SOURCE: Sabin, Roger. “The Graphic Novel in Context.” In Adult Comics: An Introduction, pp. 235-48. London and New York: Routledge, 1993.

[In the following essay, Sabin provides background on the development of the graphic novel in the United States, including brief summaries of the works of several significant graphic novelists.]

If a comic is a melody, a graphic novel can be a symphony.

(Will Eisner, creator, A Contract with God)¹

Personally, I always thought Nathanael West's Day of the Locusts was an extraordinarily graphic novel.

(Art Spiegelman, creator, Maus)²

In 1986-7 the term ‘graphic novel’ entered common parlance with the success of the album of versions of Dark Knight, Watchmen and Maus. Since then, it has become emblematic of the comics renaissance generally, and the ‘adult revolution’ in particular. Overnight, it was claimed, comics had developed from cheap throwaway children's fare to expensive album-form ‘novels’ for adults to keep on bookshelves.

But, of course, the story was not that simple. On one level, as a piece of marketing hype, the idea of an evolution from ‘comics’ to ‘graphic novels’ had a specific purpose—to add prestige to the form and thus to sell more product (as Art Spiegelman pointed out: ‘graphics are respectable, novels are respectable, so whammy: double respectability’).³ We have seen in chapters 6 and 7 how successful—or not—this strategy proved to be. But on another level, the graphic novel is a definable category of comic that can be said to have a history of its own. Just as comics did not ‘grow up’ in the 1980s, so too the graphic novel has a much longer history.

To begin, as ever, with a definition. It is fair to say that there are three kinds of graphic novel. The first is perhaps closest to what the name might be imagined to imply: a one-shot book-form publication involving a continuous comics narrative, of a scope that is longer than a normal comic. In production terms, it is published without prior serialisation: the analogy is with the majority of prose novels.

The second kind can be described as a ‘pre-serialised’ work, which is to say that it appears in sections in an anthology comic before being collected into a volume. (It may even be produced during the process of serialisation.) The analogy here is with bit-part novel publishing in the last century, as exemplified by the work of Charles Dickens. (This is also the most common form in Europe.)

The third and most common type involves what can be called ‘a section of a comics continuity’, and applies to American or American-style comics. If we think of such comics as soap-operas, then a graphic novel can be a collection of four or six or twelve or however many installments in a single volume, with the added provision that the creator has consciously worked towards the longer framework.⁴

Thus, a graphic novel can be a complete story or a collection of linked short stories (or any variation in between)—either published as a self-contained whole, or as part of a longer continuity. The key to the concept is that it has to have a thematic unity. To put it another way, a graphic novel is a comic in book form, but not all comics in book form are graphic novels (for instance, by our definition, a collection of self-contained newspaper strips does not qualify as a graphic novel, and nor does a collection of Superman comics that are not part of a finite story).⁵

Creatively speaking, the expanded scope of the graphic novel opens up all sorts of possibilities. It can allow for greater character development, more complex plots, more detailed scene-setting and the generation of mood. Qualitatively, therefore, the form can have properties that a regular comic lacks, and the skills required to produce one are subtly but distinctively different. (Which is why, as we shall see below, some creators have historically been more ‘at home’ with a longer narrative.) Thus, in the creative sense, we can say that the graphic novel is to the comic what the prose novel is to the short story.

With this definition in mind, it is clear that graphic novels were in existence long before the term itself was coined. True, the comics industry was slow to exploit the potential of lengthier narratives, being hidebound by the idea that comics should consist of short, snappy strips and be orientated towards children—who supposedly ‘by nature’ did not have long attention spans. (It is also true that popular comics had been collected and reprinted in book form since the beginning of the medium—‘Ally Sloper’ featured in a collected volume as early as 1873, while both the British ‘annual’ and American ‘bumper edition’ have long histories—though these, of course, were not graphic novels.)⁶

Nevertheless, the children's industry did generate occasional book-length continuous stories. The American Classics Illustrated series of the 1940s and 1950s, for instance, designed to introduce children to ‘quality literature’, frequently appeared in editions of over sixty pages. The line included, among others, hefty versions of Dickens's Tale of Two Cities and Hugo's Les Misérables.

There were other examples. Albums of Tintin stories were translated from the French from the late 1950s, and these were joined by albums starring Asterix and other European heroes in the 1960s. The 1950s and 1960s also saw several American large-scale movie adaptations, giving a twist to the Classics Illustrated idea, including King Kong and The Magnificent Seven. Finally, in the late 1960s, IPC produced several war and spy stories in a pocket-size ‘Super Library’ format of around 130 pages.

These children's titles may not always have been particularly sophisticated, but they were graphic novels by any other name. Apart from anything else, they prove that the concept can no more be restricted to a particular age-range than can the concept of ‘the comic’ itself.

But the real roots of today's boom are in adult comics, and here we can identify three distinct but overlapping historical strands. They are: the influence of the European adult album ‘revolution’ of the 1970s and 1980s; the paradigm of ‘maverick’ creators working in a longer context before the idea was generally acceptable; and the generation of a ‘book culture’ within the direct sales market. All three aspects should be seen against the backdrop of the intellectually-liberating influence of the underground: not only did it reintroduce comics to an adult readership, but it also inspired creators to ‘think bigger’ in every sense.

In Europe, as we have seen, there developed from the mid-1970s an adult comics culture where works designed ultimately to be published as albums (or series of albums) were ‘pre-published’ (a French term) in monthly magazines, a few pages at a time. This system allowed for longer narratives, with good quality production, plus an unprecedented level of prestige for creators, who received two royalties for their work. Eventually this developed into an ‘auteur system’ whereby albums would be marketed on the basis of a creator's reputation (rather in the same way as novels by certain authors, or films by particular directors). Thus, in general, in contrast to the prevailing system in Britain and America, the emphasis in the European industry was on quality rather than quantity (although it should be said that some European creators certainly seemed to crank out the albums). The fact that European albums were translated and imported on a regular basis from the 1970s meant that they were some of the first ‘adult graphic novels’ available in Britain and the USA.

The European paradigm was an influence in Britain and America for two reasons. First, the sales of albums could be phenomenal: albums tended to be distributed throughout the continent, and sales of 50,000 for a single album were not uncommon. This was naturally an incentive to British and American publishers to adopt a similar system, and to reach out to a similar kind of audience. Second, creators in Britain and America were inspired by the respect that their European counterparts received, in terms of cultural (and financial) status, and the creative freedom this implied.

