made her self-destructive and destructive to others. She
was prone to tearing up file copies of his comic books and
threatened to do the same to his originals.
By 1951, as she succumbed to alcoholism,
their rocky marriage was disintegrating. At
one lowpoint, when Barks was forced to
move out, he was reduced to "living in a
little room they made in a corner of a little
warehouse. I had two blankets that I
had gotten out of the whole deal and my
drawing board, of course, and my [National]
Geographies." When they were divorced, she
•Jiidr' Offlc*. •» 8Uo» L«« Fl*»t Btnxt JLC.
took him for everything he had, even "a car
that she couldn't drive.”
Incredibly, Barks created some of his greatest work
while living through these dire personal circumstances.
Looking back, he wondered whether they might have
actually helped him. "It seemed like the more difficulties
I had, why, the bigger the inspiration that would come
when there was just a moment of calmness.” As a result,
he found that "doing these stories was such a relief from
my own everyday troubles and problems." Barks created
his duck stories first of all to delight himself. Perhaps it is
their almost therapeutic quality, like soothing balm for the
troubled soul, that may help to explain why his Disney
adventures are ceaselessly reprinted and enchant readers
worldwide to this day. To those who
know Donald and company only
from the animated cartoons,
it can come as a surprise to
discover that Barks’ comic book
incarnations of them,
supposedly intended
'solely for children, are
so clever and multi-levelled. In Europe, and especially
Scandinavia, Barks’ oeuvre has become an institution.
Easily overlooked as juvenile, the "funny animal”
trappings can express so much about our feelings
and failings. Popularized in early cartoon films, these
anthropomorphic characters may look like bizarre,
oversized, upright ducks, cats, mice, and other critters, but
we identify with them because they share the same hopes
and fears as us. Their modern counterparts in graphic
novels include Jim Woodring’s Frank, Kim Deitch’s Waldo,
and Chris Ware’s Ouimby, who manage to hark back
ONE SHILLING
wistfully to American animation’s golden
age while also probing into less innocent
psychological areas. Carl Barks also exerted a
formative influence, for example on the
young Robert Crumb, and on France’s Joan
Sfar and Lewis Trondheim. Could their
hopeless warrior-duck Herbert be a distant
ancestor of Donald’s? And surely an aardvark
must be about the most improbable
"funny animal” star in the form of Cerebus,
protagonist of Dave Sim’s magnum opus.
In the human comedy, we also enjoy laughing
at ourselves, or preferably at others, at rogues and fools,
and their schemes and misfortunes. One of the earliest of
these to captivate the British public was the bald, bulbous¬
nosed, Micawber-like reprobate Ally Sloper. His Dickensian
name says it all, derived from the way he slopes down the
alley to avoid those he has swindled. His first con game
filled a one-page strip in the August 14 1867 edition of
Judy, a new twopenny rival launched that year to undercut
the threepenny humor magazine Punch. Judy was the
name of the long-suffering wife of Mr. Punch in the street
puppet shows, so it was an apt title for a magazine aimed
at lower-class, lower-income readers, including women.
Unusually, Sloper’s illustrator was a woman, one Marie
Duval, using a deliberately simple style and signing herself
"MD.” This was the pen-name of Isabelle Emilie de Tessier,
born in Paris in 1850 and the new young wife of Judy
creator and writer Charles Ross, fifteen years her senior.
Nearly 80 of their collaborations were compiled with extra
material into a one-shilling paperback in 1873, to make up
a supposed "biography” of comics’ first Cockney rascal.
Befwnd St*He
Right: The satirical 1960s kick
off in Harvey Kurtzman’s wild
paperback and in Goscinny &
Uderzo’s Asterix, both from 1959
Below: Claire Bretecher sends up
test-tube pregnancy in Where’s
My Baby Now? from 1983
Opposite: Rainy days in Seattle
for Peter Bagge’s Buddy Bradley
Two decades later across the Channel, on July 20 did continuities with such
1894, the Russian-born emigre Emmanuel Poire, famed as a heightened sense of
Caran d’Ache for his elegant silent cartoon strips, wrote to movement, he affected a
the Paris director of the newspaper Le Figaro. Bursting whole generation of Punch
with enthusiasm, he proposed to create a new genre, le and Judge cartoonists.”
romain dessinee or "drawn novel,” told purely in drawings. Kurtzman would go on to
He had his story already mapped out for some 360 pages, do the same himself for
entitled Maestro, about a musical composer of genius. It successive generations
was never published and was long believed never to have in America and in Europe.
been drawn, till dozens of pages of the sadly unfinished After masterminding the
Maestro recently came to light. Published by France's scathing parodies of
comics museum in Angouleme, they give a glimpse of comics, TV, films, and
Caran d'Ache's vision that was ahead of its time. advertising in A/lac/from
The time for the "drawn novel” would come, when color comic book to black-
the screwball lunacy of American cartoonist and humor and-white magazine, he
writer Milt Gross spilled over onto the silver screen by quit in 1956 to head up a
collaborating on the script for Charlie Chaplin's silent 1928 new glossy for Playboy’s
film The Circus. Out of this experience Gross developed the Hugh Hefner. Trump was
cartoon book He Done Her Wrong in 1930. With nothing axed by an overextended
spoken in all its 246 pages, Gross lampoons Hollywood’s Hefner after two issues.
hammy, over-the-top acting and repertoire of riotous By 1959, after the failure of
slapstick and weepy melodrama. From the Frozen North of his self-published Humbug,
the Alaskan Gold Rush to the crooked wheeler-dealing of Kurtzman was without an
New York City, it follows a big, simple-minded lumberjack editorial position and at
of exceptional strength, exploited by a conniving robber a loose end.
baron, who steals his wilting saloon-singer heartthrob. Meanwhile, Mad
Gross jokingly proclaimed it "The Great American Novel was going from strength
and not a word in it-no music too.” to strength and Kurtzman's classic issues were being
Gross and his early 20th century contemporaries reprinted in popular paperbacks. When their publisher,
on the newspaper funny pages came out of the previous Ian Ballantine, lost the Mad license, he approached
century’s great cartooning traditions. Before the silent Kurtzman about producing an all-original humor paper¬
comedy movies, it was the routines of music hall, cabaret, back. There had been a few sophisticated cartoon strip
vaudeville, and street performers that used to be echoed hardbacks by then, such as The Juggler of Our Lady by
in the knockabout physicality and broad verbal repartee Humbug contributor R.O. Blechman in 1952, and Sick,
of many comic strips. Cartoonists like Wilhelm Busch and Sick, Sick in 1958, the first collection by Village Voice’s
Caran d'Ache brought such expressionistic energy to their Jules Feiffer. For his Jungle Book, Kurtzman chose the
comics by distorting highly populist media targets of cool 1950s private eye
manic faces and Peter Cunn, new TV western Gunsmoke, sex and politics
bodies warped by in the Deep South, and the shoddy business of cheap
motion or emotion. magazine publishing, a field he knew only too well. "I
In addition to admiring wish [Ballantine] could have broken through with this,
these two pioneers, because I truly liked the format." In the end, it was a
Harvey Kurtzman, creator of one-off. Kurtzman saw a future for new comics in book
America’s most subversive post¬ packages, but had to abandon a color interpretation of
war satire magazine, Mad, in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol that he had started
1952, was struck particularly by when he was unable to secure a publisher. The future for
the work of one Englishman who Kurtzman would once again lie in magazines. First came
followed in their line. "You know Help! in 1960, where he brought back his naive innocent
who really affected me more Goodman Beaver, introduced in Jungle Book. Then came
than anyone else? A guy Playboy in 1962, where he gave Goodman a sex change
by the name of H.M. Bateman. He into the pneumatic Little Annie Fanny, whose racy, lavishly
 Befwoc/ the Stifle

painted satirical romps became a Playboy staple till 1988.
After Kurtzman’s death in 1993, Art Spiegelman
created the tribute strip "A Furshlugginer Genius" for
The New Yorker, in which he hailed the original Mad as
"an urban junk collage that said 'Pay attention! The mass
media are lyingto you ... including this comic book!’ I think
Harvey's Mad was more important than pot and LSD in
shaping the generation that protested the Vietnam war."
forgotten in the constant flurry of fresh headlines. British
team Peter Milligan and Brendan McCarthy felt strongly
that the corporate violence of the drug Thalidomide,
which caused birth defects in thousands of babies, should More Satire & Humor
not be allowed to slip from public consciousness. Their The Cowboy Wally Show
livid, foul-mouthed revenge fantasy Skin for the Fleetway KYLE BAKER
Who can forget this superstar?
comic Crisis minced no words, but it upset the reproduc¬
American Elf
tion company, who refused to handle it. Fleetway's JAMES KOCHALKA

Belonging to this same generation were America's 1960s Five years of his daily diary
lawyers advised them not to publish it. Silenced, like
Fred the Clown
underground comix artists, who saw Kurtzman as their Thalidomide's victims, Skin was bounced like a ticking
ROGER LANGRIDGE
undisputed godfather. At Help! he had given Robert bomb from publisher to publisher, until it at last saw print Slapstick and heartache

Crumb, Gilbert Shelton, Terry Gilliam, and others early in 1992. Many cartoonists and commentators have tried Ouimby the Mouse
CHRIS WARE
exposure. It’s hard to overestimate his influence, which to deal with the attacks of September 11 2001, but only
Antique funny animal antics
remains strong today among graphic satirists like Daniel Art Spiegelman dared to do so using the huge, colorful In the Shadow of No Towers
Clowes, Peter Bagge, and Kyle Baker. canvas and bag of tricks of the old-time Sunday news¬ ART SPIEGELMAN
The aftermath of 9/11
Equally unmistakeable is the impact of Kurtzman paper strip pages to grapple with that day's personal
Groo the Wanderer
and Mad on European comics, in particular on Franco- and political aftereffects. EVANIER & ARAGONES

Belgian bandes dessinees. For instance, Morris, artist on Some might wonder, is the only good graphic The dumbest barbarian ever

laconic cowboy Lucky Luke, knew Harvey in New York in novel a serious graphic novel? If graphic novels run the risk Sock Monkey
TONY MILLIONAIRE
the early 1950s and helped him out on the birth of Mad. of acquiring a reputation for being in deadly earnest, Strange Victorian toy stories

This was clearly one model for the new French weekly luckily there are always plenty that are genuinely, Embroideries
MARJANE SATRAPI
Pllote in 1959, home of Asterix. Writer Rene Goscinny and wonderfully funny. For "quality jollity,” few can compete
Iran's women talk about men
artist Albert Uderzo wove several layers of comedy for with African-American cartoonist Kyle Baker. His Cowboy
Hutch Owen
children and for older readers into their battle of wills Wally is a much-needed assault on the worst of American TOM HART
Anti-capitalist free-thinker
between Rome’s conquering armies and one last Gallic showbiz, a fat, drunk, blissfully stupid celebrity, the sort
Sugar Buzz
village, which helped the book collections sell in their who is famous only for once being famous, but whose
CARNEY & PHOENIX
millions to all ages. The 1960s also brought more career somehow keeps going. Saturday morning zaniness

biting humor to French comics inspired by A/lac/ and the What is chilling is how
American underground, in magazines like Hara-Kiri and Cowboy Wally's lamest
later L'Echo des Savanes and Fluide Glacial. Among the fiascos are now being
best is the withering social observer Claire Bretecher. surpassed by "reality"
Tougher, angrier, more politically charged adult television. The reality of
satire has become possible as the graphic novel gained the 2000 Bush-Gore
ground. Who would have expected the gentlemanly election triggered Birth
English children's book illustrator Raymond Briggs to of a Nation, drawn by
speak out so passionately against nuclear weapons? Baker, in which Aaron
His 1982 book When The Wind Blows takes its title from a McGruder and Reginald
lullaby, but its message was a wake-up call to many about Hudlin show how angry,
the terrors of the bomb. It was even noted in Britain’s disenfranchised black
parliamentary record Hansard as "a powerful contribution voters found their own
to the growing opposition to nuclear armament.” separate state. It's the sort of
It does not always help our understanding to boil wild but plausible and pointedly topica
down a complex political issue to a single pithy editorial "what if” that the free-wheeling, flexible
cartoon in a newspaper. These can be effective for rapid, comics medium can pick
mocking strikes against politicians that provide a brief, up and run with so
forgettable morning chuckle, but comics and graphic successfully. It’s more
novels allow a fuller, more insightful narrative, to explore proof of what Peter
all sides, to open up the debate. Steve Darnell and Alex Ustinov once said:
Ross rescued America's patriotic symbol Uncle Sam, all "Comedy is a simply
but worn out by political cartoonists, and gave him a new a funny way of
lease of iconic life. Yesterday's scandals can easily get being serious.”
The Frank Boofc <r> focus

“The ancient myths and folk tales of all cultures which have been preserved for so many
centuries have meaning for us today because the fantastic elements in them are rooted in
immutable reality. The Frank stories belong to this class of literature.”
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA

Unreality Transformation
“Hardcore oddball" lim Things rarely stay
Moodring was a highly the same for long in
imaginative child who the transformative
always inclined towards world of Frank, where
the mysterious and the a pastoral Eden can
hidden. His discovery of mutate into purgatory
the art of Surrealism in the blink of eye. In
and Boris Artzybasheff these four pages from
sealed his fate. Turning “Frank's Faux Pa, “ one
to comics, he drew the wrong step leads to
radially symmetrical disaster. Once again,
shapes that he used to Frank's wide-eyed
see hovering over the curiosity and dream-
foot of his bed as the driven desires have
gyrating ghostly "jivas. “ landed him in trouble
in an underground well
In silent comics, no one where he is in danger
can hear you scream. of drowning.
The lack of any spoken
words or sound effects While one of his two
sends us back to our fathers, the Faux Pa
pre-literate, childlike or Real Pa, looks on
state, where we had to ineffectually, Frank's
make sense only from best friend, his tough,
what we could see. devoted Pushpaw,
dives in to rescue him.
Woodring's fables Dragged to the surface,
challenge rational Frank is now in an
understanding, but they altered state with
incite primal awe and multiple eyes and an
instinctual recognition, expanded upper head.
like folk art or cave
paintings that illustrate Pushpaw might look
profound human truths. small, but she can
He avoids explanations enlarge herself to a
“because the stories are threatening scale.
more powerful when This helps her to hound
their mysteries are the spindly, grinning
undiscovered." trickster Whim, horn¬
headed and fork¬
What is Frank? tailed, into restoring
Frank with a twirl of
Frank began in 1989 as
his Whim-Grinder.
a doodle while Woodring
worked in animation. He
In the tradition of
is not a cat, or a mouse,
cartoons, no matter
or a beaver, or any
what befalls him,
other creature, but a
Frank always emerges
generic anthropomorph.
unharmed, and, like
His name was given by
many of us, none the
a friend's mother,
wiser for his puzzling
because he reminded
her of her cat. Frank is
The Frank Book experiences.

innocent but not noble. Jim Woodring

2003,1 volume, 344 pages

READING ON: FAIRY TALES 139 MYTHS & LEGENDS 113 CARTOONING 138 | ALIENS 90 | SURREALISM 90
 The Frank Book scene tv ycene

Guilty stares
In this conclusion to the
short story “Frank's Fish,"
our hero has caught a big,
staring fish with a Dali-
esque moustache. Bringing
it home to cook, Frank
becomes unnerved by its
staring eyes and grimace.

No amount of chopping and

slicing will get rid of them.
Frank regularly reaches a
state of panic, climaxing
here with the final twist, as
if he has been possessed by
the fish. Whether this is a
plea for vegetarianism, a
surreal nightmare about
guilt, or something else is
open to interpretation.
ff Notice the Arabian Nights
architecture of Frank’s
home and its exotic fixtures
inside. Wood ring's colors
add a radiant lustre that
harks back to classic
animated cartoons.

High horse
Whim is up to his tricks
again, tempting Frank to
try strange instruments
that retrieve a critter like a
flying manta ray. Nursing it
back to health, Frank finds
it becomes aggressive and
overprotective, and willing
to do whatever he asks of
it. Frank's character grows
cruel and superior.

Here, Frank sets him on

Manhog, a pink, bristly,
naked man on all fours with
a pig's head and curly tail.
Manhog is described by
Woodring as "a lamentable
father figure," reduced here
to Whim's beast of burden.
This weird, worm-like thing
seems to live inside Whim's
head. Frank's jape fails to
amuse Pushpaw, who has to
rescue her master from a
sorry state yet again. Will
Frank ever learn?
4k

READING ON: FANTASY 142 | BIZARRE 126 | FUNNY ANIMALS 140 | ECCENTRICS 140
FoMowfo.? on frotv)77>e Frank Boofc

The Boulevard of I've had. the opportunity 1 " Egged on by the studious production manager (his brother Al ),Ted f irs t ^
,to study Ted since the used Waldo in a 1917 Fontaine Fables cartoon Yppy Jem TUAT5 hi
Broken breads 11930 S. He'd, turn up perlod-
I -ically to be dried out.
I However, Ted was no common
Growing up around his [drunk. His was one of the
father's animation work, most fascinating person¬
ality disorders I’ve
Kim Deitch hoped to follow ever encountered. £

in his footsteps until he

realized that the business
discouraged much original His delusional relation¬
thinking. Out of accounts ship with a hallucinatory
blue cat named Waldo not
of America's first studios, only dominated his life
i^but, incredibly, pi ayed 1
from pioneer Winsor McCay a-big role in the de¬
to the Disney factory, veloping animated
cartoon industry.
he and his brother Simon
fashioned the life of
frustrated alcoholic Ted
Mishkin, whose character Ted Is first cartoon
with "Waldo, “The Cat
Waldo the Cat, a hybrid of Came Back'' is actually
a fascinating case
Felix and Mickey, is also his study of Ted's Waldo
fixation. If we view
imaginary companion. Farmer Grady (Fontaine
Fables' reigning star at
the time')as a stand-in
r Although Ted first here for Ted, we can see'
Here, Ted's doctor theorizes introduced Waldo to the Teds entire delusional syndrome in microcosm. It uncannily forecasts
^ world in a Fontaine
that Waldo is a spirit of ^Fables cartoon,
he'd actually
self-destruction which * been an lroagin-
‘‘T-ary companion,
has plagued the animator of Teds,...
and embodies his struggle going
back to
between madness and • childhood
days.
genius, between "mortality the manner in which this so called * relationship" eventually deteriorates.

and art triumphant."

The Wipeout
Imagine Dostoevsky's chime
and punishment played by
sordidly human cartoon
mascots from Italian 1900s
advertising and directed by
Luis Buhuel and you'll have
some notion of Francesca
Ghermandi's noir fantasia
of desire and deceit,
painted in the lustrous
palette of vintage cartoons.
He retraced his steps, but he couldn’t quite muster the courage to pick up the bottle, seeing
as how the new renter from the third floor, coming down the stairs, had scrutinized him from
Here, big-nosed die-cut head to toe. as if she hod caught him red-handed...

lim meets lozenge-headed

Virgin Prunes. When they
discover that Hm's miracle
cleaning fluid mixed with
milk literally wipes people
out. Virgin lures lim into
murdering her husband.
But her true motives are far
more devious. Since lim is
the same shape as her
hubby. Virgin plots to wipe
Jim out and pass off his
blank corpse as Mr Prunes’
to claim his life insurance.

READING ON: CARTOONING 52 | ALCOHOLICS 51 | GHOSTS & SPIRITS 94 | MURDERERS 5»

 Fo((ownr>.? on frotv»The Frank Boofc

S/>ace bog
In the Sputnik era,
a little red pup gets more
than he bargained for when
he leaves the farm for
adventure in the big city
and winds up as NASA s
first dog in space. After a
close encounter with benign
aliens boosts his brain,
he returns as a canine
celebrity walking on two
legs with a mission to
save the planet.

Here, he says goodbye to

his former master when he
is invited to address the
United Nations about the
stark choice between the
green aliens' vision of
harmony or humanity's
destructive path. German
designer Hendrik Dorgathen
cleverly uses icons as
words and thoughts, and
bold, almost woodcut
graphics in his endearing,
allusive animal fable.

The Princess
ANYWAY.
I WANT I WANT I DON’T WANT
TO TO LAY TO BE A
BECOME YOUR PROSTITUTE
HUMAN EG65 ANYMORE. Worlds apart from Disney 's
AND I WANT TO LEAD
BECOME
YOUR
A NORMAL LIFE' sugar-coated adaptation,
WIFE.
lunko Mizuno has recharged
Hans Christian Andersen's
original with the "kawaii"
or cute stylings of "shojo”
manga or girls' Japanese
comics. She spices up their
doe-eyed, doll-like Lolitas
with sex and horror, making
them into wilful, empowered
females, like Junko herself.

DON’T
In revenge for the humans'
YOU SET cruelties to their mother,
FED UP
WITH
YOUR
siren mermaids Tara, Julie,
BROTHER
TREATING
and Ai devour the sailors
YOU LIKE
THAT?
they lure to their aquatic
bordello. Julie, however,
falls for sulky human
Suekichi, even if it means
becoming human herself.
Mizuno's underwater
romance slips easily
between fairytale charm
and unbridled passion.

CELEBRITY 150 FAIRY TALES 31 HIGH SEAS 156

READING ON: FUNNY ANIMALS 136
Cerebus in focus
Committed
Nobody in comics before
Dave Sim had the guts
to commit themselves to
something this big and
this daring: a closely
examined life told
without fear in 6,000
pages, serialized in 300
issues, a labor of 26
years and 3 months.
Sim aspired to the
NEXT^
comics equivalent of a
Russian novel, so as to
try many themes and
approaches. A life story
with all its echoes and
questions overarches
the 16 "Phonebook"
volumes, many of them
accessible separately or
grouped together as
greater wholes. Raucous
parody can sit beside
philosophical musings,
Oscar Wilde's fate, or
the Origin of Everything.
A happy ending was
never likely after
Cerebus was told
he would die alone,
unmourned, unloved.
Still, the "Earth-Pig"
lives to giddy heights
and depths, as a
barbarian brute, papal
tyrant, bar-keeper,
lover, father, and more.
Sim's fascination with
religious, political, and
sexual debate led him
to devise a plausible
post-industrial
matriarchy and its
opposing force based
on daughters, which
resembles feminism. As
a personal soapbox and
puipit, cerebus was the
outlet for Sim's evolving
belief systems, unafraid
to ruffle feathers and
raise thorny questions.
READING
“Dave ploughs his own furrow philosophically, ideologically, commercially, and
spiritually. Cerebus cannot be compared with anything anyone else has done.
It's unparalleled in its evolving portrait of its subject and its subject’s creator.”
NEIL GAIMAN
Power corrupts
cerebus is the story of
5:BoS, OL0^\
MATE' J
the life and death of a
If ANY MEMBER. OF YOUR ETAFF
HAG TROUBLE UNPEP6TANI71N6
HOW IMPORTANT COOPERATION
short, greedy, irritating
16, FEEL FREE TO BORROW -
MV LITTLE REAtONSTRATlON... aardvark, apparently
YES, MR. PR/Me j
minuter... y alone in a world of
ANt? IP Y2U WAVE TROUBLE REMEM- >
BERING HOW TT GOES, I HAVE ANOTHER
humans. “High Society, “
ONE WHERE THE PRIME /MINISTER AN17
THE ARMY ARE A PftiR OF PLIERS a good entry point, is
AN 17 YOUR BIG TOE IS THE BURBAUCRACV
where Sim embarks on
Y£6, MR. PRIME *£0.&prv, MR
minister a sweeping satire of
MUCH
the political machine.
yowrb serve#,.
supposed
TO BOW.
&&ivy Cerebus is a guest of
Groucho double Lord
V HCW MUCH PO 1
you suppose we
COULV'Ve GOT FOR Julius in the city of lest.
the inauguration
k
JSW5LS IN THE
0117 C7AVS? .
The Lord's ex-wife
Astoria plots Cerebus'
campaign and gets him
elected Prime Minister.
COfiS
a HUNN&RX?
TH0U6AN' Nobody's puppet,
Cerebus soon shows his
true nature by planning
i> 'COUGH'-
OORRy to pillage riches from
neighboring lands.
Here, after making a
.. OR THE C0kR££FONRIN€ painfully persuasive
/VHt ' 60, THE PRIME MlNiGTEP VALUE IN -3AY-- T’CAPMIN etceuenr. naturally you will
PRIME CROSSBOWMEN ? BE permittei? id keep any
minister, vioUUJ NOT 8E A/PU6S
IN EXPECTING ID REALIZE excess PROFIT*. JUST HAVE point to a government
- SAY - A QUARTER OF the cross bowmen ^en-t
A MILLION PAlMAN to out? boroer outposts
CROWNS... v l <7N THE OSS is R/VER... , spokesman, Cerebus
meets a former fellow
I WINK T
COULP MANAGE rogue, Mr "Baldy" Pate.
THAT.. j
Their "old days" are
MR PRII
-VIiniETEI
over now and Cerebus
SIR...
demands subservience.
In a cunning plan
t’u &e RETORTING THE JEWGUb
worthy of blackadder,
svoceviin orzveR to coixscr
THE INSURANCe. SO YOU ONLY he gets Baldy to steal
HAVE UNTIL GUNPOWN TO &BV
THEM OUTGlPE OP lEET'6
injf&£p/crtoN. > his official jewels, but
ALMOST
FORGOT offers no protection if
(F YOU'RE CAUGHT
he is caught.
r Will BE UHABl£
TO KEEP VOLi
FROM BEING
execuT&p,., a I One of Sim's strengths
is his skill at showing
nuanced dialogue
-iilLLiunes
through the size, style,
rflT hidden
*JW&sn°N
SOSPECJto
and font of speech and
placing and shape of
balloons. Here, he uses
icicles to accentuate
coldness and jagged
underlining for
exaggerated emphasis.
Cerebus No sooner is the door
slammed than the
Dave Sim & Gerhard
press is headlining
1977-2004,16 volumes, 6,000 pages
the theft and scandal.
ON: RELIGION 68 | IDENTITY no | POLITICAL SATIRES 148 | ECCENTRICS 136
 Cerefco* scene by scene

Mind games
In "Church and State," far
left, Cerebus is a selfish,
uncontrollable pawn in a
chaotic power struggle. He
has been elected Pope and
tricked into marriage with
Sophia. His great dream of
adoration, wealth, and
power seems to be coming
true, until his wife decides
to leave him. Notice how
Cerebus refers to himself in
the third person. Sim sets
up the factions as he looks
into the effects of power on
belief and vice versa.

"Jaka's Story“ focuses on

Cerebus' one true love, her
painful childhood, and her
strained marriage to Rick.
In a tense love triangle
under one roof, Rick, hand
over his mouth to hide
his shock, overhears laka
offering Cerebus refuge. It's
the last thing Rick wants, as
he recalls the aardvark in
his papal regalia.

laka is arrested for working

as a tavern dancer. Far
left, she is interrogated by
Mrs Thatcher caricatured
as a poisonous abbess.
Sim makes us consider the
plight of art and artists
under a repressive state.
Thatcher's deviousness will
destroy laka's marriage by
revealing to Rick the truth
behind her miscarriage.

After lots of boozy male

bonding in the bar in
"Guys," Bear 's duplicitous
wife iiggy, part vixen, part
shrew, arrives and totally
controls her lovesick
husband. Hearts fill his
eyes and his words, as
she switches from her sing¬
song "Hiiii" to her irate
demand for a drink. Sim
dares to ask if the benefits
to men of celibacy might
outweigh the price they pay
for being neutered in a
manipulative marriage.

TOTALITARIAN STATES 94 GENDER ROLES 44

READING ON: WOMEN 32 | TUNNY ANIMALS 142
Following on frotv> Ceretos

burgeon
French madmen Joan Star
and Lewis Trondheim are
spinning out a joyfully
sprawling epic, which can
be enjoyed, like Terry
Pratchett's discworld saga,
equally as parody and as
inventive genre fiction.