In the light of this, there emerged several American and British creators in the post-underground period who were prepared to experiment with longer narratives. ‘Mavericks’ are by definition creative spirits who are impossible to categorise, following their own course regardless of the vagaries of fashion or of the market. Working against a background of an industry where short, sharp stories for children were the norm, these creators were responsible for redefining the boundaries of what the anglophone tradition could encompass. To look at the most important names in turn:⁷

WILL EISNER

The veteran American creator of The Spirit, Eisner had worked in the context of the underground since the early 1970s, and in 1978 had published the outstanding A Contract with God, a semi-autobiographical series of linked vignettes about life in the tenements of 1930s New York. It was published in book form, without prior serialisation, and was the first publication of its kind to be marketed as a ‘graphic novel’—thus establishing the term.⁸ ‘I had made a conscious decision to work on a larger scale’, he later explained, ‘I wanted the stories to end when they were meant to end, without regard to space or the rules of panellisation, and I wanted it to work as a whole.’⁹ Eisner returned to the format frequently in his later career, notably with A Lifeforce, The Dreamer, The Building and To the Heart of the Storm.

DAVE SIM

A Canadian with little experience in comics, Sim set up his own company in 1977 (Aardvark-Vanaheim) to publish himself and to retain complete creative control. He then proceeded to turn his continuing series Cerebus the Aardvark from a straightforward parody of Conan the Barbarian into a complex satire—which subsequently divided into large-scale graphic novels. Uniquely, Sim made a lifelong commitment to complete 300 issues of the comic—a project that he estimated would last twenty-six years. ‘There is a different “quality” to doing an extended story’, he later explained, ‘You get to know your characters, and you can set your own pace, building to a climax when the plot requires it.’¹⁰ The Cerebus volumes are also notable for their rich depiction of an entire fictional world (‘Estarcion’) consisting of city-states with their own laws and religions. Sim's most successful volumes have included High Society, in which Cerebus becomes prime minister of one such city-state, ‘Iest’, and Church and State (published in two volumes) in which he becomes Pope. Other volumes include Jaka's Story (two volumes) and Melmoth.

BRYAN TALBOT

One of the stars of the British underground, Talbot was able to continue with his masterwork The Adventures of Luther Arkwright because he was sponsored by Frenchman Serge Boissevain (almost in the fashion of a Renaissance artist by a rich patron). The story was serialised in various publications and collected in three volumes between 1982 and 1988. An ambitious, densely-textured SF odyssey, it wove together occult themes, scenarios from British history and anarchist politics, and took place in several ‘parallel universes’ at once. Stylistically influenced by the films of Nicolas Roeg, the narrative featured jump-cuts, flashbacks and sudden scene-shifts that were difficult to follow in a serialised form, but which worked superbly when compiled into a graphic novel: ‘It is true that I don't make many concessions to the reader’, Talbot later admitted, ‘because ultimately I think they are intelligent enough to work it out for themselves. Besides, they can always flick back through the pages to make sure they haven't misunderstood anything. It's all part of working on the larger scale.’¹¹

RAYMOND BRIGGS

Another British creator, famous for his 1970s children's albums (including Fungus the Bogeyman and Father Christmas), who in 1982 published the adult graphic novel When the Wind Blows, about a pair of pensioners caught up in a nuclear attack. His motivations were purely personal: he had been incensed by the government's attitude to public defence, and wanted to do something for the anti-nuclear cause. The book was marketed to bookshops rather than to comics shops, and became a surprise best seller, later being turned into an equally successful West End play and animated movie. It can thus be counted as the first adult graphic novel to be commercially successful in Britain. Briggs returned to adult subject-matter in his 1983 album The Iron Lady and the Tin Pot General, a satire on the Falklands war.

ART SPIEGELMAN

Best known for Maus, which has been covered in detail in chapter 6, Spiegelman had been one of the leading lights of the underground scene, and began work on Maus in 1978. Again, it is significant to note that his motivations were very personal: ‘I think any son or daughter of a [holocaust] survivor eventually has to come to some kind of reckoning’, he later explained. ‘In my case, as I was already a cartoonist, it was very natural for me to do it in comic-book form. I knew it was going to be a long job, and I was already past 30 in 1978, but it had to be done.’¹²Maus II, which completed the story, was published by Penguin in 1992 (too recently, unfortunately, to have been properly assessed in the present volume).

The last of our three historical threads was the generation of a ‘book culture’ in direct sales. Early collectors had a problem accumulating runs of comics because once a title had passed its sell-by period, it was returned to the distributor/publisher to be pulped. However, with the emergence of specialist shops and direct sales, the basis of the market began to change. Monthly publications were turned into items for continuous resale. There were no ‘returns’ for this market, and the publication of an issue marked the point at which quantities of a title could be bought, stocked, sold and reordered for as long as they were available. It was, in other words, a book culture in miniature.

More than this, because direct sales meant more competition between publishers, as the new ‘independents’ vied with Marvel and DC for a market share, this provoked a drive towards better quality comics packaging and design to attract readers' attention. This also represented a recognition of the fact that within fandom comics were being collected and stored away by a more serious (and more affluent) clientele, and that therefore it would be sensible to publish in more durable formats.

Similar pressures caused publishers to vie for the services of creators who were favourites of the fans, and led to a situation where the names on the cover of a comic were often more important than the contents (this was a similar process to the one that had occurred in Europe some years earlier). This in turn meant that some creators had more bargaining power, and hence more creative freedom: artists could now press for the opportunity to do fully-painted strips, or work involving collage and mixed-media; writers could negotiate to produce longer, self-contained stories as well as to explore more personal (and more adult) subject-matter. It was the genesis of an indigenous auteur system, and once again mirrored the book-trade, with its emphasis on ‘best-selling authors’ and ‘designer production’.