Their heroic odd couple are

WHAr SORT Of <5Rf Ar
the timorous duck Herbert deep HUPIN6 Pur oyr
A flRf? Adopting An
ORPHAN’ A WORTHY
and Marvin, a blood¬ Action. altruistic
And HloHlV MORAl,
you
oka r>
15 that IP uh, yfAH/l
thirsty, vegetarian dragon. AfrER rHftft GRlAr'
yfA«, i'm l:
coming r
PfEPf AccOMPUfHfD
Here, Herbert pretends he with rtf bare
mngerj or youR
8 ARE HANDS' A Nr
has stomach ache to cover NOT BffORE!

up the complaints from his

magic belt, which refuses to THE 6AME WA( CL05E you CAN wnfN I CREATE A NEw
HIV. yo. BELT, I JUST
8EAr rtf GO&UN KING
CHUCK THfM pucHy of cRA/tiwich. WITH My BARE HANPP.
Anp HERBERT CHEATED i'll have yatow
let him draw his sword until JUST ENOUGH TO WIN. NOW. _
CR(5T5 MAPf APORNfP CRMBI^OKAy.
r5Kr5K'.'. THESE WITH REP SOCKS.fOR okay...Bur you
he has accomplished three 50CK5 ARE
VALUABLE,
that's A GRtAr peep
My PE5cfNPANr( can
jrai have ONf
MORE GRlAr DEED
BRAG ABOUT ro ACCOMPUJH.
CAUJE! weNr
great deeds. He achieves THROUGH A
LOrrA TROUBlE
ro Gir 'em.
one of these, far right, by
winning the Goblin King's
ripe socks at cards. The
cross on his chest shows
where he had his heart
plucked out to ensure that
he completes his mission.

Louis
The Hamlet might look
quaint, but its environment
is polluted and its citizens
stultified. One of them is the
isolated, sensitive dreamer
Louis, a model citizen and
ratmea thwj wcN&rt to hiwsclf, mc
worker, his only company Sowerime; wonomco Ovt loud to his
LITTLE PtlEWD, EORMULAIC COWPAkiIOW
the caged bird Formulaic pc COA SHOUT,

Companion. Instead of
accepting his barren
subsistence, Louis hungers
for a fuller life. To keep him
in line, his neighbors invent
Outside of woefim. coutiuc the (a,u
an aunt for him to write to, WAM LOuiS EXCITED. At WOWMReD MHO
IT COULD SE

but they have reckoned

without a visit by the free-
thinking Mr. Slow and his
gift of healthy food.

In their "scary-cute"
allegory, Metaphrog adapt
the gentle nature of
childrens stories to show
the suffocating effects of
state and media
manipulation on the non¬
conformist individual.

READING ON: FUNNY ANIMALS 60 FANTASY 136 | TOTALITARIAN STATES 126 TV & MEDIA 97
 FoUoy/’tns oo from Cerefro?

p11lllH|Mmill'"m, .iiHiimiiminiT.iiiiiiiiiMii, k/on^e Booff

H&*)do IjOU HI t> e {But- But I‘iMCxJij tke
(to,sir. Ay mrKfu^tSklix^Di elevator ihsk.^ rtti* iS it,6oON5w3it...tk£ pulMislc/ng world1 /n Ttie Organization Man
(tow.* is PubliiitioK-i) (fivL 5kar|p(oobimg exeeiAn/es witk crew kaircots..
<t-oadi*3K. I, SlUflMHttff -r\V nufs4/T^iit*r3\ secretaries rig^t out of vfegue... ceYerrittg; in The Grey Flannel
Bearer.. jv Kww evewneJJl wjKttoNuw) ; But- co((abor3tin5..,it($cyssiM3.-prcxtoci'M^tKe Executive Suite," Harvey
CtHrecteLuiiik Sot eventowiitiUe —A ivomU,tUstuJii( bepTMteuLiMa^qMlIicvoyott'wty..
V—•Tt 3
tke$rq *'litioM..:: blliMitVj.-friWHflf-. words f€dd^{fou^HiBOold&/t^3t£ iotUe\)\l -fyiiWuM
Kurtzman introduces us to
ON -. _But1 vstormcie i 0ut- ... People reaA^wa^azikestlce ceuutry der...aud his Candide-like innocent
\ IfWsideiti ton? S_i c n'gUA were are tke fabulous mew. aw4 «uomeK.
3t 4YB- i wico are intently creating -fke actual abroad, Goodman Beaver,
material mfgkt before my venreyes a good man and eager
beaver, here on his first
A #1 day at Shlock Publications.
order
coffee7 Exorcizing his own
CjostlW
p^coffee- Y5Y experiences in comics
and magazines, Kurtzman
askr. pillories the cheapness
\ n. / fte^e
•gut tills is Ate' Here it is.. ue, and greedy capitalism of
only A$4. I'll W8Atto “Sldedt Publication* l«e.( If you 4?K<t zfowc girls. exploitation publishing
ASS’ istiuo Kww erery ■Cow.C lolence, Goodman.'. YbrcaofTeif/tke place Tot
boiliiMs as he charts Goodman's
dounc
one ©K,
\ ike bhxKl
Pon t be lAtfVws. LooK
.casual .'Get M gout wesy-j r ivi y i
Sending \
next WcxK waf~
v tUe loestctofte
must lie
Goatwan metamorphosis from
s Beav®;
ztcwic-f&r Cd I {lee new idealistic underling to
a e>emoL\ getwe3 editor ruthless go-getter.
order-for I Panietc we're
wittc kirinj •
.cottee? Drawing in lively line-
and-wash breakdowns,
Kurtzman times his speech
ttoKe hm cotfee ' w- balloons perfectly, here
tioer pitching Goodman's awed,
rr eoGtt"es
in a roco overblown soliloquy before
the inane office babble
about coffee.

^SEE.GAOT-OTOWELPlCHoN. HERE COMES 7'WELL,WHAU» W\ Y?

The Freak
i'vJKT WOULD ANYONE
ONE NOW.' I'M TOEING you, Wt'U. HAVE
NO TROUBLE WINNING TOE HEARTS AND
MINDS Of THE LOCALS WITH SlTH A OASSTSrtV/J
' TMINK.PEA5AKJT?
\T 151K£ R&/ERED \ '
CAWUAC, FROM TOE Ri
avcHBixiDiMS artisans By,
WANT TO HAVE A Pll£
Of DETROIT SHIT LIKE
THAT UP HERE IN TOE
Brothers
wDAMN MOUNTAINS r>
Whatever Of THE SPLENDID CITY Mi
. of t>ereoiT,u.s.A.» n/i
\ANareorwr Etems AV^
When the dope-loving trio
DA22LED
decide to fly to Colombia,
"source of many miraculous
substances," they get
separated on the wrong
planes and become
'tdu ARROGANT PEASANT.' > A All RI6HT, TOEN! A
THE IDIOTS ABROAD. Franklin
you CWT KNOW ANYTOIN6 1 WONT MAKE YOU PWAlT FATHER I HAVE YOO^
ABOUT MACHINERY.’ YOU
SHOULD BE SHOT IMMEDIATELY?, /OH, FATHER* THAT'
WA5TE AMMUNITTCN?
I LL RUN OYER HIM
HAD TOE CAR CHECKED YET
FOR BOMBS? I'M NOT SORE
lands in a Central American
WE CAN ENTIRELY TRUST
WOULD BE A WASTE ■ WITH WE CADILLAC*
(SHOOT HIM. PICHON Q Of VALUABLE CAR®]OSES! THE FAttUS COLONEL GAVlLAN' mountain settlement, where
an ancient calendar, far
left, records his past and
future. Afraid that he is to
be sacrificed, Franklin flees
to a village, left, where a
jumped-up colonel uses
fHOW po YOU CHECK A CAR foR BOMBS?}
TRiflE-HOLY MOTHER OF EVERYTHING,? HLS GOT IT
INTO REVERSE GEAR SoMEKcW! HES BACKING UP.'
him to test his Cadillac for
ri KNOW! WE'LL PUT a PEASANT IN IT 4H(LlfK.'.' HCS 5IVSH/NS WP THE ARMORED CARS |
AND HAVE HIM TORN TOE 16NITL0N KEY ON1 bombs and provides him
/HERE, PEASANT» PUT THIS KEY IN TOE. with a new set of wheels.
SLOT AND TWIST IT LIKE THIS ! IF IT START
JJP AU. RIGHT, MAYBE WE WON'T KILL YOU!
Aided by Paul Mavrides
and Guy Colwell, Gilbert
Shelton sends his Fabulous
Furry Freak Brothers on a
zany world tour with the
F.B.I.'s Norbert the Narc
hot on their trait.

OFFICE WORKERS 144 | DRUGS 163 | FREAKS 110

READING ON: JOURNALISM 144
American Splendor in focus
Off the streets
Tales from the city
of Cleveland sum up
ordinary American life,
if any life is ordinary.
Resident file clerk and
writer Harvey Pekar
started recording his
life and reflections and
those of his friends and
co-workers by scripting
them into stick-figure
storyboards.
Pekar had been a
neighbor of Robert
Crumb's from 1902-66.
By the mid-1970s.
Crumb s counterculture
success was waning, so
the timing was perfect
for Pekar to persuade
him to draw some of his
scripts. In 1976 he
published them in
the first issue of his
irregular magazine
AMERICAN SPLENDOR.
Pekar brought a new
approach to stories in
comics. In Crumb's view,
"He brings this mundane
work-a-day world
to life, gives us its
poignant moments,
its humor, absurdity,
irony... and mostly, its
absolute truth. There
is no exaggeration in
these stories. What
you read is what
really happened."
The silhouette of a
slouched Pekar here
reflects his gloomy
state of mind. As a
former Clevelander
himself. Crumb draws
the city 's landscape
with a perceptive eye.
READING
“I love Harvey Pekar’s stuff, and it makes my day
when a new issue of American Splendor comes out.
Jo HE FINISHES FLAVIN' THE
OUTRANK SIDES, GIVES 'EM BACK:
| COUbDNT BELIEVE IT. I HAD
TESTED IT BEFORE TO MAKE SURE
IT WOULDN'T DOCK ON ME. 1
VANKED ON IT again AND again.
IT "WAS DOCKED.
| WALKED BACK
HOME LK A DATE.
American Splendor
Harvey Pekar and various artists
1987-2005, 5 volumes, 1,376 pages
ON: REBELS 162
I think he’s a real treasure.”
MATT GROENING
$o then i make: it over to
THE BATHROOM TO GET TK'
STDE5.
that slew nn mind- 'l
I WAS ALREADY wondering
ABOUT INHERE l WAS GONNA
GET TH' $600 . OO AND NOW
1 HAD THROWN AWAY ANOTHER
#30. OO WORTH OF SIDES
because i'd oeviseo too
ELABORATE A flan to rip
THEM OFF.
„_Y HEAD WAS ALU FUCKED VP.
I SAT DOWN TO RELAX AND
THINK ABOUT MY SITUATION-
DAY-TO-DAY LIFE 43 CELEBRITY
But the poor is locked.
IF I'D HAVE .STUCK
THEM in THE HAU- SOME
PLACE THEY’D HAVES BEEN/
O.K. NO ONE WAS &ONNA
COME ALONG AND SEE THEM-
BUT NO. I HACOA QET
COTE AN' STICK 'EM IN
A TOILET PAPER BOY >N
A BATHROOM.
NO MATTER NOW MANY^'
RECORDS 1 GET I'M NEVER
Satisfied; i Goto get
More, tve tried to
QUIT BUT l cant. WHAT
AM l GONNA DO? THIS
IS UKE BEING A
JUNKY.'/
'15',
139 OFFICE
Collecting
To help finance his
addiction to collecting
jazz records, Pekar
hustles second-hand
records to his fellow
workers. In the true
fate "How I Quit
Collecting Records And
Put Out A Comic Book
With The Money I
Saved," Pekar has gone
to a college radio
station where he plans
to sneak out with some
choice LPs he is after.
To be clever, he has
hidden the sides in a
men's toilet, but his
plan backfires on him.
The narrative switches
from a captioned
flashback to a present-
day confessional, in
which Pekar addresses
the reader face to face.
Then we return to the
past and overhear his
self-reproachful
internal monologue.
It is this example of his
addictive behavior that
convinces Pekar finally
to kick the habit and
quit collecting records.
This enables him to
save enough money
over a year to finance
the publishing of the
first issue of his
AMERICAN SPLENDOR
magazine.
Fittingly, here in the
urban wasteland, with
the trees bare, Pekar
is sitting on a public
bench which advertises
a funeral home.
WORKERS 113 JOURNALISM 68

Ro -men's
whm i was doin' the omtR oav
kDAY... I WAS 5H0PPIM AftOUT TWO O'CLOCK
IN twe AFTERNOON...
soup '
SAUCES I
^ NOW, pickin' THE RIGHT CHECK-OUT
CINE IS AN ART. .,TW6X?E'-£ A COTTA
THINGS YOU GOTTA CONSIDER—:THE
Sp££D AH' ETFiatNOT Of THE- CASHIER,
-TKE NUMBER AN' TYPES Of PEOPLE
IN LINE, HOW MUCH AN' WHAT KIWPA
STUFf THBY'R6 6UYIN'— IT l£ A
REAL ART /
4
tETTV SOON I COULD «£ I MAOt A MISTAKE.
S»e STARTED THIS COMPLICATED HASSLE
WITH THE CASHIER...
USTEM GOILY, 0E5E GLASSES
ARC SIX FOR 412 .OO.IF 3-50 A
DOZfiN-.YtSrcfi.OAY I SOUGHT SVC
fDA#2.00 BECAUSE I COOONT
CA«RY TW6LF...8UT I VANTfcO TWELT
SO TODAY I’M BUYING SIX MOPE.. .SOT
YOU SK)Utp ONLY CHARGE ME 4). 50
fOR OEM...IT’S O.*., YOU CAN ESK
—. »£ MENEOER ... _/
TV & MEDIA
READING ON:
American Splendor scene by scene
ALL MY STOfF AN- WENT TO Write about it
When things get him down
or angry, Pekar has an
outlet. "That's about what
I can do when things bother
Lets Be Patsy Wastes ft * l[ me-write stories about
them." Few people before
Pekar had considered such
minutiae as the irritation of
choosing the wrong check¬
out, far left, as subjects
for short stories in comics.
^
Notice how Crumb puts him
inside a stage spotlight to
speak to the reader.
To record Pekar's battle
with cancer, artist Frank
Stack moved in for a white
£|t wemt on andot
1. PAID
with him and his wife and
well , You’ll
ALREADY TAX
g ON DEM
HAVE r SHOW
ME YEA.
JOYCE S OCCASIONAL co-writer Joyce Brabner to
YESTERDAY ' REGISTER r PUBLISHER TIGHTENS
-TApe... y PURSE STRINGS BY observe them. "It was a bit
SCRAPPING THE REST
Of HER PROJECTS.
like being tailed by national
WITH A NEW WAR
geographic. " Pekar's first
ABOUT TO START, HER
RINO Of BOORS full-length story, the 224-
AREN'T TOO POPULAR.
page "Our Cancer Year,"
records the strains on their
relationship. Here, he finds
it hard to take any sick
leave, until his falling
weight and Joyce's
"permission" let him do so.
— :,MAN,
_ WANT TO
TELL YOU THIS
YOU'RE MAKING
THESE CUTE |
While loathing the cult of
CEI^ARKS ABOUT
&.g. SOT
THERE'S A REA
celebrity, Pekar has had his
SON WHY PEOPLE
SHOULD BE brushes with fame, notably
WATCH INC G-£
(REAL CLOSE. his appearances on the
DAVID LETTERMAN SHOW, drawn
ETi far left by Joe label and
Gary Dumm. Expected to
perform as an amusing
LIKE., NERDS
eccentric, Pekar tries to
MIGHT WEAR
POLYESTER hijack the chat show and
BUTTON-DOWN
SHIRTS AND make some serious political
FLOOD CUNTS,
WHERE THEIR
ANKLES and
points. It fails to lead to a
THEIR SOCKS
ARE SHOWING.
career in television.
THEV HAYE.
SHORT HAIR
AND A LOT OF
THEM WEAR Pekar expected no return
GLASSES"
from his comics, but since
1980 he had tried to get
THEY CARRY POCKETS
I FUUA PENS OR A CALCULATOR. ]
people to base a movie on
.OUT THAT'S ONLY SOME...
them without success.
Finally, HBO backed a film
version in 2003 which
became a surprise hit. It
mixes actors with Pekar and
the other real people they
portray, like "genuine nerd"
Toby Radloff, illustrated
here by Bill Knapp.
70 HOSPITALS 24 | COLLECTORS 106 CANCER 43 MISFITS no
FoKowin.? on from American SplenJor

Buddy Does rr's

. v STARTlHG-
Seattle HCYr
UHAT'S1 TO RAM
OUT,
THC 8Kr KHCfiC' LCr
lOCH? ) X me back
It's 1990 and misanthropic Ilf V
slacker Buddy Bradley has
moved out to the Pacific PoOdO!
Northwest to share a scuzzy poudt>!
apartment with resident
''intellectual" George
and disgusting wannabe
rockstar Stinky. Ever the
opportunist Buddy agrees
to manage Leonard and the
Love Gods, a hopeless band
formed by Stinky and three
guys called Kurt.

On tour and stuck in their

van, tensions erupt when
Stinky reads out a rave
THIS IS ^
fanzine review, and Buddy Urn/OUTA DOUBT
finally snaps. Wildly elastic thc smtrrrsT
and painfully funny and
honest, Peter Bagge's
cartooning documents
Seattle's peak as the
cultural nexus of the
"grunge" generation,
venereal warts and all.

Tantrum
Weary of life's demands,
U2-year-old family man
Leo Quog thinks that he
can escape by reverting
to infancy. Deserting his
wife and kids, he finds no
welcome from his parents
nor help from his siblings.
Here, on his return, his wife
takes him to her lawyers,
where he is hounded by his
responsibilities, driving him
away once more.

Leo’s flight takes him from

a militant movement of
other adult children like him
to the absurd starvation
diet of his brother's
estranged wife. In his
energized whole-page
cartoons, lules Feiffer
targets a parade of human
delusions, above all our
seif-involvement and our
failure to communicate
and connect.

READING ON: MUSIC 44 | YOUTH 44 | MARRIAGES 48 | RESPONSIBILITY 172

 Following on fro<v> American Splendor

Ordinary [/Jc+ories
Prone to panic attacks,
Marco has found no help
from psychoanalysis. His
globe-trotting photography
no longer motivates him.
Unattached and unfulfilled,
he decides to stop working
and withdraw to his run¬
down place in the country
with his cat. On the way he
drops in on his parents, far
left. He finds that his ill
father's short-term memory
is fading, though luckily not
his sense of humor.

When his moody cat Adolf is

injured, left, he meets the
local vet, who inspires him
to take a photo of her.
Against all odds, she seems
to take to him, but Marco
finds it hard to commit to a
relationship. France's Manu
Larcenet makes Marco,
based partly on himself,
a flawed but likeable soul.

Slow ^/ews bay

In this clash of cultures,
Katharine Washington, a
young American graduate,
is only sticking to her dull
journalist's job on the
Wheatstone mercury because
her mother insists that she
help the ailing English
provincial paper that
she once worked on. But
Katharine has her own
reasons for staying: secret
research for her TV sitcom
proposal.

She is joined here by rival

English reporter Owen to
cover the "big story," a
turkey that has broken his
leg, inviting more Anglo-
American comparisons.
British author Andi Watson
excels in developing their
sparky special relationship
in his "fish-out-of-water"
comedy of manners.

CULTURE SHOCKS 178 JOURNALISM 94

PHOTOGRAPHERS 118 MENTAL DISORDERS 113
READING ON:
When the Wind Btowr in focus
Jim and Hilda
The Bloggs are largely
r They say it's the correct thine
based on Raymond
Briggs' parents,
whose real-life story
he narrated in ethel
& ernest. Jim's other
incarnation was as the
dreamer gentleman jim.
Their isolated home is
situated in the Sussex
countryside where
Briggs lives.
We listen in on a
duologue between
down-to-earth Jim
Bloggs and his prim and
proper wife Hilda, which
unfolds over 28 pages
of mostly small panels,
up to 30 of them per
page, stacked seven
tiers high. Their chatter
is interrupted by silent,
alarming, two-page
panoramas of a missile
launch site, bombers
overhead, and a
nuclear submarine,
portents of the
approaching bomb. / Row dare you
The only other voice
heard is the radio
announcer's three-
minute warning in the
pointed balloons.
Notice how Jim's face
blanches at this news,
his speech balloons and
lettering wobbling with
panic. Then, as Hilda
refuses to act, Jim's
voice grows louder and
angrier, until he has
to grab Hilda to hide
under their flimsy,
makeshift shelter
READING
"... a devastating book—great tenderness, dignity, and compassion.
It is that story which we should tell to the children,
and we should tell it to them young.”
BEL MOONEY
Conversation
''Save your best for
to wear white. afterwards." Briggs
People in Hiroshima with
patterned c/othes got burnec/ conveys Hilda's
where the pattern was,
and not so much on the obliviousness to the
white bits -
nupn hhn huttnns shnwedUD
impending danger and
her insistence on good
manners and decorum.
Her concern as the
bomb drops is that her
cake will be burned, a
pointed last comment
because the bomb will
burn much more than
her baking.
AH right, dear. //ever heard such nonsense.
But )s there an o/d white one? ™ I We didn't think what co/our
W/thout stripes. ^ I c/othes we had on in The War. WE ARE ZNTERRUPTING
/ don't want stripes m / ucky to have any c/othes THJS PROGRAMME
The awful power of
a// over me at a// with everything
W* j) * on couponsf and besides -
this quietly damning
piece lies in the Bloggs'
continuous, often banal
chatter, their need to
speak, their need for
FOR AH ^ A A/ EA/EMY /H
OFE/C/AL A4/SSZLE ATT AC AC TUST OVER
company, to make the
HAS BEE A/ LAUHCHED THREE
GOVERHMEHT
A HA/O UHCEM EH T AG A /A/ ST M/HUTES
unbearable bearable.
TH/S COUNTRY
After the impact, they
talk back and forth in
every panel, pausing
only three times, until
God Almighty, the final page when,
o/ucks / A
There's on/y • out of view under the
> three minutes
shelter, they turn to
ta/k to me
Oh dear, / !l jusi tike that, hesitant prayer and
the washing. Thames /
their talking finally
breaks down.
There no need to Forget /'ue never heard such
our manners just iangaage in a//my //fie
there's 0/7
Today, the Bloggs'
naive faith in the
DO HOT LEAVE
Your homes government might
seem a thing of the
past, but how much
better informed or
OH HO
ACCOUHT prepared are we in
TRY TO
the current war on
The cake terrorism? We might
Hi// be
burned not be so laughably
trusting as the lamb¬
like Bloggs, but how
many of us would be
so much smarter in
similar calamitous
circumstances, far
When the Wind Blows from civilization?
Raymond Briggs
1982,1 volume, 44 pages
ON: ATOMIC BOMBS 64 MARRIAGES 47 WARS 68 POLITICAL SATIRES 78
 When the Wfnd Blowy scene tv scene

Shelter
"Those were the days." /«
ffte/'r rose-tinted view of the
Second World War, far left,
)im and Hilda imagine that
the old-style Anderson and
Morrison shelters which got
Britons through the Blitz will
enable them to survive a
nuclear bombing.

Briggs comes up with a

brilliant graphic device to
represent the impact of the
bomb: a double-page
spread of almost pure
white, haloed by a reddish
glow. He follows this with
two pages of our last view
of the Bloggs, two pairs of
feet under the door. This
slowly returns, at first
distorted in white lines,
then red. Then, the quaking
panel borders gradually
settle, left, as the abstract
image fills with shade,
color, reality, and sound.

In this extract of four tiers

of panels from a page, Jim
maintains his belief that
normality will soon be
restored. He tries to sound
confident, misusing the
official language and terms
like "continency plans," a
reference to incontinence
rather than contingency.
It's an example of the slip¬
ups and malapropisms that
convey Jim's ordinariness.
The Bloggs may think that
what they can't see, can't
hurt them, but here, Jim
shudders as he realizes the
risk of their exposure. It's
almost funny that they did
not use their cellar for fear
of the damp, not that they
would have survived much
longer in it. Insidiously,
killer radiation overcomes
this loving couple who
share their last throat
pastille. Briggs bleaches the
colors from his pages, the
palette growing sickly like
their own complexions.

READING ON: THE VILLAGE 112 NOSTALGIA 5* SURVIVORS 60 RADIATION 64

Folio v/mg on frot* V/ber) the Wind B(ow*

Skit) WE SHOULDN'T BE HEHf. MARTIN

WHAT IF THE POUCC COME ?
SO OUTSIDE IT'S PISTINC DOWN AND MARTIN KICKS OUT AT
Thalidomide was a German FI CAT FUKKIN THING AND (VERY TOSSCR THAT GETS IN HIS WAT FUKK THE POLICE. WHERE'S
THAT STUFF YOU'RE ALWAYS
GOING ON ABOUT?_
"wonder drug" marketed as HE GIGGLES A BIT AS THE RAIN HITS HIS BONCE AND HE DON’T
WHAT STUFF. MARTIN:
GIVE A FUKK NO MORE NOT A FUKKIN FUKK
OULET'S JUST GET
a sedative pill, but found OUT OF HERE

too late to cause terrible

deformities in babies if
taken by pregnant women.
In 1970s London, skinhead
Martin " Atchet" Atchitson,
born with shortened arms
and legs, is nicknamed
"seal boy." When he and his
friend Ruby break into the
ALL THAT TMAUPOMIPE
YEAH. SO RUBY TAKES MARTIN TO INHERE
library, he learns about the RUB Y LIVES HERE BUT HER OLD MAH .
BOLLOCKS. WHERE
IS IT ? THET KEEP ALL THE MEDICAL 800KS
AND THAT.
WOULD KILL HIM If MARTIN KNOCKED
drug company directors THIS LATE SO HE THROWS THIS BIT
Of BRICK UP AT HER WINDOW LIKE. UNO HE READS AND HE HEARS ALL ABOUT
THIS LITTLE FUKKER CALLED THALIDOMIDE
behind his birth defects.
HOW IT WAS MADE BY THESE HERMAN CUNTS AND WAS SUCH ;
He will not be stopped from A POXY LITTLE DRUG THE KRAUTS HAD TO LIE THEIR FUKKIN
HEADS OFF TO MAKE ANY MONEY OUT OF IT.

exacting his fitting revenge.

Fuelled by the clarity of MARTIN? MARTIN.

WHAT YOU DOING.
YOU SMASHEDTHE-
fury, British writer Peter A*0 THEN THE WHOLE STREET
STARTS TO WAKE UP SO
MARTIN LEGS IT
MEET ME0UTSI0E
Milligan and artists THE LIBRARY IN
FIFTEEN MINUTES.
HE DON'T CARE ABOUT
Brendan McCarthy and RUNNING NO MORE DON'T
GIVE A FUKK ABOUT FALLING
OVER AND FUKKIN UP HIS
Carol Swain pull no FACE OR ANT FUKKIN THING.

NOBODY GAVE A FUKK. ALL THEY CARED ABOUT

punches. Notice how they I WAS MAKING MONEY.

avoid using borders, ANPHOVY thecuntswere still making

0RUGS EVEN AFTER THEY’D MADE ALL THE
SEAL BOYS AND SEAL BIRLS
dividing panels with a CLEVER BASTARDS.
MARTIN ’ATCHET'S A FUKKIN
lamppost, bookcase or S KIN?

other graphic elements.

Where’s My
Baby Now?
Pregnant film actress
Raquel is just too busy to
have her baby herself, so
here she pays her Italian
cleaning lady Gigina to
bear it for her. But this
arrangement gets out of
hand when Gigina has
to stop. She returns the
embryo to the clinic, where,
unknown to Raquel, it is
frozen and flown to lapan.

To cover up this error, the

doctor's assistant finds a
genetically engineered
substitute, which Raquel
cuddles here like her own.
Meanwhile, her true embryo
has been stolen and
implanted inside a cow.
Claire Bretecher's French
farce takes test-tube
motherhood to its most
laughable limits.

READING ON: DISABILITY 30 | CLASS 176 I MOTHERS 163 | CELEBRITY 144

 Following on frotw Wheo the WIo</ Blows

ins... it**
■^HOLPON A
MINUTE, YOUNG
LADY-- >
VUTS SHE'S
HE *~£4
r$MPiey ^
BUTIER? 15 THAT
me- ^
Onc(e SaM
~ SORRY ^
P!P I STARTLE BEEN A STBAN6E
s. TOU? .4 PAY. 1 THOUGHT...
'young? ^ HOY QUITE, PEAK TJ
It's been a strange day for
OH, YOU ARE IN 1914- WHEN THE WORLD'
.A PEAR; . was between empires-;
HE WAS THE COMMANDING
. <SENEMLO£>DUR i
this once proud symbol of
k MARINES Jk
America, found dishevelled,
lying in the gutter, his
mind and body wandering
through the kaleidoscopic
landscapes of his country's
I'M SETTING
SO BAP HUTU
5WE67I6,
LEAVE THSMAN HE LED ^
turbulent history, blurring
names ALONE . HI5TBOOR5 INTO
MEXICO.,. ^
past and present tragedies.
NAME SMEDLEY SUTLER
. BIN6ABELLB >
^ 2 THINK SO
DO YOU KNOW K >14X61 r ^
Sam is met here in a back
WHO I'M TALKING SAEE FOB AMERICAN
TOR s' OIL INTERESTS ' .
alley by Britain's equivalent
patriotic figurehead,
Britannia, who ponders
BECAUSE
l FELT THAT their empires' rise and fall.
WAY TOO,
DEAR

^ in AFRICA ^
^ .ATER. HE LED ^
ANPINPIAANO..0H,
. EVERYWHERE, s
THEM INTO NICARAGUA
AND CHINA AND THE WHEN HE WAS ~
This tired old man's journey
DOMINICAN . DONE. HE CALLED
REPUBLIC. HIMSELf 4 "GANGSTER
FOR CAPITALISM." a leads to Washington, where
he finally confronts his
modern self at his worst
and reaffirms the ideals
of democracy at its best.
Steve Darnall writes a
thoughtfully radical and
inspiring political treatise,
' 2 USED TO
Think the Son
r '7HESE5T >
painted by Alex Ross with a
WOULD NEVER
SET ON ME... . AL CAPONE HAD
OF COURSE, 1 ^
FELL RATHER A LONG r WELL, ITS GOING 1
WAS THREE DISTRICT*,*
KHE TOLD PEOPLE^ photorealist precision akin
TIME AGO. THE WORLD TO MAKE WHAT 1 WENT'
THROUGH LOOK LIKE A
WAS-WELL, IT WAS
QUIETER THEN, i . BLOODY CRICKET j
L. MATCH.
to Norman Rockwell.
V WASN'T IT?

Blrfh of a Ration
Fred Fredericks, mayor of
the real, underfunded
East St. Louis, is among
the African-American voters
who are all disenfranchized
as felons, far left. His
Well, well get this straightened
ouLY’all go ahead."
"I've been trying to reach you for
an hour. This has been happeiting
'Felon! I ain't no felon.
I'm a Hnited States
-VC'liai does Mt kind of has to do with *You actual!) want me to be an "Spare me the response is to secede the
this has to do Islam indirectly, I mean , Arab terrorist in this day and righteous indignation.
at the other polling spots." postal worker!* with Islam?' if \ou think about it—' age?That's so . .stereotypical." Habib! You own a "-11‘ city from the Union and
found a new nation, "Black
Land," whose "offshore"
bank turns it into Middle
America's own Switzerland.

"So it’s not like you're an ice skater or a fireman! I mean, you're "Apu's "Same shit! You've been a External threats and money
not exactly breaking down barriers with this convenience Indian—* sleeper for so long, my

•Hey I’m bout to be a felon if *1—I'm sorry .. "Damn! I knew this “Everyone just calm store Know what you are to these people? You're Apu, friend. You've forgotten your woes soon arise. Habib,
you don't la me vote for one 1 don't know was a waste of time! down. I'm gonna get What, you think we don't get The Simpsons in Saudi Arabia? loyalties .. and you know

of these worthless crackers!*
gonna be a situation. No. we
need < bounty no local cops .."
what's going on* We ain't no felons!' to the bottom of this We get it. Satellite dishes.You're nothing more than Apur what we do to traitors.' a 7-11-owning Arab sleeper
terrorist, is pressed here by
an OPEC agent to kill Black
Land's president, while the
CIA want him dead too.
Writers Aaron McGruder
and Reginald Hudlin and
'Here is your
primary target,
'I don't need
surveillance photos.
artist Kyle Baker run with
"I'm sorry: "I can't vote? Ms 'Are you
Ms. Jackson." Jackson can't vote?" for real?!'
President Fred
Fredericks—'
the man comes in
here every day!'
"Morning the idea of a downtrodden
Habib!'

public taking control of the

tools of capitalism and
somehow winning the day.

HEADING ON: MYTHS & LEGENDS 101 | AGEING 180 | POLITICAL SATIRES 140 | CIVIL LIBERTIES 96
Chapter 11
Muiioz ^ Snmpayo
Above: Title page from Richard
Doyle’s 1854 satirical grand tour
Opposite: Hugo Pratt’s Corto
Maltese maps his next voyage
Travel no
t may be "oh so nice to go travelling,” but we don’t
need to leave our armchairs to experience lands and
lives different or distant from ours. Sometimes a good
guide, or a good guidebook, can take us there and help
us to discover and appreciate another place or time,
faraway or on our doorstep. One particularly good,
influential guide was a French-speaking Chinese sculptor
who won a scholarship to study in Belgium in 1931. On
the afternoon of May Day in 1934, this student located
the correct apartment on the rue Knapen in Brussels and
at 5 o'clock rang the doorbell. He was right on time to
take Sunday tea with the up-and-coming strip cartoonist,
roughly one year older than him, who lived there
with his young wife. The two men had been
corresponding since the end of March after
an abbot in nearby Louvain putthem in
touch. Now they were about to meet face
to face. The door opened and Chang Chong-
chen shook hands with George Remi, better
known by his pen-name Herge, the creator
of roving boy-reporter Tintin.
The rapport between Herge and
Chang was immediately warm. Initially,
Chang’s commission was to look after all
the Chinese calligraphy in the new Tintin
serial The Blue Lotus, about to run in a
weekly children's supplement for a Catholic newspaper
before being compiled into another hardback book, and
to give Herge's portrayal of his homeland more of an
authentic Chinese feel. But their working relationship
soon brought them much closer. For the next year or
more, they met for lively Sunday discussions, as Chang
responded to Herge's growing fascination with China, its
art, history, literature, language, customs, and philosophy.
He gave Herge a set of Chinese brushes and helped him
develop his line drawing techniques. Herge had not visited
mainland China and, much as he longed to, he never
would, and yet Chang's insights had taken him there
in mind and spirit
Chang also awakened in Herge an understanding
of the role that his stories should play in helping readers
to understand foreign cultures as they really were, rather
than trotting out the stereotypes and lies about them in
the press and propaganda, as he had largely done in his
first four Tintin adventures. He also could not help but
be moved by Chang's tales of his fellow countrymen’s
sufferings at the time due to Japan's expansionist
invasion, news which was hardly being reported, let alone
criticized, in the Western media. In a bold departure, Herge
made current incidents and injustices crucial to The Blue
Lotus plot and turned Chang himself into the spokesman
for his country by introducing into the story a younger
version of Chang whom Tintin saves from drowning and
befriends. Herge stood firm, refusing to alter anything
when Japanese diplomats in Belgium objected strongly to
the foreign ministry. This fifth album marked a turning
point, in Herge’s life and in the maturing of
the medium as a whole. He recalled: "It was
from that time that I undertook research
and really interested myself in the people
and countries to which I sent Tintin, out of
a sense of responsibility to my readers.”
World events and issues of the day,
thoroughly documented if sometimes
necessarily disguised, took center stage
in many of Tintin’s future assignments,
as well as in the exploits of other fictional
cartoon heroes in factual or historical
settings. In 1934, while Herge was begin¬
ning The Blue Lotus, the popular mystique of China in
movies and boys' adventure tales exerted a hold over the
New York newspaper publisher Joseph Patterson. He had
named a new strip for his syndicate Terry and the Pirates
and instructed cartoonist Milton Can iff to set it in China:
"The China coast is the last outpost of this kind of
adventure. Anything can still happen out there." What
Can iff launched as a thrilling treasure hunt by a plucky
youngster, his rugged male mentor Pat Ryan, and the
caricatured Chinese boy Connie grew progressively darker,
both in appearance by applying impressionistic swathes
of black ink with a wet brush to distinguish shadows,
textures, and folds, and in tone with a mounting eroticism
and striving for authenticity.
Can iff had no friend like Chang, but he did amass a
substantial reference library about China and he too could
not ignore Japan’s imperialist aggression there.
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Travels in Tiwe
Above: Rodrigo rides the road to
battle in Hermann’s Towers of
Bois-Maury
Below: Tintin and Snowy meet
Chang in Herge’s The Blue lotus
Opposite: Raymond Briggs tells
the story of his parents’ lives in
Ethel and Ernest
Long before Pearl Harbor,
he was dealing with its
repercussions head-on in
his strips, although the
syndicate insisted that he
should not offend the
Japanese by namingthe
otherwise clearly
identifiable "invaders.”
Whereas Tintin was able to
return from the Orient,
Terry was stuck out there,
caught up in the action,
and forced to grow up. As
current events and strip fiction edged closer, at one point
Can iff predicted the Allied invasion of Burma in his strip,
which appeared in print two days before the actual
invasion. The strip was reprinted on the front page of one
London newspaper and heated questions were asked
about how he knew. Can iff explained that he was privy to
no secrets; he had simply seen what was coming by
playing "armchair general."
When cartoonists do get out of their armchairs and
leave their drawing boards behind, several of the
observant ones have turned their impressions and
sketches of their journeys abroad into perceptive graphic
travelogues. One early humorous example, published in
1854 and probably based in part on his own excursions,
came from the pen of former Punch magazine contributor
Richard Doyle, uncle to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock
Holmes fame. The travels and travails of a short, tall, and
fat trio of Englishmen on a less-than-grand tour of
Europe were recorded by Richard Doyle’s 172
captioned drawings in The Foreign Tour of Messrs.
Brown, Jones and Robinson, Being the History of
What They Saw, and Did, in Belgium, Germany,
Switzerland, and Italy. Doyle milked now familiar
comedy out of this "vacation from hell," from
transport nightmares, surly customs officers, and
eccentric fellow travellers, to puzzling foods and
habits, run-ins with the law, accidents and
worthless souvenirs. It’s tempting to see Doyle
in the diminutive Brown, sketchbook always at
hand, who en route presents the reader with
some images of the scenery they see.
Updating this approach, contemporary
comic artists like Americans Peter Kuper and Craig
Thompson, and France’s Jacques de Loustal, have
had theirtravel journals published, based on the
drawings and strips that they made while uprooted
on a "foreign tour." During Kuper's voyages in
Africa and Southeast Asia, "I begin to shed my skin and
replace it with a travel hide, redefining vacation to mean a
trip away from routine and a break from the shackles that
keep my brain stuck in a rut.” Influences of local art
permeate his book Comics Trips, which was later reissued
in Japan with a CD-Rom of extra art, photos, animation,
and sound recordings. Before Thompson left on his two-
month tour through Europe and Morocco, he committed
to his publisher that he would draw on location every day
and produced a remarkable 224-page first-person diary
Carnet de Voyage. Other travellers, such as Glenn Dakin,
Josh Neufeld, and Rick Smith have chosen to savor their
moments off the beaten path more fully, crafting their
comics only upon their return, from notes, but mainly
from memories and feelings.
While most travel brings its risks as well as
its rewards, the acclaimed Swiss writer and traveller
Nicolas Bouvier recommended it: "You'll never le^rn
anything from travelling if you don't give the journey the
chance to destroy you. A journey is like a shipwreck, and
he whose boat has never sunk beneath him will never
make an old sea dog.” Bouvier could almost have been
describing the first appearance of "sea dog" Corto Maltese,
tied spreadeagled to a raft, left to the mercy of the Pacific
Ocean, his boat and weapons stolen from him by his
boatswain. Like Corto, his Italian creator Hugo Pratt was
a traveller, a nomad, a gentleman of fortune and of many
cultures. Pratt himself had seen his share of "shipwrecks,"
at one point in 1964 becoming lost, presumed dead, in
the Amazonian rainforest until he was rescued by Indian
tribesmen. His crisscrossing of the globe was a constant
source of ideas for his comics. Other influences were
Milton Can iff’s black-and-white or chiaroscuro graphic
approach to Terry and his enthusiasm for research.
Out of these ingredients Pratt imagined the
rugged, enigmatic adventurer Corto, whom he could
involve with the real events, places, and people of
early-20th-century history. A passionate bibliophile, in
later life he designed his mansion outside Lausanne,
Switzerland, as a library to house his collection of
30,000 books, each room devoted to a different country,
period, or subject. Often it was a mystery from the past
in one of his books that would trigger his desire to set
out for another destination and look for clues there
himself. He told his biographer Dominique Petitfaux,
"For me, my travels have been the chance to go to
a place that already exists in my imagination."
First-hand experience from travel or knowledge gleaned
from books, Pratt embraced them both and made no
distinction between them, in his life and in his dozen
captivating Corto Maltese graphic novels.

The line between creator and creation was also
blurred. Writing a tribute to his friend Pratt after his
death, the author Umberto Eco recalled introducing him to
his daughter in Milan. "At one stage, she took me aside to
whisperto me, 'But Corto Maltese, it’s him!' Only children
can see that the emperor has no clothes. Corto Maltese is
long-limbed, thin, athletic, with an art nouveau grace,
virile yet effeminate. Pratt was rather short, stocky, almost
portly, with a heavy face. But that day, I took a good look
at him, lit from behind: yes, it really was Corto Maltese.”
As for the sailor's eventual fate, Pratt never confirmed it
and rumors abounded. One clue, however, was given by
Pratt from the very start in first issue of Sgt. Kirk, in his
1967 introduction to The Ballad of the Salt Sea. This
consisted of a letter dated 1965, which quoted from
another undated letter by Pandora Groovesnore reporting
the death of Corto's friend, the Maori warrior Tarao: "His
death leaves a great emptiness among us, but especially
for Uncle Corto, whom I am worried about at the moment.
Those two understood each other perfectly, they were
inseparable. Now, when I see Uncle Corto sitting there
alone, his eyes dimmed, facing the great sea which used to
be his, my heart breaks.” It seems that to the end, Pratt,
like Corto, would hearthe call of the high seas, of one last
great adventure. Three years before his death, Pratt and
his close collaborator Patrizia Zanotti realized a dream of a
long journey around the South Pacific, to visit Samoa and
Robert Louis Stevenson’s tomb, and to complete the circle
by seeing the islands where Corto's voyages had begun.
Embedding imaginary characters in history has
resulted in other striking graphic novels, from Germany's
Weimar crisis in Jason Lutes' Berlin to knights in
14th-century France in Hermann’s Towers of Bois-Maury.
In Deogratias in 2000, another Belgian author, Jean-
Philippe Stassen, was among the first to denounce the
genocide in Rwanda. The genre of the western has all but
vanished from American comics, but in Europe it has
enjoyed a new lease of life. One of its great exponents is
Frenchman Jean Giraud, later also known as Moebius. In
1956, as an avid reader of cowboy comics in his late teens,
Giraud went with his mother on his first trip to Mexico.
Those eight months opened his eyes to the beauty of the
landscape and back in France he was more determined
than ever to draw westerns himself. Assisting the Belgian
artist Joseph Gillain, alias Jije, on Jerry Spring was a start,
but Giraud was eager for a series of his own. His requests
to Belgian writer Jean-Michel Charlier, co-founder of Pilote
in 1959, came to nothing, until 1963, when Charlier was
sent on assignment to California's Mojave desert. Out of
Charlier’s inspiring trip came the desire to reinvigorate the
formularized western, with Giraud as the artist.
Travels In Tlwe
As with Corto Maltese, Lieutenant Blueberry began
as merely one of several major protagonists in the first
episode Fort Navajo, but he soon emerged as the series’
personable, principal character, modelled initially on More Historical Stories
movie actor Jean-Paul Belmondo. Feeling that the fearless Carnet de Voyage
lawman had "been done to death,” Charlier opted to make CRAIG THOMPSON
Sketches from Paris to Morocco
Blueberry into "the very opposite of these classic heroic
Musical Legends
archetypes. He is dirty, ugly, and bad-tempered. He drinks, JUSTIN GREEN
smokes, gambles, and swears.” Blueberry might be a True tales of blues, jazz, and rock
soldier in the U.S. Cavalry, but Charlier insisted that "he is Laika
NICK ABADZIS
undisciplined, cynical, and hates authority.” The outcome Russia's first canine cosmonaut
was an atypical western series with a heart and a brain, Four Pictures
NICOLAS DEBON
whose every story started from meticulously researched
Canadian painter Emily Carr
facts. The first 320-page serial contrasted the violence and
300
prejudice of European settlers with the culture and pride FRANK MILLER
Widescreen Spartan warfare
of Native Americans. Absorbed in Wild West lore, Charlier
Dignifying Science
even wrote a spurious prose biography of Blueberry as if
OTTAVIANI & OTHERS
he had really existed. Hedy Lamarr, scientist
Biographies of real people, both famous and Voodoo Child
GREEN & SIENKIEWICZ
"ordinary,” can come alive via the comics medium,
Guitar genius Jimi Hendrix
although certain Beginners', Introducing, and Graphic Non- King
Fiction efforts come close to summarizing a life into a dry HO CHE ANDERSON
Martin Luther King, myth and man
textbook of dates and facts. In one better example, the
The Beast of Chicago
young British comics illustrator Frank Bellamy was given RICK GEARY
the chance in 1957 to produce his first strips in painted H.H. Holmes' house of murder
color, a 48-part biography of Sir Winston Churchill printed Deogratias
JEAN PHILIPPE STASSEN
on the back pages of the weekly Eagle. After Churchill Love and genocide in Rwanda
approved the early episodes, Bellamy started to
experiment in his layouts and panels, his subtle washes
captured by the quality photogravure printing. The Floppy
Warrior, compiled as a hardback in 1958, was an
undeniably pro-British hagiography. It reveals
the hazards of shaping any biography into
comics, of interpreting the facts and
legends, from the ancient Buddha or
Paris and Helen of Troy to the modern
Billie Holiday, Franz Kafka, or Martin
Luther King. As Alan Moore observed
when embarking on From Hell, his
account of the Victorians linked to the
Jack the Ripper murders, “It's worth
remembering that all history is to some
degree fiction: that truth can no longer
be spoken of once the bodies have
grown cold. The side that wins the
battle decides who were the heroes
and who the villains; and since history
is written by those who survive it, their
biases often survive with them." It may be
advisable sometimes to read between the
lines, or between the panels.
 Corto Ma(te*e no foco*
Who is Corto?
Wherever, whenever,
this globetrotting free
spirit washes up, Corto
Maltese is bound to
become a part of
history in the making.
Corto was born in 1887
in La Valletta on the isle
of Malta, which gave
him his name. As the
illegitimate son of a
gypsy woman from
Seville and a British
sailor from Tint a get,
Cornwall, his choice of a
wandering, seafaring
life seemed inevitable.
The life of his Italian
creator Hugo Pratt was
almost as adventurous.
Living in a variety of
countries, multi-lingual
and widely read, Pratt
was fascinated by the
cultures of the world. He
was also a relative of
William Pratt, better
known as Boris Karloff.
In THE BALLAD OF THE SALT
sea, right, serialized
first from 19b7 in the
Italian magazine sot.
kirk, Corto began as a
secondary player. The
first sighting of him is
through the pirate
Rasputin's telescope,
half-naked on a raft.
Corto is rescued by the
pirate Rasputin, whose
crew have also picked
up two teenage cousins
lost at sea, Cain and
Pandora Groovesnore.
THE BALLAD OF THE SALT SEA
relates their encounters
in the South Seas with
pirates, natives, and
opposing navies around
the time of the outbreak
of the First World War.
READING
“When I want to relax I read an essay by Engels.
When I want something more serious, I read Corto Maltese."
UMBERTO ECO
Setting sail
This page opens with
Ras, short for Rasputin,
All giSht, gas.
what MATT£GS and Corto taking their
IS GETTING OUT
Of h£RH todav. chance to leave the isle
&EfO(ZE
(JROOVSSnJoRH of Escondido. Because
CHANGES his
AMkJD/ Corto has proof of the
Groovesnore family's
scandal of murder and
madness, he uses it to
blackmail another
Groovesnore, now the
commanding officer of
the occupying British
forces, to let them go.
Notice Pratt's use of
daringly minimalist
silhouettes to give a
sense of space and
nature around them.
Having taken Rasputin
to his ship, Corto heads
off to see Sbrindolin,
an islander with whom
he has built a trusting
relationship across the
divide of color. The
anarchic Corto never
sides with colonialists
or others in authority.
Vou SEE, ILLS DONJ'T ALWAVS GOME To
HAGAN US. WITH TH£ MOslK, WE LSAGnJT
osgtaikJ thinjss to o<jg cost, with
Th£ /V\iSSionJAGI£S WE lSAGnJT OTH0GS
AnJd w£ shall lhagnj vst anogh with
ThH SOLDlHGS. OsJE ThInJS IS SJG£; W£
sJSVSG MAKS THE SAME MISTAKE
twice! i'm soggv to see *ou go,
CofZTo MALTESE. VOJ TGlHD To &£
okJE of us, AnJd voj almost
/VNAsJASSD it. Th£ OkILV THIkJS
Who is Rasputin?
WGOkJS WITH VOJ IS
He may not be the
infamous Rasputin of
Russian history, but this
Rasputin is a rogue and
opportunist, and Corto's
old nemesis, going back
to 190h and the Russo-
lapanese war, when he
was introduced to the
Corto Maltese Russian deserter by the
writer lack London. As
Hugo Pratt Corto once said of him:
1986-98, 8 of 12 volumes, 894 pages "I'd rather have a
tarantula for a friend."
ON: TRAVELOGUES 178 | ADVENTURES 159 TRICKSTERS 125 PIRATES 158
 Corto Maltese scene I?y scene

Living history
In the celts Corto plays a
part in Irish Easter Rising
by helping the nationalists
take revenge on British
officers for murdering
a Sinn Fein informant.
Nice place'
LOOK'S LUCE
WATCH OUT, CORTO. Here, far left, as Corto says
A &RAVETARP.
farewell to Banshee, widow
of Pat Finnucan, he decides
not to tell her the truth that
he has just learnt: that her
husband was no hero, but
was lured by British gold to
betray his countrymen, who
killed him to make a traitor
into a martyr.

In 1940, Pratt aged 13 was

enrolled by his father in
Italy's fascist army in
Ethiopia: "/ was Mussolini's
youngest soldier." By the
end of the war, Pratt was
on the Allies' side and
steeped in the country's
culture. Here, Pratt takes
Corto to Abyssinia, where
the Beni-Amer freedom
fighter Cush takes him to
a shaman to look into
their future.

In 1919, Corto winds up in

another hotspot, the Trans-
Siberian Railway. Here, far
left, Corto and the American
Major Tippit are mistakenly
shot down by an armored
train and presented to the
^-"ANYWAY.
r HAVE TO SEE
feASDNCORVOS \
Russian Duchess Seminova.
writings, me '
ONES IN
STEVANiS
J aViTTU CORTO IN SIBERIA was made
POSSESSION
into a color animated
feature film in 2002.

Born and raised in Venice,

/ evening, sharp eyes '
' r NEED ro GET TO
Pratt sends Corto there to
MELCHISEPECHS HOUSE
IN THE OLD GHETTO KNOW
C WHERE \TK? / trace a legendary emerald.
KNOW HSN
iRANPPAU&HTEP
ESTHER Even
BETTER .
Here, the trail brings him
s^HOPlN^X
at night to cryptic runes
carved on a Greek lion and
the secret world of Masons.
Pratt's 1981 FABLE OF VENICE
marked a new mature
simplicity in his line and
form. In all he worked on
12 corto books, the last left
frt pjV
/%» CORTO Xv
/MALTESE' SARON
f CCRWV I NEEPD
KNOW TWISAT FIVE
\lN THE MORNING; incomplete on his death in
tm • j 1995, of which 8 have so
far come out in English.

READING ON: CONSPIRACIES 92 | IRELAND 66 | HIGH SEAS 139 I APRICA 106

FoMowfir# on froivt Cor+o Maltese

Blueberry
The life of ornery, rebellious
U.S. Cavalry lieutenant Mike
S. Donovan, known to all
as "Blueberry," is about to
change forever, after he
is volunteered by the
President's chief military ..
advisor for an unofficial
mission to trace a man in
Mexico who can lead him to
half a million dollars in
missing Confederate gold.
Greed and treachery turn
Blueberry from hunter to
hunted, with a bounty on
his head. While hiding out,
far right, he confers with
the once-glamorous Guffie.
Her past romance with a
Ulysses Grant, who is now
the President, may help
Blueberry get a pardon, the
only way to keep him from
swinging. A gritty, world-
class western from French
team Charlier and Giraud.

Isaac fhe PJra+e

Isaac Soper is a gifted but
penniless painter in 18th-
century Paris, who dreams
of bringing back riches
from the high seas so that
he can marry his lovely
Alice. A wily ship's surgeon
offers him a voyage that
will take only a few days,
but here, once on board,
Isaac finds himself bound
for the Americas.

When the ship is taken over

by pirates, Isaac discovers
that he has been lured into
this adventure in order to
paint the exploits of the
notorious pirate captain,
lohn “The Pillager." Here,
far right, for an "audition,"
lohn orders Isaac to sketch
his portrait. French author
Christophe Blain shows how
painter and pirates form a
bond as lohn recklessly sets
out to explore Antarctica.

READING ON: BETRAYALS 124 REBELS 144 PIRATES 156 ARTISTS & MODELS 174
 Following on frotv> Cor+o Maftere

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birtw« s^.k^
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4»rU waves tkev
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r»iN btw? ,^(

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~Tk£ ^a*'^ islfirlj 5
■f~®i!»w «s odf-.
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Sm*II iSkriiU jut -f(,e T
G*/ip— boafj We to
b< Qifcful +» reMflw
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rftffeifoij oh the ifefHi
°f Water fhey *h«c#1
de/Hf'feJ cW
the •pp*ff»t« suit »p
^eUa*- f* whe/g tfvf
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/jbauf tuc^ly fX*Sjt*)4(/s
SC*tjef<4, rtoorjA
feadiN^ fJtuif*ft/s
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J'4tY'M3 c«rAs . mc"
MW ‘•‘ft'* «*4
■f l,Pr,/r*j. iNOpjely thr*,^
Rfoht Reason?
}*** chute s •
English cartoonist Glenn
Dakin uses his character
Abe as an alter ego to
examine his feelings about
life. Here, Abe travels to
Finland, home to Tove
mIsis JtoriUtrJ [f
fha(- it* h'fc We C/W< Jansson's magical moomins.
©Mr dwn ciVci/rtrFsfJcej -
Rather than sketch or take
photos while he was there,
Dakin preferred to work
after his return from
memory and emotion and
draw straight on the page.
7 produced all these
WWl UirJp nlo,ij it* tke squiggly, minimal versions
the ro«4 I*- jofh
* 3^y jf-MMer - of things that expressed
tl,i Sl*fjS pi I .f st„;

H keep r.^iNj porwH^«( Trc<cf-»rj ^st^rio^sfy how they felt to me rather

ka-/Jf H,e h<M-fe*„r.
than what they looked like."
^ ^ His loose sketches and brief
notes convey the immediacy
of being there, appreciating
the unfamiliar. This almost
abstract panel evokes the
great outdoors at night.