These various imperatives were formalised over time as publishing strategies were progressively directed towards tailoring comics output for future compilation. This was especially true of the introduction of ‘limited series’. These were designed partly to satisfy collectors who were fed up with never-ending stories, and partly to give creators the opportunity to work on a finite, theoretically more satisfying project. Thus the old-style soap-opera plots were superseded by briefer, more tightly-structured stories in ‘mini-’ or ‘maxi-’ series of four, six, eight or twelve parts, which could then be republished as a single volume, and sold on the basis of the creators' names.¹³ A number of individuals became known as auteurs via large-scale commercial projects produced for the fan-market. Though pioneers, they were not ‘mavericks’ as such, because of their position within the industry. Three in particular are worth mentioning:

HOWARD CHAYKIN

One of the first comics auteurs, Chaykin made his name on Heavy Metal, Star*Reach and Epic Illustrated. He then went on to larger ground-breaking projects in which he demonstrated with some panache the possibilities of more ambitious artwork for longer narratives. Three early ‘graphic novelisations’, in particular, demonstrated his talent for dynamic panel layouts and exciting colours: Empire (from an original Samuel Delany story), The Swords of Heaven the Flowers of Hell (written by Michael Moorcock) and The Stars My Destination (adapted from an Alfred Bester fantasy). He moved on to produce several notable limited series, particularly in the American Flagg! continuity. Moorcock later wrote of Chaykin:

He has benefited from the discipline of the standard comic-book format the same way some of us benefited from learning our trade as magazine or newspaper writers and others gained, like the Beatles, say, from the ‘tyranny’ of the old two-and-a-half minute single.¹⁴

FRANK MILLER

Best-known for his work on Marvel's Daredevil and DC's Dark Knight, which have been discussed in detail in chapters 5 and 6, Miller's stock-in-trade in the 1980s was the visceral action story, typically involving pared-down dialogue and a great deal of bloody violence. His other longer projects have included Ronin, about a samurai in a time-warp, Elektra Assassin (with Bill Sienkiewicz), a spinoff from Daredevil, and Give Me Liberty (with Dave Gibbons), a dystopian thriller with a black heroine. Miller has increasingly concentrated on his writing rather than his illustration, and has developed a parallel career scripting the SF movies Robocop 2 and Robocop 3.

ALAN MOORE

Best-known for Swamp Thing and Watchmen (discussed in chapters 5 and 6), Moore is generally credited with introducing greater psychological depth into comics, a quality used to optimum effect in his lengthier projects. His other graphic novels have included V for Vendetta (with David Lloyd), a futuristic thriller, From Hell (with Eddie Campbell), about Jack the Ripper, and A Small Killing (with Oscar Zarate), about an advertising executive's crisis of conscience. Moore's career is curious in that, having started via the ‘corporate route’, working for IPC and then DC, he has since turned his back on the large companies, working primarily for smaller independents. He shows no sign of abandoning large-scale comics, and future works include Big Numbers (with Bill Sienkiewicz and Al Columbia), concerning the despoiling of a Northampton town by property developers, and The Lost Girls (with Melinda Gebbie), an erotic fantasy.

By the mid-1980s, the term ‘graphic novel’ was well and truly established, within fandom if nowhere else (other phrases like ‘visual novelisation’ and ‘illustrated novel’ had been tried, but had not taken root).¹⁵ However, it should be noted that the percentage of actual continuous narratives was small. Most graphic novels, because of their origins as bit-part comics, tended to consist of interlocking short stories. Indeed, some bogusly used the name, and made no pretence at a unified whole, borrowing the terminology merely as a useful way of repackaging old product—a practice that became more common with time.

In 1986-7 the graphic novel went overground. The Big 3, far from being seismic breaks with the past, were the natural outcome of the developments in fandom outlined above. Dark Knight and Watchmen were derived from limited series, while Maus was a collected serial. (Watchmen and Maus were continuous narratives, while Dark Knight was more a series of linked short stories.) By the same token, PR did not ‘invent’ the graphic novel, but brought it out into the open. Although the hype was extensive, the graphic novel was clearly not simply ‘a reflection of the industry's yearning for unearned status … semantic jiggery-pokery’,¹⁶ as one source put it.

Thereafter, as we have seen (pp. 96-109), there was an unprecedented book in adult comics in general, and in graphic novels in particular (a news article in the Comics Journal announced the ‘Graphic novel explosion for '88’, and it was no exaggeration).¹⁷ They were available in hardback or paperback, for anything between £5 and £20 (although the usual form was trade paperback of approximately fifty pages, priced at around £6). Virtually everything was published or republished in this way—sometimes reformatting was so swift that creators would be several issues into a story before being told.

Publishers had a huge reservoir of material to exploit: comics from Europe, Japan and other parts of the world, together with the best series from the direct sales of the preceding decade, newer stories commissioned after 1986, plus even some continuing newspaper strips that constituted finite stories. Now there were graphic novels on autobiographical themes (Spiral Cage, Melody, Alec), historical fiction (Towers of Bois Maury) and non-fiction (Wilderness), political journalism (Brought to Light), science fiction (The Incal, Akira), horror (Sandman, Hellblazer), war (The Nam) and many more. In terms of variety, it was the sort of range one might previously have expected to see only on prose novel lists.

Not every graphic novel was very good by any means. In the rush to cash in, quality was not always the highest priority. Some were hastily collected together from existing sources; others were commissioned from creators who were clearly in love with the idea of the graphic novel, but had little to say. Moreover, numerically speaking, the genre titles were swamped by revisionist superhero stories, pumped out in the wake of the success of Dark Knight and Watchmen, and by numerous albums that were not ‘graphic novels’ at all, but that were using the term purely as a marketing device. On a more positive note, some of the new product was genuinely outstanding: new auteurs included Neil Gaiman (principally for his work on the horror title Sandman) and Grant Morrison (whose one-off Batman story Arkham Asylum was the biggest-selling graphic novel of the post-Big 3 era).

But, whatever the quality of the product, retailers seemed ready to take it. W. H. Smith, Dillons, Waterstones and other bookshop chains set up graphic novel shelves, and publishers increasingly targeted this market. In this regard, Titan Books, who had published two of the Big 3, were now confirmed as the biggest graphic novel publisher in Britain, republishing not just American fare, but European albums as well.

This boom led what might loosely be called ‘the literary establishment’ to finally take notice. Mainstream book publishers began to publish graphic novels—Penguin and Gollancz in particular. Reports in the book-trade journal, the Bookseller, and elsewhere optimistically spoke of a major reorientation of publishing into this area. Penguin even instituted what was described as ‘the comics Booker Prize’ in the form of the Comic Awards, presented each year at the Glasgow Convention for the best graphic novels. To cap it all, graphic novels were now frequently reviewed in the literary pages of the quality press, and were even studied at some universities and polytechnics.¹⁸

This co-option was the final stage in the transition of part of the comics industry from a ‘comics culture’ to a ‘book culture’. In short, it served to remake comics in prose literature's image. So far as the arts media were concerned, graphic novels were invariably reviewed in the books section rather than the general arts pages, writers were profiled rather than artists, and on the whole the quality of writing in a work was held in higher esteem than the art (a striking reversal of the traditional situation in fandom). But, as lecturer Paul Dawson, the first academic in Britain to introduce a university course on graphic novels, commented:

We have hardly begun to sketch out an aesthetic appropriate to the [comics] form, and it is inevitable that our understanding of it will continue for some time to rest on the transference of concepts and assumptions from other, more familiar forms … the assimilation of comics to the novel is tempting, because it offers a way to domesticate a form which we are still struggling to understand adequately.¹⁹

But for all the optimism of the post-Big 3 period, graphic novels have sold disappointingly. The problems of inappropriate fan-themes, overpricing, the inexperience of the book trade, and continuing public indifference have already been discussed (pp. 110-15). Suffice to say that commercial failure has been so marked in some cases that by 1991 some bookshops were withdrawing graphic novels from the shelves, and certain publishers were disconnecting from the market altogether. Media cynicism was a inevitable result. Time Out magazine summed things up by including graphic novels in their annual ‘Hated 100’ list for 1991: ‘Biff, Bang, Krapp!’, ran the listing, ‘If adult comics are the wave of the future, how come nobody's reading them?’.²⁰

Clearly, these are substantial barriers to overcome in the future. Yet if publishers are not to give up altogether (and the majority show no signs of doing so), it is clearly imperative that they employ more inventiveness in their sales strategies. Worth mentioning in this respect is the plan conceived by the latest mainstream publisher to enter the field, HarperCollins, whose main selling point involves graphic novels written by already-established book authors. Names so far announced include Doris Lessing, Anne McCaffrey, Clive Barker and Dean Koontz. What is unusual about this idea is that the graphic novels will be specifically marketed as part of the authors' existing oeuvre.

So, to sum up, although graphic novels currently have their problems, they are manifestly not ‘graphic novelties’, as some cynics have suggested. They exist in their own right as a definable category of comic, and have a history going back to the 1940s. Since entering the public eye in the late 1980s, they have certainly had their ups and downs: the dream of emulating the huge sales achieved on the continent has remained just that—a dream. Yet they have established themselves, albeit in a marginal sense, and are now a feature of the publishing landscape in a way they were not before. Nobody today doubts that they are here to stay.

Notes

1. Interview with Will Eisner, 26 May 1989.

2. Art Spiegelman ‘Commix: An Idiosyncratic Historical and Aesthetic Overview’, Print Magazine (New York: Nov.-Dec. 1988), p. 196.

3. Interview with Art Spiegelman, 1 November 1989.

4. A property of some graphic novels is therefore that they are best understood as part of a longer continuity. This gives them a greater sense of context, and enriches the reader's understanding of the individual parts.

5. There has been some debate over what length of narrative should constitute a graphic novel. Some commentators, for example, dislike using the term for forty-eight-page albums on the European model; this is no comparison, they say, to a ‘proper novel’ (or for that matter to something like the 200-page volumes in the Cerebus series). But this argument raises two questions. First, what is a ‘novelistic length’? The short novel is an established literary form, and, historically, novels of less than 100 pages have been common. Second, there is the issue of pacing. For instance, a forty-eight page work might be very dense, and make considerable demands on the reader; on the other hand, a 1,000-page manga might be designed to be speed-read in a few minutes.

6. Outside the comics industry, there were other precedents. In a fine art context, long graphic narratives in book form have existed since the 1920s, and can be traced to the revival of woodcut art in Europe. The pioneer of woodcut-storytelling, the Belgian Franz Masereel, produced several large-scale wordless novels (‘romans in beelden’), including Passionate Journey (1922), The Idea (1924) and his acclaimed masterpiece The City (1925), about the soul-destroying effects of alienation in a European metropolis. Intended for an adult audience, they were expressionist and highly political, dealing with themes of alienation and urban chaos, typically with heroes who by force of will transcend their environment.

   There were several other European artists working in the medium in the same period, but Masereel was the undisputed king. His work was known all over the continent, and his fans included Stefan Zweig, Hermann Hesse and Thomas Mann. When his reputation spread to America, it inspired a similar woodcut boom there. The best-known American creator was Lynd Ward, who produced more linear narratives than the Europeans, again for an adult audience. His acclaimed God's Man (1935), subtitled ‘a novel in woodcuts’, concerned an impoverished artist's Faustian deal with the Devil. (Will Eisner was later to acknowledge his debt to Ward, and to this work in particular.)

   Whether any of these early fine art publications can strictly be called ‘comics’ is a subject for debate. Certainly they did not originate from the same creative source as most comics, and were not intended for a mass-market. Yet, when they have been republished, they are invariably treated as comics, and reviewed as such, by the fan press.

7. Names that might also have been added to this list, but for space, include: Eddie Campbell (Deadface, Alec); Jack Jackson (Comanche Moon, Los Tejanos); Wendy Pini (Elfquest); Gilbert Hernandez (Heartbreak Soup, Human Diastrophism) and Jamie Hernandez (Mechanics, Ape Sex).

8. In America, Contract was distributed to mainstream bookshops; in Britain distribution was more patchy, and it tended to be sold from specialist outlets.

9. Interview with Will Eisner, 26 May 1989.

10. Interview with Dave Sim, 3 April 1992.

11. Interview with Bryan Talbot, 13 September 1990.

12. Interview with Art Spiegelman, 1 November 1989.

13. In fact the first mini-series was introduced by DC in 1979, entitled World of Krypton.

14. Michael Moorcock, introduction to Howard Chaykin, American Flagg! Hard Times (Illinois: First 1985).

15. Although Howard Chaykin's Empire (Byron Press, 1978) was an important early graphic novel (and was distributed both to fan shops and some mainstream bookshops), the first graphic novel to be published specifically for direct sales is generally agreed to have been Sabre by Don McGregor and Paul Gulacy (Eclipse, 1978). The first British-originated graphic novel also appeared in 1978, The Jewel in the Skull, an adaptation of a Michael Moorcock story published by Savoy. Significantly, all three titles emerged out of the vogue for adult SF comics that followed in the wake of the underground (see pp. 70-74).

16. Robert Fiore, ‘Comics for Beginners’, in Gary Groth and Robert Fiore (eds), The New Comics (New York: Berkley Books 1988), p. 5.

17. Chris McCubbin and Thomas Power, ‘Graphic Novel Explosion in '88’, Comics Journal 121 (April 1985), p. 6.

18. Naturally, different academic courses approach graphic novels in different ways. They have been adopted as a subject on courses including cultural studies, languages (especially French and Japanese), English literature and media studies. The case for including graphic novels on English literature syllabuses is persuasively argued by Paul Dawson in ‘Coming to terms with the Graphic Novel’, in the brochure to the ‘Strip Search’ exhibition (Camden Arts, 1990), pp. 5-7.