A Few
Perfect Hours
Fresh out of college, hungry
for experience. New Yorker
losh Neufeld and partner
Sari Wilson embarked on an
18-month tour of Southeast
Asia and Central Europe.
The people they met, their
observations and
experiences, became the
subjects of Neufeld's
graphic travelogue.
Here he has to confront his
romantic illusions about
adventure when spring
rains flood Thailand's
underground "Cave of
Fear," forcing them through
a half-submerged passage
so narrow that they have to
slide along it belly down
like a snake. Different type
and captions distinguish
losh and Sari's viewpoints,
such as Sari's brief comfort
in remembering Christmas.

READING ON: TRAVELOGUES 90 | YOUTH 146 | NATURE 54 | ADVENTURES 90

Bu<i<jha in focus
“Exciting, humanly moving, revealing, it makes the Buddha’s achievement
much more real than just reciting the traditional facts. I read each volume
without putting it down. Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu! Three times excellent!”
TENZIN ROBERT THURMAN, PRESIDENT OF TIBET HOUSE

God of manga Siddhartha

Siddhartha leaves the
In post-war Japan, a
stifling luxury of his
young qualified doctor
royal upbringing,
named Osamu Tezuka
because he wants to
(1928-89) chose comics
rather than medicine for experience the real
his profession. Comics world and find answers
to why people suffer
at the time were
basically for children, and die. After he and
so Tezuka took the his pariah friend Tatta
opportunity to have rescued Migaila,
revolutionize them with the female leader of a
his exciting stories, bandit gang, they come
strongly influenced by across a dying
movies and American grandmother begging
animation. His approach for water.
inspired many other
artists to enrich the The old woman has
field and he came to be been abandoned by her
revered as Japan's son, a poor slave, but
“God of manga." she accepts her fate
because it makes life
Tezuka s firm belief in easier for her son and
the validity of his his wife and eight kids.
medium, coupled with
his restless drive to For Siddhartha, her
outdo his peers, spurred matter-of-fact
him in 1972 to create a suffering and death
9-volume retelling of reveal the shocking
the life of Buddha. reality of the lives of
Though Tezuka was not slaves and pariah.
a Buddhist himself, he Before returning home,
was a humanist who Siddhartha turns back
always dealt with moral to the old woman's
issues in his work. corpse and thinks,
“Madam... Goodbye...
You didn't die in vain.“

Tezuka demonstrates
how the Indian prince
Siddhartha comes
to understand the
purpose of life beyond
suffering and manages
to transcend the
Nature mystery of death. He
also takes the time to
The grandeur of nature
explore the lives of
features prominently in
many other characters
vibrant landscapes, and
in crisis, all of whom
especially impressive
are profoundly
trees. Tezuka usually
changed by Buddha's
draws landscapes in
great detail to contrast Buddha example and teachings.

with the more simplified Osamu Tezuka

figures within them. 2003-5, 5 of 9 volumes, 1,884 pages

READING ON: RELIGION 106 | MOTHERS 30 | GURUS 28 MEDITATION 54

 Bu4<jha scene tv scene

Pieces of life
India was regimented by
a caste hierarchy. To cure
his "unclean" wife Migaila,
Tatta and Siddhartha have
sucked the poison from her
body. When Siddhartha's
strict ascetic teacher Dhepa
discovers this, far left, he
accuses his pupil of perver¬
sity. Tezuka never worries
about breaking the illusion
of reality, here making the
prince aware of being
inside a comic,exaggerating
Tatta's fury, and reducing
Dhepa to his comedy icon,
a "gourd-pig. “

Tezuka's extraordinary
imagery, left, transports us
to Siddhartha's vision of
the universe swirling with
^linked, living souls. Acting
on advice from his wise
spirit guide Brahman, he
takes back a piece of life so
that the dead princess
Sujata can be born anew.

Among Tezuka's other

characters whose lives
are affected by Buddha is
Devadetta. He grows up into
a fearsome swordsman and
becomes a symbol of war
and the law of survival.
Here, far left, he tracks
down Siddhartha, who is
now enlightened and called
the Buddha, in a tomb. He
has been driven there by
his long battle with the
temptations of the "mara"
or devil. Enlightenment
does not come easily.

Another key player arrives,

left, the arrogant Prince
Crystal, who is insulted by
Buddha's disrespect. The
reason he cannot get up
is that he is trying to save
his former tutor Dhepa by
giving him a primitive blood
transfusion via a hard,
hollow stalk, a nod to
Tezuka's medical expertise.

READING ON: FUNNY ANIMALS 120 IAPAN 47 MORALITY 176 DREAMS 98

FoMowin.? on froM Buddha

Louh Rid MOW DARE yOU REFUSE THE SACRA¬

MENT TO THOSE WHO ,
Martyr or madman? To WOULD TAKE UP ARPIS HOW DARE
IN DEFENCE OF < YOU OPPOSE
THEIR MOST ( YOUR PRIEST /
some Canadians, Louis Riel SACRED RIGHTS ! > /j. Kwaidi

was a founding father of

their nation but to others he
was a murderer who almost
tore the country apart. In
his 291-page biography,
the Toronto-based Chester
Brown concentrates on
ROME HAS INSIDE THE CHURCH
Riel's antagonism with the FALLEN ! GET
1 PROPOSE THAT WE SET UP OUR OWN
OUT OF MY
WAY • i PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT AND
Canadian government from THAT WE TAKE UP ARMS TO DEFEND
OUR RIGHT TO DO SO / -—rfS

1869 to his trial for treason

and hanging in 1885.

A passionate supporter of
his fellow Metis, people with
:wi:-
both Indians and whites in
their family trees. Riel,
right, forces his way into a NO THEY WON'T. THEY'tl HAVE TO HAVE PUBLIC SYMPATHY IS BOUND TO
A TRIAL -- THAT TRIAL IS BOUND TO GET SWAY TOWARDS US. WHEN THAT
church to hold a vote on NATION WIDE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE IT
Will BE MY OPPORTUNITY TO GET OUR SIDE
HAPPENS, THE AUTHORITIES WON'T
DARE MAKE ME A MARTYR.
v — _v Of THE STORY OUT.
armed rebellion. Later, far
right, he decides to give
himself up, sure that a trial
will aid his cause. Brown's
monumental figures and
detailed textures are
inspired by Harold Gray's
LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE Strips. •<ap“

TheUtoe
of Bofcfian
By the early 20th century
and the last years of the
Meiji period, the rush to
modernize and Westernize
was deeply affecting the
Japanese, intellectuals and
ordinary people alike. Some
were resigned to change,
even embracing it; others
suffered because of the
contradictions it stirred up.
To record these tensions,
TO BE
creators liro Taniguchi and SURE IT'S
WHAT THEY
CALL A
Matsuo Sekikawa based "LUCKY CAT"
IN THE OLD
their manga on the real STORIES.

thoughts of figures of the

time, mixed with imaginary
encounters. Here, famous ^
author Soseki Natsume
discusses his next novel
botchan, while the adopted
stray black cat who inspires
his serial I am a cat prowls
round his garden. These
pages read right to left.

READING ON: REBELS 32 | HISTORIES 98 | BOOKS 92 | JAPAN

 Fo((ow?nj on frof* Bu<j<jha

Bittie HoMav
Much richer than any
simple, factual biography,
Argentina's artist-writer
tandem Jose Munoz and
Carlos Sampayo paint an
intense portrait of the great
jazz singer from her
friendship with saxophonist
Lester Young to her heroin
addiction and tragic end
aged HU. The book blends
true episodes from her life
with a cynical journalist's
late deadline to hack out a
tribute about her, 30 years
after her death. A third
strand reveals the brief but
special links between "Lady
Day" and Munoz and
Sampayo's detective Alack
Sinner. Here, he remembers
how, when he was nine, she
gave him a whole dollar
to change a tire. He later
discovers that, without
knowing it at the time, he
was one of the policemen
guarding her hospital room.

E*he( < Ernest

His parents had been the
models for several of his
other books, including when
the wind blows, but here
Raymond Briggs tells their
real story from their first
chance meeting in 1928 to
their touching deaths. Here,
far left, Ethel Briggs breaks
down when she hears that
their only son Raymond will
have to be evacuated from
London during the Blitz.

VE Day was not a victory

celebration for everyone.
Enjoying a street party, left,
Ernest is brought down to
earth by a neighbor's grief.
Notice how his paper crown
crumples. This book lets us
see how the Briggs cope
with modernity 's exciting
and bewildering changes. It
serves both as a document
of social history and as a
son's tender remembrance.

READING ON: MUSIC 146 DRUGS 118 MOTHERS 48 FATHERS SONS 31

Frow Hell fo focus

“Jack the Ripper is the ‘first tabloid star.’ Moore's epic deconstruction, with
summaries and echoes of all previous Ripper scholarship, is a monstrous edifice;
loud with shrieks and whispers, broken quotes, ghosts, and doppelgangers.”
IAIN SINCLAIR

Post-mortem Dark business

This book's dedication The first image we see
bears repeating: "To in from hell is a dead
Polly Nichols, Annie seagull lying on the
Chapman, Liz Stride, beach at Bournemouth.
Kate Eddowes, and It is also the last
Marie Jeanette Kelly. You image, washed away
and your demise: of by the tide, like the
these things alone are traces of history. It
we certain. Goodnight, points to Sir William
ladies." in 1888, Queen Gull, Queen Victoria's
Victoria herself orders physician, who, for the
these five "Daughters of purposes of this fiction,
Joy " to be silenced, is the identity of lack
because they know too the Ripper.
much: the man who has
fathered a prostitute's Here, Gull freely tells
child is really Victoria's his illiterate driver and
grandson, second in line accomplice Netley that
to the throne. beneath the cover-up
of royal scandal lie
From the outset, when much deeper purposes.
this "melodrama in The significance of
16 parts" began to be this "dark business" is
serialized in the second bound up in the route
issue of taboo in 1989, Gull chooses for their
writer Alan Moore carriage journey,
promised that, by its which traces a hidden
conclusion, "the verdict Masonic "pattern of
remains open, the man s control" formed
history books silent, by London's landmarks.
the noose empty." He
described the project Driving here past
instead as "a post¬ Hawksmoor's St. Anne's
mortem of an historical church in Spitalfields,
occurrence using fiction Gull points out the
as a scalpel." Britannia pub, a haunt
of the prostitutes he
Appendices plans to kill. On the
Unusually for a graphic way, he has been
novel, from hell comes eating grapes whose
with two appendices: finished stalk he
page-by-page notes discards on the street.
disclosing which Gull will offer drugged
aspects are based on grapes to his victims.
research and which
have been deduced or Moore portrays the
fabricated; and a Ripper murders as
2U-page comic-strip a symbolic act to
essay which considers reinforce man's
the past and future of chaining of womankind,
"Ripperology." in a battle of sexual
From Hell politics that spans the
centuries to our own.
Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
2000,1 volume, 576 pages

READING ON: CLASS 66 | MYSTERIES 94 | CITIES 40 | SECRET SOCIETIES 166 | HISTORIES 182
 Fro*v> He(( scene ty scene

3 Wish io shorn
‘jco Sow^e. Someone
Rituals
Uho re<w>ces a\ ite
corafncncemcol' ot- ed<-h jcorpey
or .m^of^anV v/cn^re. « Gull's "important venture"
UsoK tyere...
commences, far left. Moore
and Campbell speculate
that before strangling Polly
Nichols, Gull gets her to
greet the masked iohn
Merrick, "The Elephant
Man," out for a stroll. He
makes her hail him as the
god Ganesa, and her death
becomes a ritual offering.

Far from being without a

clue. Inspector Abbeline,
left, is inundated with clues,
as dozens of people send
Scotland Yard letters signed
lack the Ripper. One arrives
1 sees 'kti,
Sfand'n" b|) the Cose-wsb with a human kidney,
ttwe.Tliat masK_,H«.he
addressed "From hell,"
giving this book its title.
Only the reader knows that
this letter has come from
Gull himself, handwritten by
Netley from his dictation.

As in WATCHMEN, and Eddie

Campbell s alec, from hell is
built around the unrelenting
"pulse" of a 3-by-3 grid,
illuminating changes and
links between panels. Far
left, Moore takes us closely,
mostly silently, through
Gull's last killing and
mutilation of Mary Kelly.
Campbell's deadpan clarity
makes the process ghastlier
still. At one stage, here. Gull
hallucinates that he is in a
modern office, where,
unseen, unheard, he
berates us for ignoring "the
black root of history. “

Gull's dying visions show

his evil living on across the
centuries, visiting William
Blake and Robert Louis
Stevenson, and here, British
serial killers, from the
earlier ",Monster“ in the first
three panels, to "The Halifax
Slasher" 50 years later, to
Ian Brady and Myra Hindley
after that. As Gull shouts at
us, "I am come amongst
you. I am with you always!"

READING ON: PROSTITUTES 122 DOCUMENTARIES 144 | HELI 112 DETECTIVES 118 | MURDERERS 128
FoMowfn.? on fro«v> Fro<v> Hell

A^e of Bronze
Whether the Trojan War
truly happened or not,
every era tells the legend
a little differently, from
Homer's iliad to Eric
Shanower's carefully
researched interpretation.
Shanower plays down the
interventions of the gods
to emphasize the human
elements in his expansive
7-volume series. He begins
with the lowly cowherd
Paris, who learns that he is
in fact the son of Priam,
King of Troy.

Here, about to return from

his mission to Sparta, Paris
removes the cloak that has
disguised his companion to
reveal the beautiful Helen.
His insistence that she sails
with him and her choice to
forsake her husband and
homeland will light the
flames of war between the
ancient city states.

The Ptot
Will Eisner unravels the
origins of the infamous
PROTOCOLS OF THE ELDERS
OF ZION, first published in
Russia in 1905 and
supposedly the minutes of
Jewish leaders plotting to
rule the world. Eisner
explains clearly how this
crude hoax was forged by
Russian secret police to
undermine a growing social
reform movement opposing
the tsar 's regime. Here,
journalist Philip Graves
talks with the editor of the
London TIMES, which ran his
damning report on the
PROTOCOLS in 1921. Despite
the expose, Eisner learns
from a bookseller in 1993,
far right, that this "weapon
of mass deception'' has
continued to be published
as a too! in very real plots
by those who want to seize
or hold onto power.

READING ON; MYTHS & LEGENDS 98 HISTORIES 164 JEWS 40 SECRET SOCIETIES 164
 Following on fro<v> Froivi Nell

Bertfn; Cfty
of Stone*
Through an ensemble cast
of assorted Berliners, lason
Lutes' 210-page book
documents eight months
in the twilight years of
Germany 's Weimar Republic,
which culminate in the
fateful May Day of 1929.
Here, far left, seasoned
pacifist reporter Kurt
Severing and first-year art
student Marthe Muller meet
as strangers on a train,
notice how, when Kurt asks
if she is afraid, Marthe
thinks of the soldier she has
drawn in her sketchbook. He
may be asleep now, but he
is a reminder that fascism
is stirring in the capital. On
their arrival, Marthe is
moved by a war amputee
begging on the street and
notes her feelings in her
journal, shown in
handwritten captions.

HE WAS Y0UN6. LONELY,
CONFUSED, AND NEEDING LOVE
mM
HE WISHED SOMEONE HAD TOLD HIM
BACK THEN HOW TO PROTECT HlMSElf,
NOT JUST
SEXUALLY.
BUT EMOTIONALLY,
Pedro and Me
Millions of MTV viewers
learnt from the Cuban-born
immigrant and AIDS-
educator Pedro Zamora
about the realities of being
gay and HIV-positive when
he appeared in the 1993

reality show the real world.

Among them was Pedro's
YOU DON'T NEED TO MAKE
LOVE WITH SOMEONE straight roommate on the
TO FEEL WORTH.
show, cartoonist ludd
YOU A RE WORTHY Winick, who created this
AND LOVED.
blend of biography and
autobiography as a tribute
to his friend and teacher
who died aged 22.
HE SO WANTED THEM
TO EMBRAC E THEIR SELF - WORTH.

Here, while we listen with

Winick in the audience to
an AIDS 101 talk given by
Pedro, the author shares
through the captioned
commentary his insights
into Pedro's vulnerability
when he was a teenager
and his dedication as an
adult to help others.

READING ON: GERMANY 180 | CITIES 126 | PLAGUES 97 | ILLNESSES 110 | GAY LOVERS 183
Chapter 11
w ar is looming in Europe. The invading German
Above: A1974 collection of John
Willie’s bondage serials from
the 1950s magazine Bizarre
Opposite: Posy Simmond’s
Gemma Bovery moves to France
in pursuit of happiness
Passion Beyond Reason
army is on the march. The year ahead, 1914, looks
bleak. What better time could there be for the last
remaining guests and staff in Austria’s opulent,
remote Hotel Himmelgarten, before they leave, to hold a
life-affirming orgy? Their ecstasies spill across much of the
third graphic novel in Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie’s
new Lost Girls trilogy. Pausing for breath, the hotel’s
plump, panting owner-manager Monsieur Rougeur
(appropriately the French for blush or flushing), a former
forger of erotica in Paris, addresses the entwined
celebrants with these exultant words: "Pornographies
are the enchanted parklands where the most secret
and vulnerable of all our many selves can
safely play. They are the palaces of luxury •juur wnmwa* ur
that all of the policies and armies of the
outer world can never spoil, can never bring
to rubble. They are our secret gardens where
seductive paths of words and imagery lead
us to the wide, blinding gateway of our
pleasure, beyond which things may only be
expressed in language that is beyond
literature, beyond all words."
Among those "seductive paths of
words and imagery” opening up to us
in more recent years are a number of
exceptional graphic novels. These let us "safely play” with
the puzzles and games of temptation and passion and can
be seen as modern equivalents of such 18th-century
entertainments as European gentlemen’s livres erotiques
or explicit Japanese shunga prints. Out of admiration for
this lineage, Moore and Gebbie's Lost Girls is a deliberate
attempt "to create a work of pornography (ordinarily
a dull and ugly genre with absolutely no standards) that
would be invested with all of those qualities which one
might expect to find in any other work of art or literature.”
Gebbie's illustrations, many of them in layers of soft
colored crayon, juxtapose the styles of such major erotic
artists from the past as Alphonse Mucha, the Marquis
Franz von Bayros, and Gerda Wegener with those of the
strange reveries in children’s classics. We are invited into
a good-natured romp free from care, a "pornotopia” in the
utopian tradition of much Victorian erotica.
Similarly looking back, Posy Simmonds reinterprets
Gustave Flaubert's 1857 novel Madame Bovary as her
graphic novel Gemma Bovery, in which she re-casts the
heroine as a modern English expatriate and Francophile.
As her name implies, Gemma’s character and fate are
similar, yet slightly different to her literary counterpart.
Like her, she is bored with her marriage and wants to
make her life more glamorous, like the glossy magazines
and movies she adores. All of us can recognize Gemma's
unrealistic expectations and her longing to makejner
sexual fantasies real. In her first graphic novel, True Love
in 1981, Posy Simmonds pointed out the absurdities of
British love-story comics by mimicking their overwrought
prose and graphics, with their second-color
pink, and showing how they feed the
daydreams of avid reader and hopeless
romantic Janice Brady, a secretary
daydreaming about a torrid office affair.
The things we do for love have been
repeatedly explored by cartoonists for
satirical or dramatic effect, or a mix of the
two. First and foremost is Robert Crumb,
notorious for his autobiographical strips in
which he admits to his most perverse
fantasies, often enacting them, and then
publicly castigates himself for them. Other
products of first-person sexual candor range from Unlikely,
Jeffrey Brown’s unaffected journal about losing his
virginity, to Peepshow, a farce about Joe Matt’s porn video
obsession. There is an element of schadenfreude to some
of these portraits of desperate male desire, embodied in
the tragic artist wrecked by his pillowy model in Dave
Cooper's Ripple, and in the geek collector besotted with
Asian women in Mark Kalesniko’s Mail Order Bride. In the
battle of the sexes, it seems there are no winners or losers,
only casualties. In fact, Crumb created his first graphic
novel, and his longest at 144 pages drawn in Prismacolor
pens, as a barely disguised love token in 1963 when he
was 19 and still a virgin. He gave The Big Yum Yum Book, a
love story between Ogden, a humble frog,
and Guntra, a hungry, naked giantess, a happy ending,
and gave the finished pages to Dana Morgan to win her
heart. Not long after, they were married.
Passion Beyond Reason
Right: Sultry Russian spy Jodelle
became a 1960s pop art icon
Below: With her Louise Brooks’
bob, Guido Crepax’s Valentina
Opposite above: Frederic Boilet
on the beach with his Japanese
muse from Mariko Parade
Opposite below: "Hetero hunk”
Axel from Ralk Konig’s Maybe,
Maybe Not
The Big Yum Yum
Book went unpublished until
1975, by which tim.e Crumb's
art and life had altered
irrevocably and the hippie
counterculture that had
adopted him as its reluctant
hero was waking up from its
dope-fuelled visions of free
love. It became clear that the
world was not going to be
made into a utopia, much
less a pornotopia, but that
has never stopped people
from dreaming that it could
be. In the panels of comics,
and in between them, artists
and writers have been
inviting us to wander
through their private "enchanted parklands.” Legal and Later, Coutts would sell reprint rights to the strips to other
moral authorities, however, patrol these "secret gardens” publishers such as Klaw. No women appeared naked or
and have frequently objected to any sexual subjects being showed a glimpse of pubic hair in them, but in the
dealt with in comics. In the past, this forced them to be censorious 1950s, Klaw came under pressure to tone
circulated clandestinely. In America in the 1930s, dealers down his products and insisted that Coutts alter his
would hawk so-called "Tijuana Bibles” on the street, in original watercolors to obscure every exposed breast or
bars, dodging the cops. For many people these pocket- behind with clothing. Coutts had shrewdly retained an
sized, crudely drawn porno parodies of film and strip unretouched version which he continued to offer by mail
celebrities also served as basic sex education primers. order. He also published an early example of an American
From the 1950s, publishers like Irving Klaw, New erotic graphic novel in 1958, when he compiled the
York’s self-styled pin-up king, were prone to crackdowns complete 55-page version of his longest serial, Sweet
and prosecutions for selling through the mail their pricey Gwendoline and the Race for the Gold Cup, into a $20 book.
plates of fetishistic comics printed onto According to J.B. Rund in the 1974 Belier Press edition,
photographic paper. The fetish genre’s Coutts "drew only from life or from photographs which he
pioneer artist was John Willie, saucy pen- took and processed himself. What he drew was a
name of John Scott Coutts, born in representation from real life; it was not merely fantasy.”
Singapore, educated in England, Unbridled, and bridled, fantasy was more the
and published mainly in America. province of Coutts’junior colleagues, such as Gene
He was the seniorfigure in a Bilbrew, signing himself Eneg, or Stanton, born Eric
group of illustrators based around Stanzone, the best-known artist of this persuasion. The
New York from 1946 specializing in roped victims and buxom amazons of pulp magazines and
drawing bondage and domination. comic books had stirred his interest in drawing in his
Coutts set up his own magazine, teens. "Since I was only young and not very successful at
Bizarre, in which he first published the art of love, I invented my own little world of which I
episodes of his almost quaint am king.” At the age of 22, he offered Klaw his services
"cartoon adventure serials," in and his 1948 debut Battling Women began a 10-year
the vein of damsel-in-distress association, developing stories of high-heeled, steely-eyed
cliffhangers, pitting Sweet dominatrixes in tracts like Girls’ Figure Training Academy
Gwendoline against the and Madame Discipline. Most were written by Klaw and
moustached, bungling others and Stanton used art assistants too, notably his art
scoundrel Sir Dystic d’Arcy, a school classmate and co-creator of Marvel’s Spider-Man
caricature of Coutts himself. and Doctor Strange, Steve Ditko. From 1959 they shared a

studio until the police raided it in 1966 and confiscated
and destroyed much of Stanton's artwork. Undeterred, he
prospered as his own publisher and artist-for-hire in the
1970s, visualizing the esoteric bespoke fantasies
submitted by his varied clientele. What he called his
"private commissions for private thoughts” found a much
wider readership after Taschen Books reprinted them in
the 1990s in a mass-market format.
Promoted by Playboy, the sexual revolution of the
1960s hit comics too in magazines and books for adults
(and males) only. Publisher Hugh Hefner had always
wanted to be a cartoonist, so he lavished close
attention and a generous budget on Harvey
Kurtzman and his team in 1962 to get the
world’s most costly and comely dumb blonde,
Little Annie Fanny. After positive responses to
translations of Barbarella in 1964, the hip
magazine Evergreen Review hired Michael
O'Donoghue and Frank Springerto
devise the endlessly exploited yet
virtually silent Phoebe Zeit-Ceist,
hailed by Oh Calcutta!'s Kenneth Tynan
as "my favorite toy.” European creators
tended to see their heroines as more than
submissive, or non-consenting, sex objects.
In 1966, French publisher Eric Losfeld
followed up Barbarella with another erotic
album for intellectuals, Jodelle, written by Pierre Bartier,
drawn by Guy Peellaert, a Belgian artist from an
advertising background, and promptly banned as well.
Resembling the singer Sylvie Vartan, Jodelle was a fiery,
redheaded Russian spy on a mission in a Las Vegas-style
ancient Rome, illustrated in a brash, pop art manner very
much of its time. No fancy Barbarella-type names for
Italian maestro Guido Crepax; he named his cool,
enterprising photographer from Milan Valentina, after his
12-year-old niece, and Rosselli, in honor of the anti-fascist
Rosselli brothers. Crepax invented erotically charged
layouts, sometimes kaleidoscopic, breaking up slight,
sensuous movements into clusters of compact panels. He
made Valentina’s adventures increasingly dream-oriented
as she solved the mystery of her personality.
Also in the 1960s, one artist above all was defining
a self-confident, positive icon of gay masculinity. After his
debut cover of a jolly logger for Physique Pictorial in 1957,
Touko Laaksonen became better known as Tom of Finland.
"I work very hard to make sure that the men I draw having
sex are proud men having happy sex.” Short on plot, but
long on erections, his mainly wordless comics highlighted
a lusty biker dressed top-to-toe in black leather named
Kake. Like Willie and Stanton, his once-banned comics
Passion Beyonc/ Reason
have also been republished for general bookstores in
a set of five volumes "sized to fit perfectly in one hand.”
Homoerotic graphic novels now encompass the smart
observations of Howard Cruse and Tom Bouden, the More Passionate Stories
hilarity of Germany’s Ralf Konig, the true story of Samuel Summer Blonde
Delany’s taboo romance with a street vendor, the vast ADRIAN TOMINE
Between yearning and intimacy
yaoi manga genre of love stories between boys by women
Omaha the Cat Dancer
artists intended for Japanese girls, and still more. KATE WORLEY & REED WALLER
Women have made also contributed Funny animals in sexy soap
riches to the medium in the West, starting Beg The Question
BOB FINGERMAN
notably in America’s underground duringthe rise Bohemian New York courtship
of feminism. Feeling excluded from and exploited Doll
by the predominantly male-created comix, GUY COLWELL
A sad loner builds his ideal toy
a new generation of female cartoonists
Small Favors
such as Trina Robbins, Aline Kominsky COLLEEN COOVER & PAUL TOBIN
(later Mrs Crumb), Melinda Gebbie, Annie & her six-inch playmate
The Pushman
Phoebe Gloeckner, Roberta
YOSHIHIRO TATSUMI
Gregory, and the late Dori Seda, Private desires in urban Japan
got their refreshing, challenging How Loathsome
■
TRISTAN CRANE & TED NAIFEH
? ' voices heard at last. In the erotic field, their current
Gothic gender outlaws
W 1 successors include Kate Worley, writer of Omaha, Birdland
Molly Kiely, and Colleen Coover. Anotheryoung GILBERT HERNANDEZ
Two strippers' gleeful antics
rising star is Tokyo's Kan Takahama, who has
That Kind of Girl
teamed with French artist Frederic Boilet to tell his MOLLY KIELY
touching fictional break-up with his model. Dez Diva on a raunchy roadtrip
A future for the adult graphic novel Max and Sven
TOM BOUDEN
seems assured, although Alan Moore has said Coming out, staying friends
that the third Lost Girls book may well prove
actionable. Flaubert was prosecuted on charges
of immorality for writing Madame Bovary. He was
acquitted, but it reflects how the adult novel was
mistrusted then as a new, subversive medium. Graphic
novels with sexual content have faced similar prejudices.
In January 1995, an individual British Customs officia
objected to two panels showing Crumb being fellated in
his My Troubles with Women. Copies were seized and its
British publishers, Knockabout Comics, charged under
an 1876 act with importing obscene materials. When
the case came to court a year later, as a defense
witness, I confirmed Crumb's standing as a master
satirist in the line of Hogarth and Gillray. Then
Knockabout's lawyer Geoffrey Robertson took the three
magistrates, one male and two female, through a close
reading of the story and put both offending panels into
their satirical and self-mocking context. Knockabout were
cleared of all charges. This battle ended in victory, but
recent convictions of comics in France and Japan suggest
that the war will probably never be entirely won. Crumb
once said, "It's only lines on paper, folks!!," but he knew
well how these lines can come alive in our imaginations.
That is their wonderful and seductive magic.
My Troubles with Woiwen In focus
“Through his confessions comes creeping deep understanding of weakness and fear and,
unexpectedly, there also comes reassurance: you are not alone. Whatever awful place you go
Fixation
“My whole trouble with
women is that I’m too
much into 'em." More
than a recurring theme,
women are a dominant,
overwhelming fixation
in the autobiographical
and erotic comix of
Robert Crumb, especially
women of a certain type
and steatopygic build,
i.e. with big buttocks.
Crumb's Catholic roots
seem to have instilled in
him an appetite for guilt
and a need to confess
his sins regularly.
But instead of finding
forgiveness in the
privacy of the
confessional booth.
Crumb feels compelled
to mull over them again
and again by putting
them down on paper as
comix for all to read.
The ten stories in this
collection date from the
1980s and most were
created for Crumb 's
kooky, screwball
anthology weirdo (28
issues, 1981-93). The
rest are taken from his
solo title hup, while this
story ran in zap in 1980.
It was the first two
issues of zap, entirely by
Crumb, that kickstarted
the underground boom
in San Francisco in
1907. In early 1968, he
and his pregnant first
wife Dana sold copies
from a baby carriage in
Haight-Ashbury. Soon,
his LSD-inspired strips
would make him into an
underground cult hero.
READING
to in your mind, you'll probably find Crumb has passed that way before.”
NICHOLAS GARLAND
Frustration
Those were the days/ gorgeous young things My CONTEMPT PoR WOMEN WAS ONLY INCREASED
WOULD SIT AT MY FEET, (LAZING up AT ME WITH" with the Bitter knowledge that these termer In this book's two title
SMRRY-BYEP WONDER, HAN6INS ON MY EVERY UJORDr CHEERLEADERS AND SURF BUNNIES WERE THE SAME
stories. Crumb draws
ILK THAT HAD SNUBBED ME IN KIGH SCHOOL...
U on MAN, AM I STONED/ himself as a mature
5MV6 LITTLE
F) MAKES TH£ LIGHT IN HERE
T 5EEM YeUOVVlSK-.SORT
SWOT-NOSE sophisticate in dressing
' V. of 0 G0U3CN GLOW/.. -
8PAT... .
gown, a pipe, and
Sotzii
OH LA^t
v' is, slippers as he wistfully
\tjoW
recalls his first flush
of fame and sexual
abandon in late 1960s
San Francisco. He
admits here to feeling
contempt for the young
"hippie chicks" who
only want to sleep with
him now that he has
become a famous
So I began t» TAKE a certain PLEASURE in RELEASING RUT I BECAME MORE BRADEN AS TIME WENT ON
MV REPRESSED HOSTILITIES AND BIZARRE SEtWTAS- AND THE EVIDENCE PILED UP THAT my "CUDDLY- counterculture figure.
les ON THESE HAUGHTY BoojKWAH FEMALES... VICIOUS" behavior fanned the flames op passion,
,.CAUTIOUSLY at FIRST LV3T, LOVE, ETC.WHO CM/ EXPLAIN IT?
Crumb has had other
f OH ROB BY, I NAH...1 GOTTA
CANT Yov STAY <30.. IU CAU. Ya "troubles with women"
TU. TOMORROW? okay? I
[ WANNA DO If who accuse him of
sorvte more./ r sexism and misogyny,
but he is always
hardest on himself.
With self-deprecating
honesty, he shows how
his conflicted feelings
about women grew out
of his teenage years,
spent in lonely, horny
frustration, lusting
after girls who ignored
Some girls 'would really set into my fan¬ §oMB GIRLS WENT EVEN FURTHER. THAN THAT,
tasies, dress Of, a AY THE pact to the hilt/ him. By the age of 20,
•VHimtfG U? INGENIOUSLY 012ARRE SEX GAMES BE
■mittoh m< 'BSfsuRPRise/^Bi YoND MY WILDEST DREAMS/ ,+u he had not even kissed
COME HM/ S -"Trim a girt. His hedonistic
IH.' we could
■
four TRi IT/, spree turned into a sort
«EAVC
SIAM of twisted revenge.
Notice Crumb's footnote
ftWERFUaY on sheena, the jungle
wm ewN>i
0 6
S PER- IBL queen from comic
(SHAOei OF
SH6EHAJ books, ployed on 1950s
TV by the statuesque
Irish McCalla, one of
Crumb's formative
childhood fantasies.
Crumb makes ample
use of classic cartoon¬
ing devices: drops
of sweat, lines for
movement or glowing
My Troubles with Women beauty, and wavering
squiggles for that
Robert Crumb
bulge in his shorts.
1990,1 volume, 80 pages
ON: FAMILY SECRETS 52 MEMORY 24 IDENTITY 52 | CARTOONING 136 | MIDLIFE CRISIS 78
 My Troubles wfth Wowen scene tv scene

9J) walked me W I WONDER-

Fetishes
streets of that
TOUW DREAMING «S5°V In “Footsy," far left. Crumb
Of JEANETTE
OATES'S LE6S...1 -v.
t •SSi'ffW-.,
bf /.o-o-ve J
COULDNTGBT /-
THEM OUT Of (
thinks back to the rush of
MY MIND' ^
puberty and his secret sex
games while in class with
Jeanette Bates, the girl who
sat behind him. These illicit
thrills fanned his schoolboy
dreams and help explain his
YES iT FEEDS TH&R VANITY TO BE THE OBJECT OF Mo
MO WONDER I'M SO TWISTED.
TWISTED.. I OBSERVE THE adult predilection for
\ FEVERISH DESIRE - IT THRILLS 'EM NO END TO BE UN- COURTING RITUALS Of THE HEALTHY WELL-ADJUSTED
couldn't ufA/T to tier to American history /
to
.w /n/vse
r ...
w/»r foot contact
UBM/Nfi EXTREMITIES
FYTBGtoincc rC
'— ""'I
ujtth the
'’r*. throbbing
TUC LUSCIOUS
/nrwuwf* /
mtnrvic 'GHJNY
V
{ATTAINABLE- TO TORMENT MALES OF NO INTEREST... GOLDEN ONES. AND l‘M FILLED wriy SMOLDERING RE
SENTMEWT AND ABJECT SELFPTTY_^~. women with sturdy legs.
SQUIRMING Cf THE ' OHHH 1 gf HEART OUT, SAP/ \(/' \ UTT Hop IN
SOON 1 DISCOVERED THAT SHE WOULD EVEN U r ggp, HA HA M . \ ) l A BEAUTIFUL Y MY CAR AllD GO TO THE
tove you
ME REST MT Peer RIGHT ON TOP Of HERS, SEND ujve you L_, DAY?? s~y\ BEACH ff . A-
/NO JOLTS of ELECTRIC SEX ENERGY THROUGH] ^WATCHING 1^/ if
I DO i j unworthy KE6BISH S V" I catty y
MV WHOLE BODY/' svff&vtu (J MOMfeN - Jmm \JFff S&JF,
TASHJ AMUSING.. MftL K' ^it ^T| When it comes to courting
rituals, left. Crumb's libido
liJ STRANGE
ECSTAOT WOULD
WELL UR IN ME makes it impossible for him
AND BECOME A
SICXLY SWEET
LUMP Of LUST
to play hard to get with
IN MY THROfiT.
MY GLASSES
WOULD START
women for long. When they
TO FOG OVER
AND IV TOR -
GET WHERE
recognize his desperate
I WAS-.. On THE OTHER HAND, I'M REPELUfi I Guess trims why the gnarled,
TWISTED 7POLL GETS HIS KICKS 8Y RAV ¬ lust, they torment him by
AGING THE PERFECT, SOIUUG THE B&W~
T/FU. PRIME SPECIMEN- OH, ITS A THRILL-
I FANTASI2ED ABOUT ,t (OR YEARS AND becoming unattainable.
YEARS UNTIL I GOT TO AOUALVY DO T>
£JHE
"WOULD JEALOUS
Crumb draws unflattering
BOUNCE
HER LEG
UP AND
self-portraits, exaggerating
DOWN
NEXT TO
MB
his scrawny body, big teeth,
THERE...
SO CAS¬ thick glasses, and shabby
UALLY
SO BRA -
2JNLY... clothes. Here he caricatures
A SO IM¬
POSSIBLE
TO IG¬ himself first as Goofy and
NORE/
then as a perverted troll.

"The mind boggles, but let's

imagine. “ Crumb indulges in
his wildest fantasies in the
absurd "If I Were King," far
Kveu at least were not parting on sad terms U I GUESS ILL.v- NO I DON HAFTO
AS A MATTER OP FACT,
J GET SO ABSORBED
LET ME MOVE
CLOSER SO I t
(i could srr herjt
DRINKING IN WU*
Pur your
FOOT UP
THAT'S REALLY SCARy'CAUSE THEN X St ART j-
■> THINKING WC'Lt SPLIT UP.'! I-
HAV£ TO DUMP
YOU So You'll
X HAD A HARD C.HIL0-
hooo . x oeseeuc ro left. Here, in the guise of a
50/50 ENTHRALLED CAN SEE SOU J BEAUTY TOR HOURS MERE ON HAVE If GOOD NOW "
GROW UP//
BY YOOR FACE THAT i , BETTER! jggg MY CHAIR...
royal painter, he revisits his
i cant eres paint' JILL AT LEAST |
1 JUST WANNA SIT J \x CANT IMAGINE ryor ■KINA Ml our Bt t
REINC, WITH you .. r NOULbH nil t ro Mt tp ]
HERE. ANP LOOK y>$
T AT SOU// ,
Know what to do n<th My-
x O BE A luRC*K' r T WASH l HOOKA
ED UP fO voujj high school foot fetish with
GRASS
help from his giggly model.
SKIRT I

These days, Crumb's few

It'S A Wt<RO
£XP6«je*IL£ ro
SEEf OBAWIH*
yol/ASBLF ov¬ “troubles with women "
en AWO OHIO.
tend to revolve around
his personable wife. Aline
WHERE was C YJUT WHAT ABOUT
WAS
TACKING about
OF TRYING TO CAPTURE
THE—THE -AH,_-
DON'T WOCftt' .
i uke soup soar
T'My personality' HNNARNHR.
Korn insky -Crumb, who has
CO KEEP you
ARTv-r^>sV' HMM,YEAHN... y——/" AROUND JUST ■ . j i JUS*
YEAH
. «)R -mss butt: { WANNA
' 'nooNSt been with him since she
YEAH THE BEAUTY r0H W GOO :
GOOD..
new r
i HEMJ
OP NATURE-
THE INSPIRED
THAT THING
O A
WONDfeR f
r was 23, and their daughter
FEEUNGS"
OF _/ /
NATURE; J Sophie, seen here in the
back room, now grown up
and a cartoonist herself.
Aline and Robert co-create
three stories in this book,
W | FLUCTUATE
each writing and drawing
A YEAH, THAT'S ^ j the brilliance GerWEiW WANTING (? ’
RIGHT.. THE - THE —-f OF THE BLUE SWT
UPLIFTING F FEELIWG 1 THE WHITE PUFFY
TO KILL YOU AND
HAVING THE TfcHPERfcST |
themselves within the same
OHM.
OF OF. OH GOD y^\ CLOUDS.- ^ FEELINGS TOWARD_/
1H-TH6 J V"----<T YOU... (-J
fL_, ,-* SMOOCH
panels. Here, Francophile
i) '''T" vk kiss
Aline is invited to spend
/BUT DON I
summer in Paris and Sophie
GfcT TOO
\ COOKY is coming too. The Crumbs'
unique “jam" comix let them
air their dirty laundry and
let us inside their sparky,
unconventional marriage.

READING ON: RESPONSIBILITY 146 | DAY-TO-DAY LIFE 144 | AGEING 180 | MARRIAGES 51 | FETISHES 51
Fo((ov/lf)s on frotv* My Troubles with Wotoen

"Fine artist seeks non-

professional model, $15 an
hour.” Balding, asthmatic
smoker and hack illustrator
Martin Deserres wins
a grant to produce his
"Eroticism of Homeliness"
paintings. Martin hires Tina,
young, large, very shy, and
seemingly malleable to his
every fantasy. From her
first session for him, right,
he has already fallen
helplessly in lust with her.

Martin's neediness and

Tina's new unpredictability
let her turn the tables on
him, far right. Canada's
Dave Cooper examines
their games of obsession
and control by having
Martin, still psychologically
ravaged three years later,
write his side of the story.
His notes and doodles
appear in red, his
recollections in blue.

Unlifcety
"To her, for being first."
Jeffrey Brown dedicates
his tender, candid graphic
autobiography to Allisyn,
the girl with whom he lost
his virginity. He employs no
captions to give an author's
voice wise with hindsight,
only the immediacy of
"young adult" love retold
across 227 pages, all of six
sparse, disarming panels.

Brown seems to keep few

secrets, here taking us
into the privacy of their
fumbling love-making.
No scene lasts longer than
ten pages-many are single
pages—but somehow, as
Ira Glass of NPR's THIS
American life says, "they 're
surprising, even though half
the moments in the book
are ones you've probably
experienced yourself."

READING ON: FETISHES J7* I ARTISTS & MODELS 158 | LOVERS 110 | IDENTITY 31
 Fo((owin^ on frotv) My Trouf>(es wM WoMert

J>orf Stories
DORI, WHY IS TONA l Cl DUNNO...HE SEEM3<

BUT X DID MEET SOME VERY

JUMPING AROUND
LIKE THAT AND HIGH WHEN HE )
!,r ,:.a.Vju why/ SNORTS
<
The life of Dori Seda burned
WARM, HIND AND UA/DERSTAA/DIA/G DOES HE HAVE SNORTS MY rtv-kcS
MY SOCKS'
- ^ . PEOPLE. AN ERECTION?
a-*AND UNDERWEAR.,
briefly but dazzlingly
... NOBODY’S
' a. re:, r
of > GOING TO
RAPC OR
rDOR1, I'M SORRY
I DIDN’T REALIZE
as San Francisco's most
WXiVvA AT OUR FIRST MOLEST YOU... YOU'D SET SO
PT^BUja^* swing party...
*7 I V£ JUST
l FREAKED OUT/ I'M gonna >
SWIN6' J
perceptive and shameless
/ ►/_ l
iY A ;.l
comix confessionalist of
the 1980s. To placate her
boyfriend, sweet Dori goes
with him to her first"swing
SfiSSPc
party," far left. Her nerves
DORI, I’M REALLY SORRY... I KNOW I)
SOME FRIEND
A /VICE ARAB PROMISED TO HELP YOU, BUT THIS IS
-lp~0*?r?H'iUST To° SICKENING-1
w
SHE IS// — soon give way to having
nv r dra-cu-la^/J
HEY/ SUIX61NG
n< *
Hr* „ OF THE PRIVATE j,
1 THANKS A LOT/U i$LAM// * DON’T LET 1
fun. The new, experienced
^rARey ) £ gotta-<7
>3 §5g£T/’ fZ
'JT
-™p%s? Everybody
CA/V SEE YOU/V i /T*Tv.^»\ ? Live HERE/A^M^ TONA DO THAT/
Dori no longer finds normal
snortr ^ C.'jdraflram IT’S NOT VERY '
LADY-LI KEN 4
sex with him as satisfying,
STINK! and the final straw is an
REEK; attack of crabs. This story
ends with Dori in bed with
"the true love of my life,"
VIE TRIED TO GO BACK TO NORMAL, NON¬
SLUT/

THE HCT TUB AMD «

SWINGING SEX, BUT IT REALLY WAS/V’T her male doberman Tona,
XI'LL NEVER THE SAME. a
THE POOL W FR<V/T B BE Trie SAME, MY NEIGHBORS
► OF 60DAMP
EVERYBODY I!
ACAf/V... '
MUST THINK < though Dori stressed that
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TOM* / WILL YOU J 7 I’M A i
l TO THE SWEET,
L SHY LITTLE DORI??
GET YOUR NOSE
OUT OF MY ASS ?r
Lmad-woman. 'LOOKS CROWDED
i TONIGHT... this was all in jest and she
'CAT
; BOX :
never had an unnatural
Ejwsk"
X HAD nr
ODOR
relationship with her dog.
DOG
' vibpator.. SMELL

Still, she shows Tona getting

turned on by sniffing her
dirty clothes, left. Combined
with her cat Dracuia's poop,
their stench drives people
out of the laundromat.

Mayfce...
Mayfre ^o*
In 1999, this broad, teasing
comedy of sexual confusion
by Germany 's cult graphic
novelist Ralf Konig was
adapted into the country's
largest-grossing movie
since Marlene Dietrich's the
blue angel. In an effort to
win back his ex-girlfriend,
serial philanderer Axel has
to join a men 's support
group to get in touch with
his sensitive side. Through
this, he winds up moving in
with gay acquaintances
Norbert and cross-dresser
Waiter. Despite being a
sexist boor. Axel becomes
their "hetero hunk" and the
object of their mostly
unrequited desire. Norbert
gets his hopes up here,
when Axel lets slip that he
may not be so straight and
narrow after all.

READING ON: SEXUALITY 179 | WOMEN 129 | CULTURE SHOCKS 179 | GAY LOVERS 42
Getvti^a Bovery in focus

“Hilarious ... Gemma Bovery deliciously exploits Posy Simmonds’ talent

for observing, in words and pictures, the absurdities of daily life
among the aspiring metropolitan middle class at home and abroad.”
LISA JARDINE

Destiny Adultery
For the rest of the evening I remember sitting there almost hugging myself.
"Gemma Bovery has Madame Bovery had a lover, just like the book! I thought it so amusing, fool that 1 was. Earlier this evening,
been in the ground three I awarded myself first prize for observation. That lovebite on her neck Raymond had spied
- one just knew it couldn’t be Charlie’s doing. No, it was Herve.
weeks." The opening The little brute got carried away. Gemma's "obedient
It was strange how that crass little mark changed one’s perception.
sentence tells us that van" driving up to the
How, like a seal of approval, it seemed to make Gemma more...
this expatriate English covetable. And her expression, which one had read as polite ennui, chateau of handsome,
now struck me as signifying robotic self-control. She gave nothing
blonde is destined to die away. Occasionally she blinked. Once or twice her mouth opened engaged aristocrat
here in Normandythe in a tiny gasp. Herve. Now at the
C’etait magnifique.
mystery is how, why, A, VDtt'retM Boverys' for dinner,
Ah perhaps gM.cienei. ..what would you
and was it an accident? Mada*vie will put o^cunst a notth- Raymond cannot spot
facluy w<vU • ?
any hint of her
From the first page, we adultery. But he grows
also learn that our / smug when he notices a
narrator, intellectual lovebite on her neck.
local baker Raymond
loubert, harbors secrets Oblivious to the banal
about Gemma's death chatter. Gemma goes
and feels to blame for it over her first liaison
"up to a point" because with Herve only hours
he "tempted the fates." before. Notice how we
enter Gemma's large,
This ex-publisher and multi-panel thought
bibliophile pompously balloon from her
almost believes he can detached presence at
will people into enacting the table, upper right,
the kind of grandiose and leave it to join her,
dramas in his beloved lower left, closely
literary masterpieces, watched by Raymond
as if he can make life as the guests depart.
imitate art. After all,
loubert does not sound Posy Simmonds puts
anything aboutyour cove-life about your girl friend
so very different from / _Comment ' another thought
Flaubert, author of balloon, Herve's, inside
MADAME BOVARY. Gemma's to show how,
unknown to her, her
jest about a girlfriend
Inspiration
prompts him to think of
Posy Simmonds is very his fiancee Delphine.
English but studied at
Cheers Vj
the Sorbonne in Paris. yC / N.gbt You don't need to know
\ Night
She explains: "I first any French to enjoy this
read madame bovary story. Here, Gemma's
when I was 13 or 1U. remarks help to explain
I've read it twice since /Herd Charlie Herve's questions.
then. / decided to use it -c'e'taXt
A^m-pathi^ue Elsewhere, key French
after I saw a woman on texts are "subtitled" in
' Al&ici Madame
holiday in Italy. She c'etcut cute
English; the others are
AoineeAup&ibe:
was young, very pretty, fairly obvious or not
and was giving this guy vital. Notice also how,
such a hard time by instead of intrusive
yawning. She looked outlined balloons, the
desperate, surrounded
pointers from floating
by Prada shoe bags,
and she reminded me
Gemma Bovery R-*:Ss text show dialog more
discreetly when used
of Madame Bovary." Posy Simmonds
1999,1 volume, 106 pages on white backgrounds.

READING ON: LOVE TRIANGLES 63 | WOMEN 121 | CLASS 183 | FATE 128 | DESIRE 180
 Getotoa Bovery scene tv scene

Sex or love?
I sent Gemma an envelope. As soon as it disappeared in the box,
I remember feeling a rush of self-disgust. I couldn’t believe myself, Raymond is driven mad
to sink so low as to send anonymous mail. Now, reading her account with jealousy as Gemma s
of how she received it, I feel even worse. It was not only base, it was fling with Herve develops
cruel, indefensible.
into a serious affair,
When the poste arrived Gemma was upstairs preparing for her
adulterous weekend, cutting little plastic tags out of new lingerie. In an hour she would leave including plans to go away
for Calais. By the end of the day she would be in London with Herve. for a "dirty" weekend in
That she had misgivings about the trip is clear from her diary of the day before. London. Raymond vows to
Tyk'C e yikgwbs tvjeAZbesi_- n-\o~y\?e it's mcstaj^e .Just boa rv\ncPi - tve nAfgwb notr smash their romance.
gckav\ . .rwC£b.t ruAy crufc of Riuygs bo so.y. I Co WOMb it to be a. U> ue CPC tWy trust w\A_y be
it i( a & et> . I'rvi suoh u •ftrcrL t it was jyenfec-b . S bruld' ve Lcf-t it as it
vocks ■ Tfrvb>.f-ie<d r\e\W I'U. scheAAsit ou>. The handwritten passages
we cut to here are extracts
from Gemma's diaries,
which the anxious Raymond
acquires following her
death and which allow him,
and us, to understand her
private thoughts.

ThanKS Raymond tells himself that

Justin..
fbud to loot myself Ua
Tme bcoGtZYTTcr™ 's
dJM/tys so iaosj aJpcroUr
ltsCC~c*s. t bo.d a. reaM,y
t-vmc-]r\e- f-oetiAi-J aJbcrut
it. AdoGroSS m/os tryy-ed
A\ eoyfs . .to AAa-dtwie
BovAsiaj ■ LocoU.
Poited y^AJte»da.y. Vcotn't
vvw^-t to it
Inside she would have found
two pages photocopied from
an English translation of
Madame Bovary, with several
sentences marked in yellow
highlighter. All from the letter
Madame Bovary’s lover sends
her on the day of their
elopement, ending it all.
3joke..don't BELIEVE it!.
It'S
Herve —he wouldn't! ■ ■ not
/ ^SNtike this ■■ he
/• * wouldn't."
the motive behind his
snooping and interference
is his desperation to save
Gemma from meeting the
same fate as her namesake
Emma in Flaubert's novel:
suicide. But he finally
admits that his real reason
is that he loves her himself.
Here, in a typically literary
flourish, he mails her
. anonymously two pages
Be brave, Emma, be brave! I do not want to ruin your life. from MADAME BOVARY With
.Believe me, I shall never forget you. I shall always be deeply some appropriate "sad
devoted to you. But who can doubt that one day, sooner or later, lines" highlighted, trusting
these ardent feelings of ours would cool? We should have grown that she will assume they
tired of one another..
come from Herve. Her fling
_I will be far away when you read these sad lines. I wanted to get
away as soon as I could, so as not to be tempted to see you again...
comes to an end anyway,
.Emma, forget me. Why did I have to know you? but so does her marriage to
Why were you so beautiful?. Charlie Bovery. As her debts
.Adieu. Adieu!. mount and a former London
lover arrives to tempt her,
How HARE he!? How dare he Oh God? ...is this the way they Raymond feels powerless
tell me like do it in France ?..
this!!?.... ...so bloody to prevent a tragedy.
PUMP me! cultured,
, they do it
Dump me with Designed in an unusual
like this literature'.?
vertical format across
three columns for the
guardian newspaper,
Simmonds' innovative
layouts integrate her
comics with blocks of
novelistic prose, journals,
letters, clippings, and
other graphic devices,
making the whole dense
and multi-voiced, and yet
always clear and elegant.

MORALITY 160 MARRIAGES 179 MIGRANTS MURDERERS

Folio veiny on froto Gewwa Boverv

/efts
Paklze HlusHedssHgHrS'and'admtttcd'tHat tfie JHe women gazed?between njy legs

Pat McGreal's veils hints at uvmcn even qppfy Henna to t/fclr nakedHodies- and,fretting. wHtsperedto Paddze.

what Orientalist painters

might have come up with if
they had created comics
using today's digital arts.
For Victorian newly-wed
Vivian, disenchanted with
her sullen husband, their
visit to an Arabian city
introduces her to unfamiliar I seemed to grope Jor the word..vulgar

i 4 ; , nB <nn
sensualities when she is jk v

invited into the Sultan's It Is a sin to Have Hair tHcrc, sHe soldi

■t+±+±|
also wHlspcrlng- THt Henna cannot He
harem. In the company of applieduntilIt Is removal..

concubines, this stiff English ' 4* *4* 4- •I*'

rose begins to lose her

inhibitions and agrees to let
JHcpaste tH<y used"Horned
Pakize and the others
decorate her body in henna. Qhfl surprise Her?
| / moanedclosedmy eyes, Hut couldnotfotp Had tHc tears.
Where will Vivian's voyage Paklze feanedforward THcrc Is a wjy

of self-discovery lead her? to dufTtHe discomfort, sfie offered

Artists Stephen John Phillips

and Jose Villarrubia fuse
antique tinted photos with
erotic "fumetti." Parallel to
Vivian's story, Rebecca . ri>l
I I surprised myse(J Hj
Guay paints the tale of an . yes. yes. Please.

earlier Western woman who

bore the Sultan a child.

'
The B(oe
Notebook
"There aren't any curtains
in your windows." It's the
morning after their first
night together and Louise is
falling for dark, shy Victor.
Little does she know that he
has become obsessed with
her, ever since he started
stealing glimpses of her
naked in her apartment
from his passing train. But
his fixation becomes clear,
far right, when Louise is
mysteriously sent Victor's
private journal. Completing
this love triangle is cocky
"stud" Armand, Louise's
previous lover, whom she
swiftly dumped, and who,
like Victor, has also been
spying on her. Parisian
Andre Juiliard stakes their
rivalry for her affections,
which leads to a death and
an arrest for murder.

L.

READING ON: TRAVELOGUES 68 | CULTURE SHOCKS 175 | LOVE TRIANGLES 176 | BOOKS
 Following on frotv* Geiw*a Bowery

Or<fer Brrc/e
Monty Wheeler is Canadian,
39, still single, still a virgin.
A geek who never grew up,
he now runs a comics and
toy store and lives over it
with his vast collection. All
that's missing is a wife.
Monty has "yellow fever,"
so he answers an ad in one
of his Asian porn mags and
orders Kyung Seo from
Korea. Problems flare up
when Kyung fails to be the
china doll and sex kitten he
ordered. Kyung wants to
leave her past behind. Here,
far left, she defies Monty's
plea to wear her hair down.