19. Dawson, ibid., p. 5.

20. ‘The Hated 100’ Time Out (12 November 1991).

Further Reading

Because the graphic novel is seen as a relatively recent form, very little has been written on the subject. Relevant sources tend to relate to individual creators. For example, Catherine Yronwode, The Art of Will Eisner (Princeton, Wisconsin: Kitchen Sink 1989 rev. edn) includes discussion of his graphic novel work, while Gary Groth and Robert Fiore (eds), The New Comics (New York: Berkley 1988) contains interviews with Howard Chaykin, Dave Sim, Will Eisner, Alan Moore, Frank Miller and Art Spiegelman. (Other references for the Big 3 have been given in chapter 6.) Additionally, the videos Will Eisner: A Life in Sequential Art (London: Acme Video/CA Productions 1988) and Raymond Briggs in Conversation (London: ICA In Conversation Series 1982) contain useful information.

Bibliography

It is not surprising, bearing in mind the low cultural status of comics over the years, that there has been very little produced in the way of serious critical comment or of scholarly research. Most of the secondary sources that exist have been produced by fans, and are intended to be celebratory rather than analytical (which is not to say by any means that they are without worth).

Because adult comics have historically been only a small proportion of all comics produced, this lack is even more pronounced. Nevertheless, since the boom of 1986, and particularly due to the growing interest of sections of academia, more serious works are beginning to appear—as the list below shows.

It goes without saying that for the reader who is relatively unfamiliar with comics, further reading should commence with the comics themselves, and particularly with the creators and works mentioned in the text. For the first time this is possible without recourse to primary sources, since most have been reprinted post-1986 in readily available volume form.

For those who do wish to consult primary sources, there are problems owing to the reluctance of most archives to stock comics. The best open access collections are the Rakoff Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum (mostly American comics—currently being catalogued) and the British Newspaper Library collection at Colindale (exclusively British comics).

So far as the following secondary sources are concerned, it should be noted that some are out of print, and only available from specialist shops or libraries:

English Language

Adams, J. P. (1946) Milton Caniff: Rembrandt of the Comic Strip, New York: David McKay.

Bails, J. and Ware, J. (1973) The Who's Who of American Comic Books, Detroit, Mich.: Simpson.

Baker, S. (1992) Picturing the Beast, Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Barker, M. (1984) A Haunt of Fears: The Strange History of the British Horror Comics Campaign, London: Pluto Press.

———. (1989) Comics: Ideology, Power and the Critics, Manchester: Manchester University Press.

———. (1990) Action: The Story of a Violent Comic, London: Titan Books.

Barrier, M. (1981) Carl Barks and the Art of the Comic Book, New York: M. Lilien.

Barrier, M. and Williams, M. (1981) A Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics, Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press/Harry N. Abrams Inc.

Baxendale, L. (1978) A Very Funny Business, London: Duckworth.

———. (1989) On Comedy, Stroud: Reaper Books.

Becker, S. (1949) Comic Art in America, New York: Simon & Schuster.

Bell, J. (ed.) (1986) Canuck Comics, Montreal: Matrix Books.

Benton, M. (1989) The Comic Book in America, Dallas, Texas: Taylor Publishing.

———. (1991a) Horror Comics, Dallas, Texas: Taylor Publishing.

———. (1991b) Superhero Comics of the Silver Age, Dallas, Texas: Taylor Publishing.

———. (1992) Superhero Comics of the Golden Age, Dallas, Texas: Taylor Publishing.

———. (1992) Science Fiction Comics, Dallas, Texas: Taylor Publishing.

———. (forthcoming 1993) Crime and Detective Comics, Dallas: Texas: Taylor Publishing.

Berger, A. A. (1970), Li'l Abner: A Study in American Satire, New York: Twayne Publishers.

———. (1973a) The Comic-Stripped American, New York: Walker & Co.

———. (1973b) Pop Culture, New York. Pflaum/Standard.

Blackbeard, B. and Williams, M. (1988) The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics, Washington DC: Smithsonian Institute.

Bloom, C. (forthcoming 1993) Dark Knights, London: Pluto.

Canemaker, J. (1981) Winsor McCay, Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press.

Carlin, J. and Wagstaff, S. (eds) (1983) The Comic Art Show: Cartoons in Painting and Popular Culture, New York: Fantagraphics Books.

Carpenter, K. (ed.) (1983) Penny Dreadfuls and Comics, London: Victoria and Albert Museum.

Cawelti, J. (1976) Adventure, Mystery and Romance, Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press.

Clark, A. and Ashford, D. (1983) The Comic Art of Roy Wilson, London: Midas.

———. (1986) The Comic Art of Reg Parlett, London: Golden Fun.

Clark, A. and Clark, L. (1991) Comics: An Illustrated History, London: Greenwood.

Clarke, P. and Higgs, M. (1991) Nostalgia about Comics, Birmingham: Pegasus Publishing.

Coad, E. D. (1991) Javier Mariscal: Designing the New Spain, London: Fourth Estate.

Couperie, P., Horn, M., Destefanis, P., François, E., Moliterni, C. and Gassiot-Talabot, G. (1968) A History of the Comic Strip, New York: Crown.

Craven, T. (1943) Cartoon Cavalcade, New York: Simon & Schuster.

Crawford, H. H. (1978) Encyclopedia of Comic Books, New York: Simpson.

Crompton, A. (1985) The Man who Drew Tomorrow: Frank Hampson, Bournemouth: Who Dares Publishing.

Cutler, D., Plowright, F., Snowdon, A., Whitaker, S. and Yusuf, H. (1981) Two Decades of Comics: A Review, London: Slings & Arrows.

Daniels, L. (1971) Comix: A History of Comic Books in America, New York: Bonanza Books.

———. (1977) Fear: A History of Horror in the Mass Media, London: Paladin.

———. (1991) Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics, London: Virgin.

Davidson, S. (1976), The Penguin Book of Political Comics, (rev. edn 1982), Harmondsworth: Penguin.

De Laet, D. and Varende, Y. (1979) Beyond the Seventh Art, Brussels: Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Dorfman, A. (1983) The Emperor's Old Clothes, London: Pluto Press.

Dorfman, A. and Mattelart, A. (1975) How to Read Donald Duck (rev. edn 1991 with introduction by David Kunzle), New York: International General.

Drotner, K. (1988) English Children and Their Magazines 1751-1945, New Haven, Con.: Yale University Press.

Eco, U. (1981) The Role of the Reader, London: Hutchinson.

Eisner, W. (1985) Comics and Sequential Art, Tarmarac, Florida: Poorhouse Press.