To assert herself, left, she

befriends Eve, a liberated
Asian photographer, and
starts modeling for her in
the nude. Mark Kalesniko
examines how cowardice
and dependence keep two
lonely people trapped in a
loveless marriage.

Streak of Chalk
They say it's a bad omen if
three boats are anchored to
this tiny island marked on
no map, merely a "streak of
chalk" in the Atlantic. Other
streaks of chalk, and paint,
promises of love, plaster
the pier wall. On a return
trip. Ana believes that one
message was left for her
and decides to wait for its
mystery writer to find her.

But can it be Raul, far left,

if this is his first time on the
island? Or one of the coarse
mariners, left, from a third
boat who decide to pay Ana
a call? Galician Miguelanxo
Prado builds a palpable
atmosphere of expectancy,
isolation, and brooding
desires in his lush pastels,
the island's abandoned
lighthouse symbolizing
male impotence.

READING ON: MARRIAGES 146 | CULTURE SHOCKS 147 | LIGHTHOUSES 54 | SEXUALITY 48

Lost Girls In focus

“In Lost Girls, the blend of Alan’s European heritage and Melinda’s
countercultural Americana, fueled by the artistic merger of
a female and male creator, is ripe with promise and potential
STEPHEN R. BISSETTE

Older children Telling tales

"We can't disown the Off on a summer
girls we were, we can 't outing, Dorothy helps
let them remain lost to Oh, do hold the bOAt still.11.1 1 Huh. Your less | If'n they're shAlsy it's 'causb Alice onto the boat that
don't hAVe my seA less yet, A
loots pretty sood 1—1 of how you And Wendy here was
confess I feel A little sh^ky. will carry the three
us." So says Lady Alice to me. n cArryin' on in the train while
-' I told my Story-
Fairchild about a quest women to an almost
with Mrs Wendy Potter tropical island on the
and Miss Dorothy Gale Bodensee. The crossing
to rediscover their “lost provides a chance for
girl" selves, lost in Wendy to tell them
Wonderland, Neveriand, more about her youth.
and Oz. They do this by
sharing their most Their outfits hint at
intimate stories at the Well, you do tell A I hope you CAn
their personality. Alice,
Hotel Himmelgarten, or Very stimulAtinS tAle
/III thAt shoving And
speed us to this the oldest, dresses
islAnd quiclsly,
"heaven garden," on the Spurting to the
SilASe is terribly
Dorothy. Other¬
wise I misht be
Yes, I was, exotically and wears
WAsn't I?
Austrian border in 1913. if feeling, you
Know.
compelled to her white hair long.
outrAse you
I’m Af rAid After
both here in
both your exploits Country girl Dorothy
the boAt.
it Will seem quite
Revisiting these classics, I suess not. tame. I come likes frills and bows
We better hope from A rAther
Alan Moore and Melinda you CAn Keep ordlnAry home, and keeps her arms
your pussy in you see.
Gebbie make no claim the corrAl
bare, while prudish
until We
that authors Carroll, mAlie lAnd. Cir\ you -thinK Wendy is covered head
of some other
Barrie, and Baum intend¬ WAy to p^s to toe, even sporting a
-the time?
ed anything sexual in large hat and gloves.
them, but by treating
these books as encoded The women's stories
sexual histories they excite and empower
open up a range of them, while Austria
story ideas. lurches towards war.
Alice stresses the roles
As Moore said, “if you imagination can play:
are trying to say “Sometimes it traps
something to a wide us, sometimes it's
audience about the Well, pulling
what sets you loose.
onset of adolescence, or\ those
OArs is doing
Beautiful and
what better characters marvelous
imaginative things can
We'd cApsiZe Ai\d thinss to
to use than Alice, drown, And thAt
your torso,
dew...
be destroyed. Beauty
would never do.
Wendy, and Dorothy, and imagination
universal symbols <• cannot. They blossom,
of different types even in wartime."
of children."
For Alice and the rest,
Their tales are so I suppose thAt’S another source of
WhAt mAde every¬
familiar that we can't thing Seem SO Very stimulating reading is
help imagining how their dangerous...
the hotel manager's
eroticized version will ...And I believe
.SO terribly “White Book." Monsieur
Wendy was goin enticing.
play out. Moore and to tell us A story Rougeur made his
Gebbie do not want to money as a Parisian
talk about these forger of erotica. In his
characters, but "about book can be found
human beings, and our Moore and Gebbie's
capacity for fiction and "forgeries" in the styles
sexual fantasy, the
subjective world inside
Lost Girls of Beardsley, Schiele,
von Bayros, Wegener,
Alan Moore & Melinda Gebbie
us all." and other erotic artists
2006, Slipcased set of 3 volumes, 240 pages
of the past.
ft
HEADING ON: FAIRY TALES loo | WOMEN 71 | DESIRE 176 GERMANY 167
 Lost G\r(s scene by scene

Souvenirs
Alice travels everywhere
with her looking glass and
brings it with her to the
hotel. It was her doorway to
desire, "a strange land one
discovers as a child where
nothing makes the slightest
sense." No longer able to
step through it, she must
content herself with talking
to and kissing her first love,
her own reflection, far left.
The action in the first and
last chapters and elsewhere
is made visible in this
suggestively framed mirror.

Oval panels like reflective

mirrors, pools, eyes, and
perhaps rabbit holes,
distinguish the chapters in
which Alice recounts her
past. Here, as a curious girl
attracted to Mrs Regent,
r
when H was ewer, just before sh> puled away she whnpered that
t conchided Was a slapped face. Then $h« left, the fa<br>g toes* "*<Vs chessboard tie. I felt w* had commenced a gam*, felt bedemed
she finds herself drawn into
an unfamAar land of Which she was the undisputed Queen "
the Red Queen's love games.

Dorothy is an open book, so

her flashbacks fill panels as
broad and expansive as a
cinema screen or a Kansas
wheat field. Here, far left,
at the same moment when
the deadly tornado
threatens to carry her and
the house aloft, Dorothy's
world turns upside down as
she experiences "the twister
inside," her first orgasm.

' The souvenirs of the more

reserved Wendy aptly start
each page concealed as a
silhouette. Here, she recalls
Peter Pan awakening her
sexuality further in the
spinney, while the claw-
handed Captain Hook walks
by. Shadows, some with
minds of their own, feature
in the peter pan story. In
one scene in lost girls, their
shadows behind them on
the bedroom wall perform
•Clow to your grass bed stood a tail,
♦stmgirthed man whose hungry biach
1 was 6o«\8 to krt hm do it to rrt, wJrnT
before "VProthfri and the other boys eyes darted UeM. and forth across the acts which Wendy and her
busW
“Nearby, a twig snapped. Cwryon* was
frozen. Ortrr placed hn hand acro» my
mouth to hwsh me I could smell myself
passionless older husband
WWV hh fngers
secretly long to do.

READING ON: AGEING 172 FETISHES 174 SEXUALITY LESBIANS

FoMowiri? on froiw Z.ost GMs

Bottersco+cfc
Besotted with vain prima
ballerina Beatrice, a meek
and mild physics professor
tells another dancer. Honey,
about his magic skin cream,
which makes him invisible,
so that he can get closer
to his dream woman. But
Honey can smell his cream's
telltale butterscotch scent
and decides to thwart his
innocent crush. Here, to
hide from Beatrice, this
naked "Invisible Man" has
cleaned and exposed his
face and neck so that he
resembles a lifelike statue
of a bust on the wall. But
how much longer can he
keep still and emotionless,
while Honey is turning the
rest of him on? It's what
you can't see but have to
imagine that makes these
escalating embarrassments
by Italy 's Milo Manara
amusing and arousing.

Casanova’s
.Everythin*; arranged; OS/.WSLY SOMEONE I .<EV WEu., I WASN'T OeWPLAW.fic;, ANJ>
N£*T TIME i C4ME PREPARE©...

Cast Stan4 a VtoYEUK-/

He may be 73 and nearing

his end, but legendary lover
Casanova plans one last
grand seduction of the
Countess Lascivia, and to
do it he ropes in Klutz, his
inexperienced underling.
Here, to fire Klutz's ardor, IF SOMEONE a SH0W.SPMEONE
WOiA-P CET A SHOW... t. t—yj
EM* i.
facT;oN.
Casanova makes him read
about another of his many
past conquests from his
memoir, my life.

On this occasion, it involves

a wealthy Venetian voyeur
and his mistress. Notice
how English cartoonist LATER, MT QtCciNAL MiSTRESS J&INEP it, Af/P THEN THE
VteYEUR HwWSElF.' FOH WE HAD.1 WIIAT EtoTiC CAME?
0 1 KU/Rc /
/ '> * ,
( CTF Y&O
>
HATtSk
AWP W'/tR BEHAViOVRL.- --„ . . CHARM HER —
faso’nate HER..&ur
Hunt Emerson repeats the MAYS 5VR£ .. AT .
rut Ft srivAL , A
\s«E»r week/
one panel and the phrase
"everything arranged,"
so we can spot the eyes
moving in the portrait. He
also piles up sight gags like
the drowned cat and the
fancy lights and mirrors.

READING ON: INVISIBILITY 182 | SEXUALITY 106 AGEING 151 | HISTORIES 85

 Following on froto Los* Girts

tAarlko Parade
It was like finding a kindred
spirit when rising talent Kan
Takahama discovered the
French author Frederic
Boilet in Tokyo. Both wanted
to explore the subtleties of
the human heart in comics.
Boilef 's yukiko s spinach was
autobiographical fiction, a
love letter to Mariko, his
model and muse. He invited
Kan to collaborate on this
sequel, the story of his and
Mariko's tender break-up
on a seaside photo shoot.

Kan, far left, draws the

couple waking up in their
"respectable" guesthouse
whose rooms have no keys,
while Frederic, left, recalls
discussing storylines with
Mariko. This touching East-
West fusion, hailed as “La
Nouvelle Manga," affirms:
"A flower is never more
beautiful than at the very
moment it begins to fade."

Bread and Wine

He two lol! baths rntwc foil tubs <£ water, with, / Dennis is a homeless
at-the end of each, the d<rt rrakinq a trail down the
middle of the enamel to the drain — beftre he
stood up to take a regular shower...
Irishman from Brooklyn who
sells books from his blanket
I must be on New York's 72nd Street.
pretty dean
^ now When a black, bearded
literature professor and
science-fiction writer,
-s/s bgosnds were.
3riu grey, b'jf ir was Samuel R. Delany, buys a
:.'3 -JrtpugM irfi dW,
at least there,
hod betems
book from him, it's the start
cart oP kim.
of a complex, tender, and
Youaot to take,
clothes of? n< lasting relationship between
two very different men.
Here, on their first stay in a
motel, Dennis cleans himself
up. Before he can take
a shower, though, he needs
to have two baths, because
You all rig
wrth'friis. it's his first time in a
private bath in six years.
"Then we held each other ...
for a couple of days." With
passion and compassion,
Delany gently shares this
taboo-breaking true story,
drawn by Mia Wolff, about
k.
bringing his partner from
the street into his life.

READING ON: SEXUALITY no | JAPAN 47 | CLASS 164 ) GAY LOVERS 175

 After+fcoo^Mr
M
ichael Chabon won a Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for his
novel The Amazing Adventures ofKavalier & Clay, a
brew of factual recreations and fictional intrigues
about a talented partnership working in American
comic books during and after the Second World War,
based partly on Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Inspired by Jim
Steranko, Chabon gave Kavalier escapology skills which
lead him and Clay to create their masked champion, The
Escapist. For many refined novel readers, it was probably
their first step behind the scenes of the boisterous, arcane,
and sometimes sleazy business of four-color thrills. In a
further twist, Chabon has contributed to a new comic book
devoted to The Escapist. Other big names in literature are
also revealing their enthusiasm for comics and graphic
novels, from Dave Eggers, Zadie Smith, and Jonathan
Lethem to Nick Hornby, Philip Pullman, and Alex Garland,
who disclosed that he initially wrote and drew his novel
The Beach as a graphic novel. Some in the word-loving
Ten Children’s Stories literary world reeled in 2001 when Chris Ware won the
Fungus the Bogeyman Guardian’s First Novel Award for Jimmy Corrigan, a
RAYMOND BRIGGS
controversial decision that apparently divided the jury.
Deliciously disgusting monster
Akiko
The graphic novel's increasing sophistication and
MARK CRILLEY acclaim seems to be finally fulfilling the predictions by
A little girl on the planet Smoo
Goethe and Updike, and the aspirations of Richard Kyle,
Mister Pleebus
Will Eisner, and the rest. But is there a danger of becoming
NICK ABADZIS
He steps out of your TV set too fixated on appealing to adults and no longer
Fred attracting younger readers? Chabon thought so, when he
POSY SIMMONDS
addressed the San Diego Comic-Con, America's largest
From pet cat to rock legend
Little Vampire "gathering of the clans," in 2004. He warned: "Children did
JOAN SFAR not abandon comics; comics, in their drive to attain
Bat boy in training
respect and artistic accomplishment, abandoned children.
Owly
ANDY RUNTON And for a longtime we as lovers and partisans of comics
Fur, feathers, and no words were afraid, after so many long years of struggle and hard
Shutterbug Follies work and incremental gains, to pick up that old jar of
JASON LITTLE
Girl photographer in peril 'greasy kid stuff again, and risk undoing it all. Comics have
Scary Godmother always been an arriviste art form, and all upstarts are to
JILL THOMPSON
some degree ashamed of their beginnings. But frankly, I
This witch is “wickedI"
don't think that's what's going on in comics anymore.
Jim
STEVEN APPLEBY - Now, I think, we have simply lost the habit of telling
Dysfunctional cat's nine lives
stories to children. And how sad is that?"
Goodbye Chunky Rice
Chabon called on creators and publishers to win
CRAIG THOMPSON
Making and missing friends back the junior audience before it is too late. Clearly,
children are the future, and withoutthem where will the
next generation of adult readers come from? Luckily,
comics are not just for adults any more. A number of
creators now have kids of their own and have jumped at
the chance to devise fresh, engaging graphic novels for
children. Publishers like Scholastic, Hyperion, Penguin, and
First Second are targeting the young and young adult
sector. Putting aside their cutting-edge Raw magazine, in
2000 Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly invited
children’s book authors like Maurice Sendak, J. Otto
Seibold, and Barbara McClintock to devise comics,for their
series of deluxe Little Lit hardbacks. The biggest boom has
been the invasion of manga, digest-size, black-and-white
paperbacks of up to 200 pages from Japan. Often boosted
by animation and games, these are captivatingyoung-
sters, notably teenage girls, who had been largely ignored
by the superhero-dominated larger publishers. This in turn
is driving more Western creators to work in this format.
Another blossoming field is "webcomics," cutting
out allthemiddlemenand putting the creator in direct
contact with the reader. Serializing graphic novels on the
internet, such as MegaTokyo, Shutterbug Follies, and
Scarygoround, is a great way to build up a massive global
readership. Gradually, different systems of subscriptions
and micro-payments are making online comics creation
commercially viable for artists. While the majority tend to
stick to screen-format single pages, others are trying all
kinds of unique avenues for hyperlinks, limited animation,
and multiple paths through stories. Liberated from print
and paper, the very physical shape of a comic is thrown
wide open by what tireless campaigner Scott McCloud
hails as "the unlimited canvas” of the web. More
debatable is what happens when you add animation or
sound. Are the end products still comics or do they
become something else? Interestingly, for all the
advantages of virtual comics, many artists and readers still
aspire to a printed book version as somehow more "real."
As a rule, any transfer from one medium to
another results in something being "lost in translation.”
You only have to look at the variable track record of film
versions of recent graphic novels, for example, From Flell
which was given "a happy ending,” and League of
Extraordinary Gentlemen, which lost the plot entirely. As
for adaptations of works of literature into comics, they

tend to be no exception to this rule. Founded by Russian
Jewish immigrant Albert Kanter in 1941, the fondly
remembered but controversial Classics Illustrated may
have helped some students pass their English Literature
classes. Despite painter Louis Zansky’s vigorous art, the
demands of condensing a book like Moby Dick down to
less than 64 pages left room for little more than Ahab's
obsession and battle with the whale. No wonder
educators used to be sceptical at best, branding them
"Classics Desecrated." A different approach was taken in
Britain in the 1980s by Oval Projects. They insisted on
staying faithful to Shakespeare's plays and keeping his
words complete and uncut, aiming them at being used in
the classroom. The book format with more pages and
painted art was a help, but the challenge remained that
the Great Bard wrote for the stage, not the comics.
Though I have omitted adaptations from this book, I have
listed some here that have enhanced the original by
playing to the specific strengths of comics. Occasionally,
some things can be “found in translation." You might call
these "Classics Illuminated.” That might describe Robert
Crumb's next magnum opus, a personal but wholly
accurate adaptation of the Book of Genesis.
Those old Classics lllustrateds used to end with the
cheery advice to seek out and enjoy the original. In the
same way, if reading some of the "clips” in this book has
whetted your appetite, then use the following pages to
explore further and read the whole graphic novel for
yourself. The biggest range is usually in specialist comics
stores, although many bookstores stock graphic novels
extensively. A handful of the works recommended here
are not in print, but should be available and affordable
secondhand, online, or via eBay. Otherwise, you can
always try your library. Who would have thoughtthat
librarians would become advocates of graphic novels,
when fifty years ago they were among the staunchest
opponents of comic books? It has helped that graphic
novels attract the elusive younger reader into the library,
notably teenage boys, who tend to read less than girls or
not at all. It also helps that graphic novels are so popular,
because they boost the libraries' vital "issue" figures.
There's no excuse for not trying graphic novels now that
you can borrow them from libraries for free.
Ten Adapted Stories
City of Glass
KARASIK & MAZZUCCHELU
Paul Auster's New York tale
The Ring
P. CRAIG RUSSELL
Wagner's operatic epic
Prejudices persist and comics can still ring alarm
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
bells. “Child murder, incest and rape ... is this really how
KRAMSKY & MATTOTTI
our schools should be encouraging boys to read?” This was Stephenson's divided man
the headline in the British newspaper the Mail on Sunday lady Chatterley’s Lover
HUNT EMERSON
in November 2004. It was intended to stir up a middle-
Lawrence's ardor in the arbor
class moral panic atthe promotion of manga, wrongly The Bloody Streets of Paris
described as "graphic Japanese comic books infamous for JACQUES TARDI
Malet's Paris cop Nestor Burma
the violent and pornographic content of their adult
The Jungle
versions,” into school libraries by The Reading Agency. The PETER KUPER
charity's initiative was to recommend specific titles strictly Upton Sinclair's labor expose
suitable forteenagers aged 13 to 16, many of them Dr. Faustus
OSCAR ZARATE
reluctant readers, and it proved very popular and effective. Marlowe's timeless play
This modern scare story sounds a lot like the British House on the Borderland
REVELSTROKE & CORBEN
debate in the 1950s in the Houses of Parliament about
William Hodgson’s horrors
another foreign menace: American comic books. Recorded
Tristram Shandy
in Hansard in 1952, Sir Hugh Lucas-Tooth, Joint Under¬ MARTIN ROWSON
Laurence Sterne's classic
secretary for the Home Department, commented in the
Jimbo’s Inferno
House of Commons: "The peculiarity of the publications
GARY PANTER
we are now considering is the emphasis they place on Punk art meets Dante
violence as such. Second-and this I think is of great
importance-they have reduced the letter-press [typeset
text] to almost insignificant proportions. The ordinary
'comic,' while it may not be of very much value in itself,
did at least teach the children using it to read, but with
these publications it is almost unnecessary to be able to
read in order to get a sense of what is being depicted. They
also use a crude and alien idiom to which all of us take
exception." Mounting pressure resulted three years later,
on May 6 1955, in the Children and Young Persons
(Harmful Publications) Act, banningthe publication and
sale of American comic books.
None of those politicians could have imagined how
those "harmful publications” would survive and evolve
over the past fifty years. Certainly, none could have
dreamt of an adult graphic novel like l/for Vendetta
extolling a modern counterpart of the 17th-century
anarchist Cuy Fawkes. Nor that in its adaptation to the big
screen, the directors, the Wachowski brothers, would
manage to secure permission to film a night-time riot
outside the Houses of Parliament itself which climaxes
with the buildings being blown sky high. In theory, that
law from 1955 is still on the statute books today, although
you would never know it.
Resource?
Where will you go next?
Featured publishers’ websites
These pages give you
To find out more about many of the graphic novels
some leads to pursue spotlighted in this book, you can visit the websites of their
your interests from this
publishers. To find out which publisher has published the
book on the internet and
graphic novel that interests you, check the page number in
in books and magazines, the acknowledgments listed overleaf on page 188 and
and suggestions for some
then look up the site below. A few of the former, as well as
resources that you might
smaller publishers and imprints such as Catalan
enjoy exploring.
Communications, Epic, Fleetway, and Ignite!, do not have
their own online presence.
:01 First Second: www.firstsecondbooks.com
Aardvark-Vanaheim: www.followingcerebus.com
Abiogenesis Press: www.millidge.com
Active Images: www.activeimages.com
Alfred A. Knopf: www.randomhouse.com
Alternative Comics: www.indyworld.com/altcomics
America’s Best Comics: www.dccomics.com
Avatar Press: www.avatarpress.com
Blast Books: www.lastgasp.com
Byron Preiss Visual Publications: www.bpvp.com
Cartoon Books: www.boneville.com
Colonia Press: www.coloniapress.com
CPM: www.centralparkmedia.com
Dark Horse Books: www.darkhorse.com
DC Comics: www.dccomics.com
Drawn & Quarterly: www.drawnandquarterly.com
Eddie Campbell Comics: www.eddiecampbellcomics.com
El Capitan: www.straybullets.com
Fanfare/Ponent Mon: www.ponentmon.com
Fantagraphics Books: www.fantagraphics.com
Four Walls Eight Windows: www.4w8w.com
Frog, Ltd.: www.northatlanticbooks.com
The Harvill Press: www.harvill.com
Henry Holt: www.henryholt.com
Homage Comics: www.dccomics.com
Humanoids, Inc.: www.humanoids-publishing.com
Hyperion Books: www.hyperionbooks.com
ibooks, inc.: www.komikwerks.com
Image Comics: www.imagecomics.com
Jonathan Cape: www.randomhouse.co.uk
Juno Books: www.lastgasp.com
Kitchen Sink Press: www.deniskitchen.com
Knockabout Comics: www.knockabout.com
Last Gasp: www.lastgasp.com
Lightspeed Press: www.lightspeedpress.com
Little, Brown and Co.: www.twbookmark.com
Marvel Comics: www.marvel.com
Metaphrog: www.metaphrog.com
NBM Publishing: www.nbmpublishing.com
Orion Books: www.orionbooks.co.uk
Pantheon Books: www.randomhouse.com
Penguin Books: www.penguin.co.uk
Rebellion: www.2000adonline
Rip Off Press: www.ripoffpress.com
Sasquatch Books: www.sasquatchbooks.com
Scholastic Books: www.scholasticbooks.com
Slave Labor: www.slavelabor.com
Strip Art Features: www.safcomics.com
Titan Books: www.titanbooks.com
Top Shelf Productions: www.topshelfcomix.com
Typocrat Press: www.typocrat.com
Vertical Inc.: www.vertical-inc.com
Viz Media: www.viz.com
WildStorm: www.dccomics.com
W.W. Norton & Co.: www.wwnorton.com
Suggested furthei reading
If you’re curious to learn out more about graphic povelists,
here are a number of insightful monographs.
The Comics Journal Special Editions and Library Series,
Fantagraphics Books: Oversized, square-format specials
feature interviews with Joe Sacco, Jim Woodring, Art
Spiegelman, and many more, while the Library Series
compiles the magazine’s interviews with Jack Kirby,
Frank Miller, and Robert Crumb
Conversations, University Press of Mississippi: Superb
series compiling revealing interviews across graphic
novelists' careers. Subjects so far are Carl Barks, Robert
Crumb, Milton Can iff, and Charles Schulz. Edited by M.
Thomas Inge (www.upress.state.ms.us)
The R. Crumb Handbook, MO Publications: Part
autobiography, part celebration by Crumb with Pete
Poplaski (www.mqpublications.com)
Will Eisner: A Spirited Life, the definitive, authorized
biography by Bob Andelman, and Eisner/Miller, Charles
Brownstein's book-length interview
(www.darkhorse.com)
The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore, TwoMorrows
Publishing: Extensive interview by George Khoury,
biography, and bibliography, rare and unpublished
scripts and art (www.twomorrows.com)
Hanging Out With the Dream King, Fantagraphics Books:
Interviews with Neil Gaiman and his collaborators
The Library of Graphic Novelists, The Rosen Publishing
Group: A series of six hardback biographies of Coleen
Doran, Will Eisner, Neil Gaiman, Joe Sacco, Art
Spiegelman, and Bryan Talbot
(www.rosenpublishing.com)
Pocket Essentials: Packed bargain guides cover Crumb,
Moore, and Tintin (www.pocketessentials.com)
Chris Ware, Yale University Press/ Laurence King: Dan
 Resource*

Raeburn’s revealing analysis of Ware's techniques
(www.yalebooks.com or www.laurenceking.co.uk)
The Mindscape of Alan Moore, a mind-expanding, feature-
length movie directed by Dez Vylenz is available on DVD
(www.shadowsnake.com)
Graphic novel reviews and histories
Perceptive coverage, both archived and up-to-date, can be
found at these websites and related links:
www.angelfire.com/comics/gnlib/media/index.html (with
advice on graphic novels in libraries)
www.artbomb.net
www.bugpowder.com
www.comicsreporter.com
www.comicsworthreading.com
www.thefourthrail.com
www.graphicnovels.brodart.com/links.htm
www.graphicnovelreview.com
www.grovel.org.uk
www. i n dy wo r I d .co m/i n dy
www.ninthart.com
Creating your own graphic novel Thanks
There are plenty of "How To" manuals that promise
instant success. Here are some guides to help you get Many people have helped
started, get better, and get into print. First, a few core to make this book possible.
books that every aspiring graphic novelist should read: I particularly want to thank
Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics, and the Peter Stanbury for his ideas,
forthcoming Making Comics, all by Scott McCloud patience, and creativity,
from Harper Collins (www.harpercollins.com). Karen Ings for initiating
Comics & Sequential Art and Graphic Storytelling by Will this project, and Phoebe
Eisner, the master, Poorhouse Press, Tamarac, Florida. Clapham, Bill McCreadie,
The Education of a Comics Art, Michael Dooley and Piers Burnett, and Peter
Stephen Heller, Allworth Press (www.allworth.com). Colley at Aurum Press for
Alan Moore's Writing for Comics, Avatar Press. their encouragement.
My thanks to all the
Some may find the tips and demos in these books helpful: writers, artists, publishers,
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel by and friends for help and
Nat Gertler & Steve Lieber (www.idiotsguides.com) encouragement, including:
Visual Storytelling by Tony Caputo and The Making of a Nick Abadzis, Paul Baresh,
Graphic Novel by Prentis Rollins (www.wgpub.com) Tony and Carol Bennett,
Writing and Illustrating the Graphic Novel by Mike Chinn, Peter Boyce, Peggy Burns,
Barron's Educational (www.barronseduc.com) Eddie Campbell, Les
Also of interest are the interviews in Artists on Comic Art Coleman, John Dunning,

www.page45.com and the two volumes of Writers on Comics Scriptwriting, Steve Edgell, Sylvia Farago,

www.readyourselfraw.com (also great for artists' links) Titan Books, while the magazines Draw! and Write Now! Laura Fountain, Dan

www.sequart.com are worth exploring too (www.twomorrows.com) Franklin, all the guys at

www.sequentialtart.com The National Association of Comic Art Educators Gosh! (the best comic shop

www.time.com/time/columnist/arnold (new feature every (www.teachingcomics.org) and Cartoon Classroom in London), Volker

two weeks) (www.cartoonclassroom.org) are the American and Hamann, Ferg Handley,
British contacts to find courses and teachers, while The Stephen Holland, Andrew

These print magazines also cover new releases and topics: Xeric Foundation provides grants to American creators James, Nick Jones, Nadia

Comics Focus (www.soaringpenguin.co.uk) who want to self-publish (www.xericfoundation.com). Katz-Wise, Dennis Kitchen,

The Comics Journal (www.tcj.com) The Center for Cartoon Studies offers a two-year course in Ali Kokmen, Andy Konky

Comics International, where my monthly "Novel Graphics” White River Junction, Vermont Kru, Guy Lawley,

column appears (www.qualitycommunications.co.uk) (www.cartoonstudies.org). Dominique Le Due,

International Journal of Comic Art (www.ijoca.com) Christian Lewis, Dennis

Red Eye (www.enginecomics.co.uk) Festivals and conventions McGirk, Joel Meadows,

Approachable and accessible, these gatherings let you Terry Nantier, Didier

Other guides to and histories of graphic novels include: meet the writers, artists, publishers, and readers: Pasamonik, Sou I la

101 Best Graphic Novels, Stephen Weiner's basic A-to-Z USA: www.comic-con.org (San Diego); www.comic- Pourgourides, Dominic

survey, and The Rise of the Graphic Novel, his concise, con.org/ape/ (San Francisco); http://go.to/icaf Preston, Byron Preiss, Ian

introductory history, from NBM (Washington, DC); www.moccany.org (New York); Rakoff, Amiram Reuveni,

The Slings & Arrows Comic Guide, an overwhelming 800- www.spxpo.com (Bethesda, MD). Richard Reynolds, Stephen

pages of critics’ plaudits and pans about more than UK: http://caption.org/ (Oxford); www.comicexpo.net Robson, Harri Rompotti,

5,000 titles (www.slingsandarrowspublishing.com) (Bristol/Brighton); www.ica.org.uk (ComICA, London); Roger Sabin, Mark Siegel,

Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels (www.phaidon.com), www.ukwebcomixthing.co.uk (London). Dez Skinn, Richard

Roger Sabin’s well-illustrated overview, and Adult Europe: The Mecca and Cannes of comics, the Starkings, Chris Staros,

Comics: An Introduction (www.routledge.co.uk) Angouleme International Festival is the biggest in Fredrik Stromberg, Kim

Pictures & Words by Roanne Bell and Mark Sinclair, and my the world outside of Japan (www.bdangouleme.com). Thompson, Eric Verhoest,

history of Manga: 60 Years of Japanese Comics Other festival cities include: Lucca, Italy; Haarlem, Kate Warden, Brett

(www. I a u re n ce ki n g.co. u k) Holland; Bergen, Norway; Luzern, Switzerland; Warnock and

Barcelona, Spain; Erlangen, Germany. Patrizia Zanotti.

Acfc n o w(e<fjewen+s
Copyright credits are listed below by their page
number in each chapter. When there is more than
one copyright on a single page, these are listed
clockwise starting with A from the top left.
Copyright holders' names are given first as the
creator(s) and/or publishers. Creators' names are
followed, where applicable, by the names of the
book's publishers. If the book has been translated
into English, any additional copyright of the
translation is indicated by "T." Where there are
different editions, American publishers are given
first, followed by British.
COVER © Daniel Clowes, originally drawn for the
cover of Karikatur, the German edition of Caricature,
published by Reprodukt (www.reproduktcomics.de).
TITLE SPREAD 2 & 3: © Dylan Horrocks, Drawn &
Quarterly.
CHAPTER 1
7: © Rodolphe Topffer/T © Dick 8i Fitzgerald.
10 & 11: © Chester Brown.
CHAPTER 2
12: © Art Spiegelman/ Pantheon/ Penguin.
13: A © Jean Giraud-Moebius/ T © Starwatcher
Graphics/ Epic (Marvel)/ Titan. B © Art Spiegelman/
Pantheon / Penguin. C © Raymond Briggs/ Jonathan
Cape. D © DC Comics/ Titan Books. E © Gilbert
Hernandez/ Fantagraphics. F © DC Comics/ Titan.
14 A © Jim Woodring/ Fantagraphics. B: © Robert
Crumb/ Last Gasp/ Knockabout. C © Ed Brubaker &
Michael Lark/ DC Comics. D © Estate of Will Eisner/
Baronet/ W.W. Norton & Co. E © Enki Bilal/ Les
Humanoides Associes S.A./T © Humanoids, Inc. F:
Dave Sim/ Aardvark-Vanaheim.
15: A © Seth/ Drawn & Quarterly. B © Alan Moore &
Eddie Campbell/ Knockabout. C © Charles Burns/
Pantheon/Jonathan Cape. D© Daniel Clowes/
Fantagraphics/Jonathan Cape. E ©Joe Sacco/
Fantagraphics/Jonathan Cape. F: © Harvey Pekar 8i
Drew Friedman/ Four Walls Eight Windows.
16 A © Alan Moore 8i Melinda Gebbie/Top Shelf. B
© Tezuka Productions, All Rights Reserved/T © Yuji
Oniki & Vertical Inc. C © David Hine/ Active Images.
D © L'Association/ Pantheon/ Jonathan Cape E ©
Keiji Nakazawa/ Shueisha Inc./T © Project Gen/ Last
Gasp. F © Frank Miller, Inc./ Dark Horse/ Titan.
17: A © Posy Simmonds/ Pantheon Books/Jonathan
Cape. B © Hugo Pratt/Cong S.A./ Editions
Casterman/ T © The Harvill Press. C © DC Comics/
Titan. D © Chris Ware/ Pantheon/ Jonathan Cape. E
© Jaime Hernandez/ Fantagraphics. F © DC Comics/ Titan.
18 & 19: © Craig Thompson/ Top Shelf.
CHAPTER 3
20 A © Al Davison/Active Images. B © Wilhelm
Busch. C © Craig Thompson/Top Shelf. D © Lynda
Barry/ Sasquatch.
21: © Phoebe Gloeckner/ Frog, Ltd.
22: © Bryan Talbot/ Dark Horse.
23: A ©Justin Green/ Last Gasp. B © Paul
Hornschemeier/ Dark Horse.
24 Sc 25: © Chris Ware/ Pantheon/ Jonathan Cape
26 A & B © Justin Green/ Last Gasp. C © Lynda
Barry/ Sasquatch.
27 A & B © Max Cabanes/ Editions Casterman/ T ©
Catalan/ Fleetway Editions. C & D © Craig
Thompson/ Top Shelf.
28 8t 29: © L'Association/ Pantheon/Jonathan Cape.
30 A & B © Al Davison/ Active Images. C & D © Paul
Hornschemeier/ Dark Horse.
31: A & B © Bryan Talbot/ Dark Horse. C Si D © Neil
Gaiman Si Dave McKean/ Dark Horse.
32 St 33: © Daniel Clowes/ Pantheon/Jonathan Cape.
34: A © Phoebe Gloeckner/ Frog, Ltd. B © Nabiel
Kanan/ NBM.
35: A© Kiriko Nananan/Magazine House/T ©
Ponent Mon/ Fanfare. B © Debbie Drechsler/ Drawn
8i Quarterly.
CHAPTER 4
36: A © Carlos Sampayo Si Jose Munoz/ T © Catalan/
Titan. B © Tribune Media Services, Inc. C © Howard
Cruse/ DC Comics/ Paradox Press. D © Michael
Rabigliati/Drawn Si Quarterly.
37: © Jaime Hernandez/ Fantagraphics.
38 A© Estate of Will Eisner/ W.W. Norton Si Co. B ©
Julie Doucet/ Drawn Si Quarterly.
39: © Ben Katchor/ Little, Brown 81 Co.
40 81 41 Estate of Will Eisner/ W.W. Norton 8i Co.
42 A © Ben Katchor/ Little, Brown Si Co. B 81 C ©
Howard Cruse/’ DC Comics/ Paradox Press.
43 A Si B © Carlos Sampayo Si Jose Murioz/T ©
Catalan/Titan. C Si D © Eddie Campbell.
44 8t 45: © Jaime Hernandez/ Fantagraphics.
46 A © Carol Swain/ Fantagraphics Books. B Si C ©
Michael Rabigliati/ Drawn Si Quarterly.
47: A Si B © Julie Doucet/ Drawn Si Quarterly. C ©
Rumiko Takahashi/ Shogakukan, Inc./ T © Viz Media.
48 8i 49: © Gilbert Hernandez/ Fantagraphics.
50: A © Jerome Charyn Si Franpois Boucq/ Editions
Casterman/ T © Catalan/ Titan. B © Dave McKean/
NBM/Titan.
Si: A © Alan Moore Si Oscar Zarate/ Avatar Press. B ©
Kyle Baker/ DC Comics/ Paradox Press.
52 8t 53: © Seth/ Drawn Si Quarterly.
54: A Si B © Dylan Horrocks/ Drawn Si Quarterly, C ©
Jiro Taniguchi/ T © Ponent Mon/ Fanfare.
55 A © Phillippe Dupuy Si Charles Berberian/ T ©
Drawn Si Quarterly. B ©Jessica Abel/ Pantheon.
CHAPTER 5
56- A © Vittorio Giardino/ Norma/ T © NBM. B Si C ©
Victor Dancette 81 Edmond Francois Calvo. D © IPC
Media Ltd./Titan. E © L'Association/ Pantheon/
Jonathan Cape.
57: © Lorenzo Mattotti/ Editions du Seuil.
58 A ©Sam Glanzman/ Epic (Marvel). B © Joe
© Kubert/ ibooks, inc.
59 A © D.C. Thomson 8i Co., Ltd. B © Mark Alan
Stamaty/ Alfred A. Knopf.
60 Si 61: © Art Spiegelman/ Pantheon/ Penguin.
62: A © Vittorio Giardino/ Norma/ T © NBM. B ©
Estate of Will Eisner/ DC Comics/W.W. Norton 8i Co.
63: A Si B © Joe Kubert/ ibooks, inc. C © Cosey/
Editions Dupuis/T© NBM.
64 8t 65: © Keiji Nakazawa/ Shueisha Inc./ T ©
Project Gen/ Last Gasp.
66: A © IPC Media Ltd./ Titan. B Si C © Garth Ennis 8i
John McCrea/ Fleetway.
67: A © Lorenzo Mattotti/ Editions du Seuil/Catalan/
Penguin. B 81 C © Sam Glanzman/ Epic (Marvel).
68 Si 69: Joe Sacco/ Fantagraphics/Jonathan Cape.
70: A ©Jean-Marc Thevenet Si Baru/ Editions Albin
Michel/T © Drawn 81 Quarterly. B Si C©Ted Rail/ NBM.
71: A Si B © L'Association/ Pantheon/ Jonathan Cape.
C 8i D © Mark Alan Stamaty/ Alfred A. Knopf.
72 & 73: © Hayao Miyazaki/Tokuma Shoten.
CHAPTER 6
74: A © DC Comics/ Titan. B © DC Comics.
C © Jinxworld, Inc./ Marvel Comics. D © Juke Box
Productions/ Homage Comics.
75: © DC Comics.
76: A © Marvel Comics. B © DC Comics.
77: © America's Best Comics, LLC.
78 St 79: © DC Comics/ Titan.
80 A Si B © Marvel Comics.
81 A© Jinxworld, Inc. B © DC Comics/Titan.
82 & 83: © DC Comics/Titan.
84: A © J uke Box Productions/ Homage Comics. B Si
C © Pat Mills Si Kevin O'Neill/ Titan.
85 A ©America's Best Comics/ Titan. B 8< C © DC
Comics/Titan.
CHAPTER 7
86 A © Carla Speed McNeill/ Lightspeed Press. B ©
Estate of Jean-Claude Forest/ Eric Losfeld. C © Bryan
Talbot/ Dark Horse. D © Mike Mignola/ Dark Horse/
Titan.
87: © Franpois Schuiten/ Editions Casterman/ NBM.
88: ©Jean Giraud-Moebius/ Starwatcher Graphics/
Epic (Marvel)/Titan.
89 A © Enki Bilal/ Les Humanoides Associes S.A./T ©
Humanoids, Inc. B © Mike Mignola/ Dark Horse/
Titan.
90 & 91; © Jean Giraud-Moebius/ T © Starwatcher
Graphics/ Epic (Marvel)/Titan.
92: A Si B © Bryan Talbot/ Dark Horse. C Si D
© Carla Speed McNeill/ Lightspeed Press,
93 A © Hayao Miyazaki/ Tokuma Shoten/ T © Viz
Media. B © Francois Schuiten/ Casterman/ NBM.
94 Si 95: © Enki Bilal/ Les Humanoides Associes S.A./
T © Humanoids, Inc.
96 A © Katsuhiro Otomo/ Mashroom Co. Ltd./
Kodansha/T © Dark Horse/Titan. B © Rebellion.
97 A 8i B © Howard Chaykin, Inc./ Image. C Si D ©
Brian K. Vaughan 81 Pia Guerra/ DC Comics/Titan.
988199 © DC Comics/Titan.
100 A ©Jeff Smith/Cartoon Books/Scholastic. B©
Jeff Smith Si Charles Vess/ Cartoon Books.
101 A © Mike Mignola/ Dark Horse/Titan. B 8i C ©
Ian Edgington Si D'lsraeli/ Dark Horse.
CHAPTER 8
102 A © Hideshi Hino/ T © Blast Books. B © Russ
Jones Productions/ Ballantine. C © Gary Spencer
Millidge/ Abiogenesis Press. D: Alan Moore Si Kevin
O'Neill/ America's Best Comics/ Titan.
103 © Charles Burns/ Pantheon/Jonathan Cape.
104 A © Kazuo Umezu/ Shogakukan, Inc./ T © Viz
Media, B © Hideshi Hino/T© Blast Books.
105: A © William M. Gaines, Agent, Inc. B
© DC Comics/ Titan.
106 8t 107: © David Hine/ Active Images.
108: © DC Comics/ Titan.
109 A © Alan Moore 8i Kevin O'Neill/ America’s Best
Comics/Titan. B Si C © Steve Niles/ Dark Horse/Titan.
110 8( ill:© Charles Burns/ Pantheon/
Jonathan Cape.
112 A Si B © Hideshi Hino/ T © Blast Books. C Si D
© Gary Spencer Millidge/ Abiogenesis Press.
113: A Si B © Alex Baladi/ Atrabile/ T © Typocrat
Press. C Si D © Jeff Nicholson/ Colonia Press.
CHAPTER 9
114: A © Max Allan Collins 8i Richard Piers Rayner/
DC Comics/ Paradox Press/Titan. B: Respective
copyright holders. C © Brian Michael Bendis Si Marc
Andreyko/ Image. D © Chris Reynolds/ Penguin.
115: © John Wagner Si Arthur Ranson/ Rebellion.
ii6:A ©James Steranko/ Byron Press Visual
Publications, Inc./ Pyramid. B © King Features
Syndicate. C © Benjamin Legrand Si Jacques Tardi/
Editions Casterman/ T © NBM.
117: A © DC Comics/ Titan. B © Brian Azzarello Si
Eduardo Risso/ DC Comics/ Titan.
118 Sl 119: © Ed Brubaker Si Michael Lark/ DC Comics.
120 A 81 B © Paul Grist/ Dancing Elephant/ Image.
C © Brian Michael Bendis 8i Marc Andreyko/ Image.
121: A © Daniel Clowes/ Pantheon/ Jonathan Cape.
B © Hyun Se Lee/ T © CPM.
122 8( 123: © Frank Miller, Inc./Dark Horse/ Titan.
124: A 8< B © Max Allan Collins 81 Richard Piers
Rayner/ DC Comics/ Paradox Press/Titan. C Si D ©
IgorTuveri/T© Drawn Si Quarterly/Jonathan Cape.
125: A © Phillippe Thirault, Marc Riou Si Mark
Vigouroux/ Les Humanoides Associes/T ©
Humanoids, Inc. B © David Lapham/ El Capitan.
126 Si 127: © DC Comics/ Titan.
128: A Si B © Benjamin Legrand 81 Jacques Tardi/
Editions Casterman/ T © NBM. C © Chris Reynolds/
Penguin.
129 A © Brian Azzarello Si Eduardo Risso/ DC
Comics/Titan. B © I before E, Inc./Homage Comics.
130 Si 131: © Hugo Pratt/ Cong S.A.
CHAPTER 10
132 A © Junko Mizuno/T © Viz Media. B © Charles
Ross Si Marie Duval. C © Jules Feiffer/ Fantagraphics.
D © DC Comics/Titan. E © Metaphrog.
133: © Jim Woodring/ Fantagraphics.
134: A © Estate of Harvey Kurtzman/ Kitchen Sink
Press; B © Editions Albert-Rene/ T © Orion. C © Claire
Bretecher/T © Methuen.
135: © Peter Bagge/ Fantagraphics.
136 Si 137: © Jim Woodring/ Fantagraphics.
138 A © Kim Deitch/ Pantheon. B © Francesca
Ghermandi/T© Fantagraphics.
139: A© Hendrik Dorgathen/T© Andre Deutsch. B ©
Junko Mizuno/ T © Viz Media.
140 8( 141: © Dave Sim/ Aardvark-Vanaheim.
142: A Si B © Joan Star Si Lewis Trondheim/ Editions
Delcourt/T © NBM. C © Metaphrog.
143: A © Estate of Harvey Kurtzman/ Kitchen Sink
Press. B Si C © Gilbert Shelton/ Rip Off Press/
Knockabout.
144 Si 145: © Harvey Pekar, Joyce Brabner, Robert
Crumb, Frank Stack, Joe Zabel, Gary Dumm 8i Bill
Knapp/ Four Walls Eight Windows.
146 A © Peter Bagge/ Fantagraphics. B © Jules
Feiffer/ Fantagraphics.
147 A Si B © Manu Larcenet/ Editions Dargaud. T ©
NBM. C © Andi Watson/ Slave Labor.
148 Si 149: © Raymond Briggs/Jonathan Cape.
150 A© Peter Milligan 81 Brendan McCarthy/Tundra
UK. B Si C © Claire Bretecher/T © Methuen.
151 A 8i B © DC Comics/Titan. C Si D © Aaron
McGruder, Reginald Hudlin Si Kyle Baker/Crown.
CHAPTER 11
152 A © Carlos Sampayo 81 Jose Munoz/T ©
Fantagraphics. B © Richard Doyle. C © Christophe
Blain/ Editions Dargaud/T © NBM. D © Chester
Brown/ Drawn Si Quarterly.
153: © Hugo Pratt/ Cong S.A., originally the cover of
Reddition magazine 26 (www.reddition.de).
154: A © Hermann/ T © Strip Art Features. B © Herge
Moulinsart.
155: © Raymond Briggs/ Pantheon/Jonathan Cape.
156 8( 157: © Hugo Pratt/ Cong S.A./ Editions
Casterman/ T © NBM 81 The Harvill Press.
158 A 81 B © Charlier 8i Giraud/ Editions Dargaud/ T
© Starwatcher Graphics/ Epic (Marvel)/Titan. C Si D
© Christophe Blain/ Editions Dargaud/ T © NBM.
159 A Si B © Glenn Dakin/Top Shelf. CSi D © John
Neufeld/ Alternative Comics.
160 Si 161: © Tezuka Productions, All Rights
Reserved/T ©Yuji Oniki 81 Vertical Inc.
162 A Si B © Chester Brown/ Drawn 8i Quarterly.
C © Natsuo Sekikawa 81 Jiro Taniguchi/ T © Ponent
Mon/ Fanfare.
163 A Si B © Carlos Sampayo 8i Jose Munoz/T ©
Fantagraphics. C 81 D © Raymond Briggs/ Pantheon/
Jonathan Cape.
164 81165: © Alan Moore Si Eddie Campbell/ Eddie
Campbell Comics/ Knockabout.
166 A © Eric Shanower/ Image. B 8i C © Estate of
Will Eisner/ W.W. Norton Si Co.
167: A 8i B © Jason Lutes/ Drawn 81 Quarterly. B Si C
© Judd Winick/ Henry Holt.
CHAPTER 12
168 A © Pat McGreal, Stephen John Philips 81
Rebecca Guay/ DC Comics. B © Estate of John Scott
Coutts/ Belier Press/ Taschen. C © Hunt Emerson/
Knockabout. D © Andre Juillard/ Editions
Casterman/T © NBM.
169 © Posy Simmonds/ Pantheon/Jonathan Cape.
170: A: Pierre Bartier Si Guy Peellaert/ Eric Losfeld/
Grove Press. B © Estate of Guido Crepax.
171: A © Frederic Boilet/T © Ponent Mon/ Fanfare. B
© Ralf Konig/ Rowohlt/T © Ignite! Entertainment.
172 81173: © Robert Crumb 81 Aline Kominsky-
Crumb/ Last Gasp/ Knockabout
174: A 8i B © Dave Cooper/ Fantagraphics. C © Jeffrey
Brown/Top Shelf.
175: A 81 B © Don Donahue/ Last Gasp. C © Ralf
Konig/ Rowohlt/T © Ignite! Entertainment.
176 Si 177: © Posy Simmonds/ Pantheon/
Jonathan Cape.
178 A © Pat McGreal, Stephen Jogn Philips 81
Rebecca Guay/ DC Comics. B © Andre Juillard/
Editions Casterman/T © NBM.
179: A Si B © Mark Kalesniko/ Fantagraphics. C 8i D ©
Miguelanxo Prado/ Norma/ T © NBM.
180 81181; © Alan Moore 8i Melinda Gebbie/ Top
Shelf.
182: A© Milo Manara/ Editions Albin Michel/T©
NBM. B © Hunt Emerson/ Knockabout.
183. A Si B © Frederic Boilet 81 Kan Takahama/ T ©
Ponent Mon/ Fanfare. C Si D © Samuel R. Delany 8i
Mia Wolff/ Juno Books.
192: © Jim Woodring/ Fantagraphics.
All illustrations are copyright their respective
copyright holders and are reproduced for review and
historical purposes. Any omission or error should be
reported to the publisher so that it can be corrected
in any future edition.
 Index
5 is the Perfect Number 124 Bateman, H.M. 134 Brown, Jeffrey 168,174 Corben, Richard 88-89,185 Dumm, Gary 145
30 Days of Night 105 Batman 13, 76,78-79,117 Brubaker, Ed 14,117 Corto in Serbia 157 Dungeon 142
100 Bullets 105, 109, 116-117,126,129 Batman: The Dark Knight Returns 77 Bruzenak, Ken 97 Corto Maltese 17,152,154-157 Duval, Marie 132
300155 Batman: Year One 77 Buck Rogers 86 Cosey 59, 63 Dylan Dog 105
1602 77 Battle 59, 66 Buddha 16,155,160-161 Coutts, John Scott 170 Dylan, Bob 82
2000AD 89 Battling Women 170 Buddy Bradley 134,146 Cowboy Wally Show, The 135
2001: A Space Odyssey 86 Baum, Frank 180 Buddy Does Seattle 146 Craig, Johnny 117 Eagle, The 155
Bayros, Franz von 168 Bunuel, Luis 48,138 Crane, Tristan 171 Eastern Color 36
A Suivre 116 Beach, The 184 Burma, Nestor 185 Crawford, Joan 116 Eastwood, Clint 116-117
Abadzis, Nick 155,184 Beast is Dead, The 56, 59 Burns, Charles 15, 23,102,105,110-111 Crepax, Guido 170-171 EC Comics 104,117
Abe: Wrong for All the Right Reasons 159 Beast of Chicago, The 155 Burr, Dan 39 Crilley, Mark 184 EC series 58
Abel, Jessica 55 Beatty, Terry 117 Busch, Wilhelm 20,134 Crime and Punishment 138 Eco, Umberto 155-156
Abuli, Sanchez 117 Beckett, Samuel 50 Busiek, Kurt 77, 84 Crime Does Not Pay 114,117
Edgington, Ian 101
Acker, Kathy 44 Beg the Question 171 Buster Brown 20 Criminal Macabre 105,109
Eerie 102
Adele Blanc-Sec 116 Beginner's... 155 Butterscotch 182 Crisis 135
Eggers, Dave 24,184
Adlard, Charlie 105 Belier Press 170 Button Man, The 114,117 Cromwell, Oliver 92
Eisner, Will 36, 38-40, 56, 59, 62,
Adolf 59 Bellamy, Frank 155 Crumb, Kominsky-, Aline 171,173
116-117,166,184
Adventures in the Unknown 102 Belmondo, Jean-Paul 155 Cabanes, Max 23 Crumb, Kominsky-, Sophie 173
Ellis, Warren 77, 85, 89
Age of Bronze 166 Bendis, Brian Michael 81,117,120 Cabbie 117 Crumb, Robert 14-15, 22-23, 36,110,
Embroideries 135
Airtight Carage, The 13, 88, 90-91 Berberian, Charles 55 Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The 106 132, 135, 144-145,168, 170-172, 185
Emerson, Hunt 182,185
Akiko 184 Berlin: City of Stones 155,167 Cages 50 Cruse, Howard 42,171
End of the Century Club 39
Akira 89, 96 Bernet, Jordi 117 £alvo, Edmond-Franpois 58 Cupples & Leon 36
Eneg 170
Alack Sinner 116,163 Betty and Veronica 17, 22 Campbell, Eddie 15, 39, 43,164
Ennis, Garth 66,108
Alain’s War 59 Beyer, Mark 104 Canales 117 D'lsraeli 101
Entertaining Comics 104
Alec 43,165 Beyond Time and Again 89 Canardo 116 Da Vinci Code, The 108
Epileptic 16, 28-29
Alia's Mission 59, 71 Big Baby 23 Candide 143 Daddy's Girl 23
Escapist, The 184
Alias 117 Big Little Books 116-117 Caniff, Milton 22,152,154 Dakin, Glenn 154,159
Capone, Al 31,120 Essentials & Archives 77
Alice in Wonderland 16, 90,181 Big Yum Yum Book, The 168,170 Dali, Salvador 137
Bilal, Enki 89, 94 Captain America 74, 76, 84 Dan Dare 86, 89 Ethel & Ernest 148,154,163
All Star Comics 74
Bilbrew, Gene 170 Captain Marvel and the Society of Evil 74 Dancette, Victor 59 Evanier 135
Allende, Isabel 13
AllySloper 132 Billie Holiday 155,163 Captain Nemo 109 Dante, Alighieri 185 Evening Combinator, The 42

Amateur Press Association 38 Binder, Otto 74, 88,102 Caran d'Ache 134 Daredevil 77, 80,117 Everett, Rupert 105
Amazing Adventures ofKavalier Binky Brown Meets the Carnet de Voyage 154 Dark Knight Returns, The 13, 78-79,117 Evergreen Review 171