Estren, M. (1974) A History of Underground Comics (rev. edn 1987), San Francisco, Calif.: Straight Arrow.

Feiffer, J. (1965) The Great Comic Book Heroes, New York: Dial Press.

Fleischer, M. L. (1976) The Encyclopaedia of Comic Books Heroes, Volume I: Batman, New York: Macmillan.

Freeman, G. (1967) The Undergrowth of Literature, London: Thomas Nelson & Sons.

Fry, P. and Poulos, T. (1978) Steranko: Graphic Narrative, Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery.

Fulce, J. (1990) Seduction of the Innocent Revisited, New York: Huntington House Publishers.

Galloway, J. T. Jr. (1973) The Gospel according to Superman, Philadelphia, UK: Lippincott.

Garrick, P. R. (1978) Masters of Comic Book Art, New York: Images Graphiques.

Gifford, D. (1971) Discovering Comics, London: Shire.

———. (1975) Happy Days: A Century of Comics, London: Jupiter

———. (1976) Victorian Comics, London: Allen & Unwin.

———. (1984) The International Book of Comics (rev. edn 1990), London: W. H. Smith.

———. (1987) Encyclopaedia of Comic Characters, London: Longman.

Gilbert, J. (1986) Cycle of Outrage: America's Reaction to the Juvenile Delinquent in the 1950s, New York: Oxford University Press.

Glubok, S. (1979) The Art of the Comic Strip, New York: Macmillan.

Goddin, P. (1988) Hergé and Tintin, Reporters, New York: Sundancer.

Goulart, R. (1986) The Great History of Comic Books, Chicago, Ill.: Contemporary Books.

———. (1975) The Adventurous Decade, New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House.

———. (1982) The Great Comic Book Artists, vols 1 and 2, New York: Publications International.

———. (1988) The Encyclopaedia of American Comics, New York: Publications International.

———. (1991) Over 50 Years of American Comic Books, New York: Publications International.

Gravett, P. (forthcoming 1993) The New Penguin Book of Comics, Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Groth, G. and Fiore, R. (eds) (1988) The New Comics, New York: Berkley Books.

Hardy, C. and Stern, G. F. (eds) (1986) Ethnic Images in the Comics, Philadelphia: Balch Institute.

Harris, P. (ed.) (1977) The DC Thomson Bumper Fun Book, Edinburgh: Paul Harris Publishing.

Harrison, H. (1987) The Art of Jack Davis, New York: Stabur.

Herderg, W. and Pascal, D. (eds) (1972) The Art of the Comic Strip, Zurich: Graphis.

Hildick, E. W. (1966) A Close Look at Comics and Magazines, London: Faber & Faber.

Horn, M. (1971) Seventy Five Years of the Comics, Boston, Mass.: Boston Book & Art.

———. (ed.) (1976) The World Encyclopaedia of Comics (6 vols), New York: Chelsea House.

———. (1977) Comics of the American West, New York: Winchester Press.

———. (1980) Women in the Comics, New York: Chelsea House.

———. (1985) Sex in the Comics, New York: Chelsea House.

Inge, M. Thomas (1985) The American Comic Book, Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State University.

———. (1988) Handbook of American Popular Literature (2nd edn, rev. and enlarged 1991), New York: Greenwood Press.

———. (1990) Comics as Culture, Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi.

Inglis, F. (1982) The Promise of Happiness, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Jacobs, F. (1972) The Mad World of William Gaines, New York: Lyle Stuart Inc.

Kane, R. (1989) Batman and Me, Forestville, Calif: Eclipse Books.

Kelly, W. (1959) Ten Ever-Loving Blue-Eyed Years with Pogo, New York: Simon & Schuster.

Kunzle, D. (1973) History of the Comic Strip, Vol. 1: The Early Comic Strip, Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press.

———. (1989) History of the Comic Strip, Vol. 2: The Nineteenth Century, Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press.

Kurtzman, H. (1988) My Life as a Cartoonist, New York: Simon & Schuster.

———. (1991) From Aargh! to Zap!, New York: Prentice-Hall.

Lee, S. and Buscema, J. (1986) How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way, London: Titan Books.

Legman, G. (1949) Love and Death, New York: Breaking Point.

Louvre, A. and Walsh, J. (eds) (1986) Tell Me Lies about Vietnam, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lowenthal, L. (1961) Literature, Popular Culture, and Society, Englewood Cliffs, NY: Prentice-Hall.

Lupoff, D. and Thompson, D. (eds) (1970) All in Color for a Dime, New York: Arlington House.

McAlpine, D. (1990) Kersplat!, London: Channel 4 Television.

McClelland, G. (1980) Rick Griffin, Limpsfield; Calif.: Dragon's World.

McDonnell, J. et al., (1986) Krazy Kat: The Comic Art of George Herriman, New York: Abrams.

Marschall, R. (ed.) (1988) The Fantastic Visions of Winsor McCay, Westlake, Calif.: Fantagraphics.

———. (1989) America's Great Comic Strip Artists, New York: Cross River Press.

Mitchell, W. J. T. (1987) Iconology: Image, Text, Ideology, Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press.

Murray, C. S. (1991) Shots from the Hip, London: Penguin.

Murrell, W. (1933, 1938) A History of American Graphic Humour (2 vols), New York: Cooper Square.

O'Sullivan, J. (1971) The Art of the Comic Strip, College Park, Maryland: University of Maryland.

———. (1990) The Great American Comic Strip, Boston, Mass.: Bulfinch Press.

Pearson, R. and Uricchio, W. (eds) (1991) The Many Lives of the Batman, London: BFI Publishing/Routledge.

Peeters, B. (1992) Tintin and the World of Hergé, Boston: Little, Brown and Co.

Perry, G. and Aldridge, A. (1967) The Penguin Book of Comics, (rev. edn 1971), Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Reidelbach, M. (1991) Completely MAD, New York: Little, Brown and Co.

Reitberger, R. and Fuchs, W. (1972) Comics: Anatomy of a Mass Medium, London: Studio Vista.

Reynolds, R. (1992) Superheroes: A Modern Mythology, London: Batsford.

Richler, M. (1978) The Great Comic Book Heroes and Other Essays, Toronto: McLelland & Stewart.

Robbins, T. (1992) A Century of Women Cartoonists, Princeton, Wisconsin: Kitchen Sink.

Robbins, T. and Yronwode, C. (1985) Women and the Comics, Forestville, Calif.: Eclipse Books.

Robinson, J. (1974) The Comics: An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art, New York: G. P. Puttnam's Sons.