& Clay 184 Holy Virgin Mary 22-23, 26, 56 Carney, Ian 135 Darnell, Steve 135,151 Exton, Harry 114
Amazing Stories 86 Bioskop, Jill 95 Carroll, Lewis 90,180 David B. 16, 23, 28-29
America 96 Birdland 171 Carter, Angela 48 David Boring 121 Fable of Venice 157
America's Best Comics 77 Biro, Charles 114 Casanova's Last Stand 182 David Letterman Show, The 145 Family Circus 20
American Comics Group 102 Birth of a Nation 135,151 Case of the Winking Buddha, The 116 Davis, Guy 117 Fantagraphics 44
American Elf 39,135 Bisley, Simon 89 Cassaday, John 76-77, 85 Davison, Al 23, 30 Fantastic Four 76, 85
American Flagg 89, 97 Bissette, Stephen R. 104-105,180 Casterman 116 DC Comics 76, 89,105,117,126 Father Christmas 13
American Splendor 15,144-145 Bizarre 168,170 Cerebus 14, 98,132,140-141 Dead End 105 Fawkes, Guy 117,126,185
American Splendor: Unsung Hero 59 Black Hole 15,102,105,110-111 Chabon, Michael 39, 40,184 Debon, Nicolas 155 Fax from Sarajevo 59
American Visuals Corporation 36 Blackadder 140 Chamber of Chills 102 Deitch, Kim 132,138 Feiffer, Jules 132,134,146
Andersen, Hans Christian 139 Blockmark 88 Chandler 117 Delano, Jamie 105,108 Felix the Cat 138
Anderson, Brent 84 Blacksad 117 Chandler, Raymond 14,123 Delany, Samuel R. 89,171,182 Fellini, Federico 48
Anderson, Ho Che 155 Blain, Christopher 158 Chaplin, Charlie, 134 Dell 102 Few Pefect Hours, A 159
Andreyko, Marc 120 Blake & Mortimer 116 Charley's War 66 Den 86, 89 Finder 92
Angouleme, France 38,134 Blake, William 165 Charlie Brown 22 Dennis the Menace 22 Fingerman, Bob 171
Animal Man 77 Blankets 23, 27 Charlier, Jean-Michel 155,158 Deog ratios 155 Fires 56, 59, 67
Apocalypse Meow 59 Blazing Combat 59 Charyn, Jerome 50 Derrida, Jacques 74- First Second 184
Appleby, Steven 184 Blechman, R.0.134 Chascarillo, Maggie 17 Detectives Inc 117 Flash, The 76
Arabian Nights 137 Bloody Streets of Paris, The 185 Chaykin, Howard 89, 97 Diabolik 116 Flaubert, Gustave 168,171,176
Aragones, Sergio 135 Blue 35 Child's Life, A 20, 34 Dick Tracy 114,116,117 Fleetway 135
Archie 22,102 Blue Angel, The 175 Chong-chen, Chang 152 Dickens, Charles 132 Fluide Glacial 135
Artzybasheff, Boris 136 Blue Lotus, The 152,154 Christin, Pierre 94 Dietrich, Marlene 175 Food Boy 46
Asimov, Isaac 88 Blue Notebook, The 178 Christmas Carol, A 134 Dillon, Steve 108 Foreign Tour of Messrs. Brown, Jones 154
Asterix 134-135 Bogart, Humphrey 117 Churchill, Sir Winston 155 Dionnet, Jean-Pierre 88
Forest, Jean-Claude 86, 88
Astro City 77, 84 Bogeyman 104 Circus, The 134 Discworld 142
Fort Navajo 155
Astronauts in Trouble 23 Bogie Man, The 117 City of Glass 185 Disney, Walt 56,132
Fountainhead, The 123
Atom 76 Boilet, Frederic 170-171,182 Clarke, Arthur C. 86 Ditko, Steve 76,117,170
Four Pictures 155
Auster, Paul 185 Bone 89,100 Classics Illustrated 102,185 Doc Savage 74, 85
Four Women 129
Azzarrello, Brian 129 Books of Magic, The 89 Clowes, Daniel 15, 23, 32-33,121,135 Doctor Strange 170
Fox, Gardner
Boondocks, The 39 Cochran, Russ 104 Doll 171
Foxhole 58
Bachalo, Chris 99 Boucq, Francois 50 Cold Equator 94 Doll's House, The 99
Frank 132
Bagge, Peter 134-135,146 Bouden, Tom 171 Collier, David 59 Donald Duck 132
Frank Book, The 14,136-137
Baker Street 117 Boulevard of Broken Dreams, The 138 Collins, Max Allan 117,124 Doonesbury 39
Frankenstein 102,104,113
Baker, Kyle 51,117,135,151 Bouvier, Nicolas 154 Colwell, Guy 143,171 Doran, Colleen 89
Frankenstein Now and Forever 105,113
Baker, Matt 116 Box Office Poison 39 Comic Book Legal Defense Fund 105 Dorgathen, Hendrik 139
Franz Kafka 155
Baladi, Alex 113 Bradbury, Ray 86, 88 Comic Book Makers, The 114 Dori Stories 175
Frazetta, Frank 104
Ballad of the Salty Sea, The 155-156 Brady, Ian 165 Comics Code Authority 22, 38-39, 79, Dorothy 181
Freak Brothers, The 143
Ballantine Books 102,104 Brave New World 126 102,104-105,114,117 Dostoyevsky, Fyodor Mikhailovich 138
Fred 184
Ballantine, Ian 134 Bread and Wine 182 Comics Trips 154 Doucet, Julie 47
Doyle, Richard 152,154 Fred the Clown 135
Bantam Books 88 Breakfast After Noon 39 comix 36, 38-39
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan 154 Fritz the Cat 14
Barbarella 86, 88,171 Breccia, Alberto 105 Commando Picture Library 58
Dr. Faustus 185 From Hell 12,15,105,155,164-165,184
Bardot, Brigitte 88 Brecht, Bertolt 82 Complete EC Library 104
Conan the Barbarian 14, 86, 88 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 102,109,185 From Iraq 59
Barefoot Gen 16, 59, 64-65 Bretecher, Claire 134-135,150
Conrad, Joseph 17 Dracula 102,104 Fujisawa, Tohru 39
Barker, Clive 104 Brief Lives 98
Briggs, Raymond 13,135,148-149, Constantine, John 105 Drake, Arnold 116 fumetti neri 116
Barks, Carl 132
154,163,184 Contract with God, A 14, 38-41, 56 Drawn to Death: Fumimura 117
Baronet Books 38
Britannia 151 Cook, Greg 59 A Three Panel Opera 114 Fungus the Bogeyman 184
Barrie, J.M. 180
Barry, Lynda 20, 23, 26 Brontes, the 23 Cooper, Dave 168,174 Drechsier, Debbie 23, 35 Funnies on Parade 38

Bartier, Pierre 171 Brooks, Louise 170 Coover, Colleen 171 Dropsie Avenue 40 Funny Animals 56
Baru 70 Brown, Chester 6, 7, 23, 39,162 Coppola, Francis Ford 136 Druillet, Philippe 88-89 Futura 88
/n«/ex
Gaiman, Neil 17, 23, 31, 77, 82, 89, 98, Helen of Troy 155,166 Jones, Malcolm 99 Little Lit 184 Maybe... Maybe Not 170,175
99,140 Hell Baby 104 Judge 134 Little Lulu 22 Mazzucchelli, David 77,185
Gaines, Max 36 Hellblazer 105,108 Judge Dredd 89, 96 Little Nemo 20, 86 MegaTokyo 184
Gaines, William 104 Hellboy 89,101 Judy 132 Little Orphan Annie 22, 56,162 Metal Hurlant 13, 88, 90
Gale Allen 88 Help! 134,135 Juggler of Our Lady, The 134 Little Vampire 184 Metaphrog 142
Garland, Alex 184 Hemingway, Ernest 14,17 Julius Knipl 42 Little, Jason 184 Metropol 105
Garland, Nicholas 172 Herge 86,152 Julliard, Andre 178 livres erotiques 168 Metzger, George 89
Gasoline Alley 22 Hermann 154-155 Jungle Book, The 143 Lloyd, David 17,116-117,126 Mezieres, Jean-Claude 88-89
Geary, Rick 155 Hernandez, Gilbert 13, 39, 44,48-49,171 Jungle, The 185 Locas 17, 44-45 Mickey Mouse 56, 58,138
Gebbie, Melinda 16,168,171,180-181 Hernandez, Jaime 17, 39,44-45 Justice Society of America, The 74 Locke, Vince 98 Midsummer Night's Dream, A 99
Gemma Bovery 168,176-177 Hernandez, Los Bros 39 Lomax, Don 59 Mignola, Mike 89,101
Genesis, Book of 185 Herr, Michael 68 Kafka, Franz 93 London's Dark 117 Mike Hammer 117
Gentleman Jim 148 Herriman, George 118 Kake 171 Lone Sloane 88 Millar, Mark 77
Ghermandi, Francesca 138 Heweston, Alan 104-105 Kalesniko, Mark 168,179 Long, Frank Belknap 102 Miller, Frank 13,16, 77-80,116-117,
Ghost in the Shell 89 Hey Wait... 23 Kampung Boy 23 Lorca, Federico Garcia 54 120-122,155
Ghost Rider 104 Hicksville 54 Kanan, Nabiel 23, 34 Lord of the Rings, The 88,100 Milligan, Peter 106,135,150
Ghost World 12,15, 32, 33 Hindley, Myra 165 Kane 120 Losfeld, Eric 88,171 Millionaire, Tony 135
Giardino, Vittorio 62 Hine, David 16,106 Kane, Gil 88,116 Lost Girl 34 Mills, Pat 59, 66, 77, 84, 89
Gibbons, Dave 13, 77, 82 Hino, Hideshi 104-105,112 Kanter, Albert 185 Lost Girls 16,105,168,171,180-181 Miss 125
Giffin 105 His Name is Savage 116 Karasik, July & Paul 23,185 Louis 142 Mister Pleebus 184
Gilberton 102 Hitch, Bryan 77 Karloff, Boris 156 Louis Riel 162 Mitchell, Elvis 122
Giles 14 Hitler, Adolf 56 Katchor, Ben 42 Loustal, Jacques de 154 Miyazaki, Hayao 93
Gilliam, Terry 135 Hodgson, William 185 Keane, Bill 20 Love & Rockets 44 Mizuno, Junko 139
Gillian, Joseph 155 Hogarth, William 171 Keith, Sam 23,129 Lovecraft 105 Moby Dick 185
Gillray, James 171 Homer 93,166 Kelly, Walt 100 Lucas, George 90 Moebius 13, 89-91
Giraud, Jean 13,90,155,158 Hornby, Nick 20,184 Kent, Clarke 74 Lucas-Tooth, Sir Hugh 185 Monsieur Jean 55
Girls’ Figure Training Academy 170 Hornschemeier, Paul 22-23, 30 Kiely, Molly 171 Lucky Luke 135 Moomins 159
Giussani Sisters 116 Horrocks, Dylan 54 Kim, Derek Kirk 39 Lupin III 116 Mooney, Bel 148
Glanzman, Sam 58-59, 67 Horus 94-95 Kindly Ones, The 99 Lutes, Jason 39,155,167 Moorcock, Michael 89-90
Glass, Hopey 17 House on the Borderland 185 King 155 Luther Arkwright 89, 92 Moore, Alan 13,15-17, 51, 77, 82, 85,
Glass, Ira 174 Houses of Parliament 185 King, Frank 22 155,164-165,168,171, lSo-181
Gleason, Lev 114 How Loathsome 171 King, Stephen 78, 98,104 McCalla, Irish 172 Moore, Terry 39
Gloeckner, Phoebe 20, 23, 34,171 Howard, Robert E. 88 Kingdom of the Wicked 101 McCarthy, Brendan 135,150 Morris 135
Gods in Chaos 94 Hudlin, Reginald 135,151 Kings in Disguise 39 McCay, Winsor 20,86,138 Morrison, Grant 77, 89
Goethe, Johan Wolfgang von 184 Hughes, Richard 102 Kirby, Jack 58, 74, 76,117,184 McClintok, Barbara 184 Mother, Come Home 22, 30
Goldwater, John 102 Human Torch, The 76 Kirkman 105 McCloud, Scott 184 Mouly, Franqoise 56,184
Golgo 13 116 Humbug 134 Kitchen, Denis 36 McCrea.John 66 Mr. A 117
Goodbye Chunky Rice 184 Hutch Owen 135 Kizuna: Bonds of Love 171 McDonald, Cal 109 Mr. Crime 114
Goodman Beaver 134,143 Huxley, Aldous 126 Klaw, Irving 170 Macdonald, Ross 14 Mr. Fantastic 77
Goodwin, Archie 58,116 Hyperion 184 Knapp, Bill 145 McGreal, Pat 178 Mr, Hyde 109
Goscinny, Rene 134-135,155 Knockabout Comics 171 McGregor, Don 117 Mr. Natural 14
Gotham Central 117 I Am a Cat 162 Kobayashi, Motofumi 59 McGruder, Aaron 135,151 Ms. Tree 117
Gould, Chester 114 I Never Liked You 23 Kochalka, James 39,135 McKean, Dave 31, 39, 50 Mucha, Alphonse 168
Grant, Alan 89,117 Idiots Abroad, The 143 Kodaka, Kazuma 171 McKeever, Ted 105 Munoz, Jose 43,116,163
Grant, Ulisses 158 Igort 124 Konig, Ralf 170,175 McKie, Angus 88 Musical Legends 155
Graphic Story Bookshop 38 Ikegami, 117 Kramsky 185 McMahon, Mike 89 Mussolini 157
Graphic Story Magazine 38 llliad, The 166 Krazy Kat 118 McNeill, Carla Speed 89, 92 Muzushiro, Setona 23
Gray, Harold 162 Ilya 39 Krigstein, Bernie 117 MacNeill, Colin 96 My Life 182
Gray, Mick 76, 85 Immortel (Ad Vitam) 94 Kristiansen, Teddy 81,99 McWilliams, Al 102 My New York Diary Al
Great Teacher Onizuka 39 In Search of Shirley 63 Kubert, Andy 77 Mad 134,135 My Troubles with Women 14,171-172
Green Lantern 76 In the Days of the Mob 117 Kubert, Joe 58-59, 63 Madame Bovary 17,168,171,176-177 Mysta of the Moon 88
Green, Justin 20, 23, 26,155 In the Shadow of No Towers 135 Kuper, Peter 154,185 Madame Discipline 170
Gregory, Roberta 171 Inque, Takehiko 155 Kurtzman, Harvey 58,117,134-135, Maestro 134 Naifeh, Ted 171
Grist, Paul 120 Introducing... 155 143,171 Magician's Wife, The 50 Nakazawa, Keji 16, 59, 64
Groening, Matt 144 Invisible Frontier, The 93 Kyle, Richard 38,184 Mail on Sunday 185 Nam, The 59
Groo the Wanderer 135 invisible man 182 Mail Order Bride 168,179 Nambul War Stories 59
Gross, Milt 134 Invisible Man, The 109 L'Echo des Savannes 88,135 Maison Ikkoku Al Nananan, Kiriko 35
Grove Press 88 Invisibles, The 89 La Perdida 55 Malet, Leo 185 National Geographic 132,145
Guardian 59,177,184 Irons, Greg 59 Laaksonen, Touko 171 Man Without Fear, The 80 Natsume, Soseki 162
Guarnido 117 Isaac the Pirate 158 Lady Chatterley's Lover 185 Man-Thing 104 Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind 89,93
Guay, Rebecca 178 It Rhymes with Lust 116 LaGuardia, Mayor 74 Manara, Milo 182 Ness, Eliot 120
Guerra, Pia 97 It's a Bird 77, 81 Laika 155 manga 64,139,182,184 Nestor Burma 116
Guibert, Emmanuel 59 It's a Good Life Landgridge, Roger 135 manhwa 121 Neufeld, Josh 154,159
Gull, Sir William 164-165 if You Don't Weaken 15, 52-53 Lapham, David 125 Mann, Michael 89 Neverland 180
G unsmoke 134 Ito, Junji 105 Larcenet, Manu 23,147 Manson, Charles 59 Neverwhere 86, 89
Lark, Michael 14 Mariko Parade 170,182 New Sun 58
Ha, Gene 77 Jack the Ripper 15,155,164-165 Last American, The 89 Mark ofZorro, The 78 New York Times Book Review 20
Hammett, Dashiell 116 James Bond 85 Lat 23 Marlowe, Christopher 185 New Yorker 52,135
Hampson, Frank 86, 89 Jansson, Tove 159 Lawrence, D.H. 185 Marquez, Gabriel Garcia 13,48 Newsweek 104
Hansard 135 Jar of Fools 39 Le Figaro 134 Marshal Law 77, 84 Nicholson, Jeff 105,113
Happy Warrior, The 155 Jardine, Lisa 176 League of Extraordinary Marti 117 Nightmare 104
Hara-Kiri 135 Jason 23 Gentlemen, The 105,109,184 Martin Luther King 155 Nikopol Trilogy, The 14, 94-95
Hard Boiled Angel 121 Jerry Spring 155 Lee, Hysun Se 59,121 Marvel Comics 59, 76,105,117,170 Niles, Steve 105,109
Harmful Publications Act 1955 185 Jew in Communist Prague, A 62 Lee, Stan 76 Marvels 77 Nostalgia Press 104
Harris, Tony 77 Jije 155 Legion of Charlies 59 Marx, Groucho 14,105,140 Nowlan, Philip 86
Hart, Tom 135 Jim 184 Legrand, Benjamin 116,128 Matt, Joe 168
Haunt of Fear 104 Jimbo's Inferno 185 Lethem, Jonathan 184 Mattotti, Lorenzo 56, 59, 67,185 O’Donoghue, Michael 171
Hawkman 76 Jimmy Corrigan 17, 23-25,184 Liberatore 89 Mauretania 128 O'Neill, Kevin 77, 84,109
Hayes, Rory 104 Jodelle 170-171 Lieber, Steve 117 Maus 12-13, 22, 56, 59, 60 Odyssey, The 93
He Done Her Wrong 134 Joe's Bar 43 Lieutenant Blueberry 90,155,158 Mavin, Lee 117 Oeming, Michael Avon 81
Heart Throbs 27 John Carter of Mars 86 Life Force, A 40 Mavrides, Paul 143 Oh Calcutta 171
Heavy Metal 88 Johnson, Dave 116-117 Like a River 39 Max and Moritz 20 Omaha the Cat Dancer 171
Hefner, Hugh 134,171 Joker, The 13, 79 Little Annie Fanny 134,171 Max and Sven 171 One Hundred Demons 26
 /ndex
One Hundred Per Cent 89 Reed, Gary 117 Sienkiewicz, Bill 155 Tantrum 132,146 Vigouroux, Mark 125
Orbiter 89 Regards from Serbia 59 Silver Surfer, The lb Tarantino, Ouentin 117 Village Voice 134
Ordinary Victories 147 Remi, George 152 Sim, Dave 14, 98,132,140-141 Tardi, Jacques 116,128,185 Villarubia, Jose 178
Orochi Blood 104-105 Revelstroke 185 Simmonds, Posy 17,168,176-177,184 Tarkowsky, Andrei 94 Violent Cases 23, 31
Orwell, George 17, 68 Reynolds, Chris 128 Simon, Joe 58, 74,114,184 Tarzan 86 Voodoo Child 155
Oshima, Masahiro 64 Ride Together, The 23 Sin City 12,16,117,122-123 Taschen Books 171
Otomo, Katsuihiro 96 Ridgeway, John 108 Sinclair, Ian 164 Templesmith, Ben 105,109 Wachowski brothers 185
Ott, Thomas 105 Ring, The 185 Sinclair, Upton 185 Tennis, Craig 102 Wagner, John 89, 96,114,117
Our Cancer Year 145 Riou, Marc 125 Singer, Isaac Bashevis 14 Terry and the Pirates 22,152,154 Waldo the Cat 132,138
Outcault, Richard 20 Ripple 168,174 Skin 135,150 Tessier, Isabelle Emilie de 132 Walker, Brian 39
Owly 184 Rising Stars 77 Skywald 104 Tezuka, Osamu 16, 59,160-161 Walking Dead, The 105
Oz 180 Risso, Eduardo 129 Skywald Horror-Mood 105 thalidomide 135,150 Walking Man, The 54
Roach Killer 116,128 Slaine: The Horned Cod 89 That Kind of Girl 171 Waller, Les 116
Palestine 15, 68-69 Road to America 70 Slow News Day 147 Thatcher, Margaret 14,17, 89,141 Waller, Reed 171
Palomar 13, 48-49 Road to Perdition 124 Small Favours 171 Thelma and Louise 51 Ward, Lynd 39
Panorama of Hell 105,112 Robbins, Trina 171 Small Killing, A 51 Thevenet, Jean-Marc 70 Ware, Chris 17, 22-25, 39,132,184
Panter, Gary 185 Roberts, Scott 23 Smith, Jeff 89.100 Thing 76 Warrior 126
Pantheon Books 56 Robertson, Geoffrey 171 Smith, Kevin Burton 117-118 Thirault, Phillipe 125 Watchmen 13, 77, 82-83,165
Paris 155,166 Robinson, Alex 39 Smith, Rick 154 This American Life 174 Watson, Andi 39,147
Patterson, Joseph 152 Robinson, James 77,117 Smith, Zadie 184 Thompson, Craig 23, 27,154,184 Wayne, Bruce 77-78
Patty Cake 23 Rocco Vargas 89 Snarf 36 Thompson, Hunter S. 68 Wazem, Pierre 39
Paul Has a Summer Job 46 Rodionoff 105 Snowman, The 13 Thompson, Jill 98,184 Weapon X80
Peace on Earth 74 Rogers, Marshall 117 Sock Monkey 135 Thompson, Jim 16 webcomics 184
Peanuts 22 Romero, George 104 Sokal, Benoit 116 Threepenny Opera, The 82 Wegener, Gerda 168
Pedro and Me 167 Romita Jr., John 80 Solaris 94 Thrilling Detective, The 118 Weill, Kurt 82
Peeleart, Guy 171 Rose 100 Space Dog 139 Through the Habitrails 105,113 Weirdo 172
Peepshow 168 Rosenthal, Horst 58 Spencer-Millidge, Gary 112 Thurman, Tenzin Robert 160 Welles, Orson 94
Peeters, Benoit 89, 93 Ross, Alex 74-77,135,151 Spider, The 116 Tijuana Bibles 170 Wenders, Wim 94
Pekar, Harvey 15, 59,144-145 Ross, Charles 132 Spider-Man 76,170 Time magazine 59,104 Werewolf 104
Pencil, Savage 104 Roth, Philip 14 Spiegelman, Art 13, 22-23, 56, 58, 60, 64, Time of Botchan 162 Wertham, Dr. Frederic 102
Penguin 184 Rowling, J.K. 101 114,135,184 Times, The 166 When the Wind Blows 13,135,
Persepotis 59, 71 Rowson, Martin 185 Spiegelman, Vladek 60 Tintin 22, 86,116,154 148-149,163
Peter Cunn 134 Rucka, Greg 117 Spillane, Mickey 16,117,123 To Afghanistan and Back 70 Where's My Baby Now? 134,150
Peter Pan 16,181 Rund.J.B. 170 Spiral Cage, The 30 To the Heart of the Storm 62 Whiteout 117
Petitfaux, Dominique 154 Runton, Andy 184 Spirit, The 36,116 Tobin, Paul 171 Why I Hate Saturn 51
Philips, Sean 14 Russell, P. Craig 185 Springer, Frank 171 Tolkien, J.R.R. 23 Wilde, Oscar 14,140
Phillips, Stephen John 178 Stack, Frank 145 Tom of Finland 171 Wildenburg, Harry 36
Phoenix, Woodrow 135 Sacco, Joe 15, 59, 68-69 Stalker 94 Tomine, Adrian 171 Williams III, J.H. 76, 85
Physique Pictorial 171 Safe Area Corazde 59 Stamaty, Mark 59, 71 Top Ten 77 Willie, John 168,170-171
Picasso, Pablo 54 Saga of the Victims 104 Stanton 170-171 Torpedo 1936 117 Wilson, S. Clay 22
Pilote 88,135,155 Said, Edward 68 Stanwyck, Barbara 116 Torres, Daniel 89 Wilson, Sari 159
Planet Comics 88 Sailor's Story, A 58, 67 Stanzone, Eric 170 Torso 120 Windsor-Smith, Barry 80
Planetary 76-77, 85 Saint John, Archer 116 Star Wars 88-89 Toth, Alex 117 Winick, Judd 167
Playboy 134-135,171 Same Difference 39 Starman 77 Totleben, John 105 Wipeout, The 138

Plot, The 166 Sampayo, Carlos 43,116,163 Stassen, Jean-Philippe 155 Towers of Bois-Maury 154-155 Wizard ofOz, The 16
Poe, Edgar Allan 102 Sanctuary 117 Steel Claw, The 116 Tristram Shandy 185 Wolff, Mia 182

Pogo 100 Sandman, The 12,17, 89,98-99 Steranko, Jim 116-117,184 Trondheim, Lewis 23,132,142 Wolverine 80

Poire, Emmanuel 134 Sansom, Ian 28 Sterne, Laurence 185 Troubled Souls 66 Woman Trap, The 94

Pope, Paul 89 Satrapi, Marjane 59, 71,135 Stevenson, Robert Louis 155,165,185 True Love 168 Wonder Woman 76,79

Portman, Natalie 126 Savage 117 Sting 105 Trump 134 Wonderland 180

Potter, Beatrix 23, 31 Scary Godmother 184 Stoker, Bram 102 Tynan, Kenneth 171 Wood, Bob 114

Powers 77, 81,117 Scarygoround 184 Stokes, Manning Lee 116 Woodring, Jim 14,132,136-137

Prado, Galician Miguelanxo 179 Scene of the Crime 14,117-119 Stracynski, J.M. 77 Uderzo, Albert 134-135 World 38

Pratchett, Terry 142 Scholastic 184 Strange Embrace 16,105,106,107 Ulmer, Edward G. 116 Worley, Kate 171

Pratt, Hugo 17,152,154-156 Schuiten, Franpois 86, 89, 93 Strangehaven 112 intimates, The 77
Preacher 105,108 Schultz, Charles 22 Strangers in Paradise 39 Umezu, Kazuo 104-105 X-Day 23

Priam 166 Sclavi, Tiziano 105 Stray Bullets 125 Uncle Sam 135,151 X-Men 80

Princess Mermaid, The 139 Scream 104 Streak of Chalk 179 Uncle Scrooge 132
Stuck Rubber Baby 42 underground comix 22, 56 Y: The Last Man 89, 97
Project Gen 64 Seagle, Steven T. 81
Secret Agent X-9 116 Sub-Mariner, The 76 Unlikely 168,174 Yashima, Taro 58
Promethea lb-77, 85
Sugar Buzz 135 Updike, John 184 Yellow Kid, The 20
Protocols of the Elders of Zion 166 Seda, Dori 171,175
Ustinov, Peter 135 Yellow Streak 121
Psycho 104 Seduction of the Innocent 102 Summer Blonde 171
Summer of Love 35 Uzumaki 105 Yossel, April 19,1943 58, 63
Pulitzer Prize 56,184 Seibold, J. Otto 184
You Are Here 117
Pullman, Philip 60,184 Sendak, Maurice 184 Superman 13, 74, 76, 79, 81-82, 84
1/88 Young, Lester 163
Punch 132, 134,154 Sergeant Kirk 155-156 Supreme 77
Vfor Vendetta 17,117,126-127,185 Yukiko's Spinach 182
Seth 15. 22, 39, 52, 53 Swain, Carol 46,150
Queen Victoria 164 Sfar, Joan 142,184 Swamp Thing 104-105 Vadim,Roger 88
Vagabond 155 Zabel, Joe 145
Oueen, Ellery 114 Shadow, The 74 Sweet Gwendoline 170
Zamora, Pedro 167
Ouimby the Mouse 132,135 Shakespeare, William 99 Sweet Gwendoline and the Race for the Valentina 170-171
Zanotti, Patrizia 155
Shanower, Eric 166 Gold Cup 170 Vance, James 39
Zansky, Louis 185
Raab, Charles 116 Sheena, Queen of the Jungle 14,172 Varley, Lyn 78
Zap 172
Rabagliani, Michel 46 Shelley, Mary 113 Taboo 105,164 Vartan, Sylvie 171
Zarate, Oscar 51,185
Rackham, Arthur 100 Shelton, Gilbert 135,143 Takahama, Kan 171,182 Vaughan, Brian K. 97
Zeit-Geist, Phoebe 171
Rail, Ted 59, 70 Sherlock Holmes 154 Takahashi, Rumiko 47 Vault of Horror 104
Zero Girl 23
Rand, Ayn 123 Shirow, Masamune 89 Talbot, Bryan 22-23, 31, 89,92 Veils 178
Zograf, Aleksandar 59
Ranson, Arthur 114,117 Shocking Theatre 105 Tale of One Bad Rat, The 22, 31 Veitch, Charles 59
RanXerox 89 Shonen Jump 59 Tales from the Crypt 104 Verlaine 27
Rasputin 156 Shunga168 Tales of the Black Freighter 82 Verne, Jules 86, 93
Raw 56,184 Shutterbug Follies 184 Tamburini, Stefano 89 Vertigo 89,105
Rayner, Richard Piers 124 Sick, Sick, Sick 134 Taniguchi, Jiro 54,162 Vess, Charles 99,100
Reading Agency, The 185 Siegel, Jerry 76 Tankobon 116 Vietnam Journal 59
The Las\ Word

Frank and Pushpaw reading, by Jim Woodring

 raphic Novels: Everything You Need To Know s the perfect companion to this
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