Rosenkranz, P., and Van Baren, H. (1974) Artsy Fartsy Funnies, Laren, Netherlands: Paranoia.

Ryan, J. (1979) Panel by Panel, Sydney: Cassell.

Savage, W. (1990) Comic Books and America 1945-1954, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press.

Schodt, F. (1983) Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics (rev. edn 1988), New York: Kodansha International.

Schoell, W. (1991) Comic Book Heroes of the Screen, London: Plexus Publishing.

Seldes, G. (1957) The 7 Lively Arts, New York: Sagamore Press.

Sheridan, M. (1942) The Comics and Their Creators, Boston, Mass.: Hale, Cushman & Flint.

Steranko, J. (1970, 1972) The Steranko History of Comics (2 vols), Pennsylvania: Supergraphics.

Thomas, J. L. (ed.) (1983) Cartoons and Comics in the Classroom, Littleton, USA: Libraries Unlimited.

Thompson, D. and Lupoff, D. (eds) (1973) The Comic-Book Book, New York: Arlington House.

Thompson, H. (1991) Hergé and His Creation, London: Hodder & Stoughton.

Threaker, D. (1986) An Introduction to Canadian Comic Books, Ontario: Aurora.

Tsuzuki, K. and Birnbaum, A. (eds) (1991) Manga—Comic Strip Books from Japan, London: Saunders & Williams.

Van Hisen, J. (ed.) (1989) How to Draw Art for Comic Books, Las Vegas, Nevada: Pioneer Books.

Vaz, M. C. (1989) Tales of the Dark Knight, London: Futura Publications.

Wagstaff, S. (ed.) (1987) Comic Iconoclasm, London: Institute of Contemporary Arts.

Waugh, C. (1947) The Comics, New York: Macmillan.

Wertham, F. (1954) Seduction of the Innocent, New York: Rinehart (1955, London: Museum Press).

White, D. M. and Abel, H. (eds) (1963) The Funnies: An American Idiom, New York: Simon & Schuster.

Willette, A. (1964) Top Cartoonists Tell How They Create …, Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Simmons Press.

Witek, J. (1989) Comic Books as History: The Narrative Art of Jack Jackson, Art Spiegelman, and Harvey Pekar, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi.

Wooley, C. (1986), Wooley's History of the Comic Book 1899-1936, Lake Buena Vista, Florida: Charles Wooley.

Yronwode, C. (1982), The Art of Will Eisner (rev. edn 1989), Princeton, Wisconsin: Kitchen Sink.

Foreign Language

Adhemar et al. (1974) L'adventure et l'image, Paris: Vaillant/Gallimard.

Alessandrini, M. (1974) Graffiti: Robert Crumb, Paris: Albin Michel.

Alessandrini, M. et al. (1979) Encyclopédie des bandes dessinées, Paris: Albin Michel.

Arrouyé, J. et al. (1982) A la rencontre de … J. Tardi, Marseilles: Bedesup.

———. (1983) A la rencontre de … H. Pratt, Marseilles: Bedesup.

Aziza, Olivieri and Strick (1981) Dictionnaire des figures et des personages, Paris: Garnier.

Baetens, J. (1989) Hergé écrivain, Paris: Editions Labor.

Baron-Carvais, A. (1985) La bande dessinée, Paris: PUF.

Beaumont, C. (1984) Pour faire de la B.D., Paris: PUF.

Benayoun, R. (1968) Le ballon dans la bande dessinée, Paris: André Balland.

Bergala, A. (1979) Initiation à la semiologie du récit en images, Paris: Ligue de l'enseigne.

Blanchard, G. (1969) Histoire de la bande dessinée, Paris: Verviers.

Bourdil, P. Y. (1985) Hergé, Tintin au Tibet, Brussels: Labor.

Bourdil, P. Y. and Tordeur, B. (1986) Bob de Moor, 40 ans de bande dessinée, 35 ans aux côtes d'Hergé, Paris: Editions du Lombard.

Bourgeois, H. (1978) Erotisme et pornographie dans la BD, Grenoble: Glenat.

———. (1981) L'ouvre érotique de C. Pichard, Grenoble: Glenat.

Bourgeois, M. and Filippini, H. (1976) La bande dessinée en dix leçons, Paris: Hachette.

Bronson, P. (1986) Guide de la B.D., Grenoble: Glenat.

Brun, P. (1982) Historie de Spirou, Grenoble: Glenat.

Cagnin, A. (1975) Os quadrinhos, Saõ Paulo, Brazil: Editora Atica.

Carbonnell, C. O. (ed.) (1975) Le message politique et social de la bande dessinée, Paris: Privat.

Carontini, E. (1982) Le comique au cinéma et dans la B.D., Louvain: Bedesup.

Chante, A. et al. (1985) A la recontre de … Jacques Martin, Marseilles: Bedesup.

Cirne, H. (1972) Para les os quadrinhos, Petropolis, Spain: Ediciones Vozes.

Coma, J. (1984) El Ocaso de los Heroes en los Comics de Autor, Barcelona: Ediciones 62.

———. (1988) Cuando la innocencia murio, Madrid: Ediciones Esueve.

Convard, D. and Saint-Michel, S. (1972) Le Français et la bande dessinée, Paris: Nathan.

Couperie, P. et al. (1967) Bande dessinée et figuration narrative, Paris: Musée des Art Decor.

Couperie, P., Filippini, H. and Moliterni, C. (1974, 1975) Encyclopédie de la BD (3 vols), Paris: SERG.

De la Croix, A. and Andriat, F. (1992) Pour lire la bande dessinée, Brussels and Paris: De Boeck and Duculot.

Eco, U. (1965) Communicazioni di massa e teoria della cultura di massa, Milan: Bompiani.

Faur, J. C. (1983) A la recontre de la BD, Marseilles: Bedesup.

Filippini, H. (1975) Histoire du journal Vaillant, Grenoble: Glenat.

———. (1977) Histoire du journal Pilote: Grenoble, Glenat.

———. (1977) Les années cinquante, Grenoble: Glenat.

Filippini, H., Glenat, J., Sadoul, N. and Varende, Y. (1980) Histoire de la bande dessinée en France et en Belgique, Grenoble: Glenat.

Francart, E. (1952) La B.D. a l'école, Paris: J. Depuis.

François, E. (1974) L'age d'ore de la bande dessinée, Paris: SERG.

Franquin, A. and Gillain, J. (1970) Comment on devient createur des bandes dessinées, Paris: Marabout.

Fremion, Y. (1974) Reiser, Paris: Albin Michel.

———. (1982) Les nouveaux petits Miquets, Paris: Citron Hallucinogene.

———. (1983) L'ABC de la BD, Tournai: Casterman.

———. (1990) Le guide de la bédé francophone, Paris: Editions Syros.

Fremion, Y. and Joubert, B. (1989) Images interdites, Paris: Editions Syros.

Fresnault-Derulle, P. (1972a), La bande dessinée: Essai d'analyse semiotique, Paris: Hachette.

———. (1972) Dessin et bulles, Paris: Bordas.

———. (1977a) La chambre à bulles, Paris: UGE.

———. (1977b) Récits et discours par la bande, Paris: Hachette.

Garcia, C. (1983) Los Comics: Dibujar con la Imagen y la Palabra, Barcelona: Editorial Humanitas.

Gasca, L. and Gubern, R. (1988) El Discurso del Comic, Madrid: Ediciones Catedra.

Gauthier, G. (1973) Les codes de la bande dessinée, Paris: Ufoleis.

———. (1982) Vingt leçons sur l'image et le sens, Paris: Edilig.

Gillain, J. (1983) Jijé vous avez dit B.D., Paris: Dupuis.

Goddin, P. (1984) Corentin et les chemis du merveilleux, Paris: Editions du Lombard.

Groensteen, T. (1980) Tardi, Paris: Editions Magic Strip.

———. (1985) La bande dessinée dupuis 1975, Paris: MA Editions.

———. (1987) Avec Alix, Paris: Casterman.

———. (1988) Animaux en cases, Paris: Casterman.

———. (1990) L'univers des mangas, Paris: Casterman.

Gubern, R. (1972) El lenguaie de los comics, Barcelona: Ediciones Peninsula.

Gubern, R. and Gasca, L. (1988) El Discurso del comic, Madrid: Ediciones Catedra.

Guillaume, M. A. (1987) Goscinny, Paris: Seghers.

Hasebe, T. (1976) Shomin Manga no Gojunen, Tokyo: Nippon Ioho Senta.

Herman, P. (1972) La science-fiction et le fantastique dans la bande dessinée, Grenoble: Glenat.

———. (1982) Epopée et mythes du western dans la bande dessinée, Grenoble: Glenat.

Ishigami, M. (1977) Tezuka Ozamu no Kimyo na Sekai, Tokyo: Kisotengaisha.

Ishiko, J. (1977) Manga Meisakukan: Sengo Manga no Shujinkotachi, Tokyo: Tokuma Shoten.

———. (1978) Shin Mangugaku, Tokyo: Mainichi Shimbunsha.

———. (1979) Nihon Mangashi, Tokyo, Otsuki Shoten.

Jacobs, E. P. (1982) Un opéra de papier, Paris: Gallimard.

———. (1986) Sex im Comic, Frankfurt: Ullstein.

Kajii, J. (1979) Sengo no Kashibon Bunka, Tokyo: Tokosha.

Knigge, A. (1986) Sex in Comics, Frankfurt: Ullstein.

———. (1988) Comic Lexicon, Frankfurt: Ullstein.

———. (1989) Comic Jahrbuch, 1989, Hamburg: Carlsen.

———. (1990) Comic Jahrbuch, 1990, Hamburg: Carlsen.

Lacassin, F. (1971) Tarzan ou le chevalier crispe, Paris: UGE.

———. (1982) Pour une 9e art: la bande dessinée, Geneva: Slatkine.

Lecigne, B. (1981) Avanies et mascarades, Paris: Futuropolis.

———. (1983) Les héritiers d'Hergé, Paris: Editions Magic Strip.

Lecigne, B. and Tamine, J. P. (1983) Fac-simile, Paris: Futuropolis.

Leconte, B. Propositions pour l'analyse d'image, Paris: Edilig.

Leguebe, W. (1977) La société des bulles, Brussels: Vie Ouvrière.

Lerman, A. (1979) Histoire du journal Tintin, Grenoble: Glenat.

Llobera, J. and Oltra, R. (1982) La bande dessinée, Paris: Eyrolles.

Lob, J., Sternberg, J. and Caen, M. (1967) Les chefs d'oeuvre de la bande dessinée, Paris.

Lo Duca, J. M. (1982) Manuel des confesseurs, Paris: D. Leroy.

———. (1983) Luxure de luxe, Paris: D. Leroy.

McLean, W. (1970) Iconographie populaire de l'érotisme, Paris: Maisonneuve et Larose.

Marny, J. (1968) Le monde étonnant des bandes dessinées, Paris: Editions du Centurion.

Martin, A. (ed.) (1982) Carlos Gimenez, Barcelona: Norma.

Martin, M. (1982) Semiologie de l'image et pédagogie, Paris: PUF.

Martinez, R. (ed.) (1982) Jesus Blasco, Barcelona: Norma.

Masotta, O. (1982) La historieta en el mundo moderno, Barcelona: Ediciones Paidos.

Massart, R., Nicks, T. and Tilleul, S. (1984) La bande dessinée a l'Université et ailleurs, Louvain-la-Neuve: Cabay.

Masson, P. (1985) Lire la bande dessinée, Lyon: PU de Lyon.

Matsumoto, R. and Hidaka, S. (eds) Manga Rekishi Dai Hakubutsukan, Tokyo: Buronzusha.

Moliterni, C. (1972) Histoire de la bande dessinée d'expression française, Paris: SERG.

———. (ed.) (1980) Histoire mondiale de la bande dessinée Paris: Hora.

Mollica, V. and Paganelli, M. (eds.) (1980) Hugo Pratt, Montepulci, Spain: Editori del Grifo.

Oltra, P. and Llobera, H. (1968) La bande dessinée, Paris: AFHA.

Peeters, B. (1984) Les bijoux ravis, Paris: Editions Magic Strip.

———. (1991a) Case, Planche, Récit, Paris: Casterman.

———. (1991b) Tintin and the World of Hergé, Paris: Casterman.

Pennacchioni, I. (1982) La nostalgie en images, Paris: Libraire des Meridiens.

Perez-Yglesias, M. and Zeledon-Cambronero, M. (1982) La B.D. critique latino-americaine (Idéologie et intertextualité), Louvain-la-Neuve: Cabay.

Pernin, G. (1974) Un monde étrange, la bande dessinée, Paris: Cledor.

Pierre, M. (1976) La bande dessinée, Paris: Larousse.

Renard, J. (1978) La bande dessinée, Paris: Seghers.

———. (1986) Bandes dessinées et croyances du siècle, Paris: Editions de Minuit.

Rey, A. (1978) Les spectres de la bande: Essai sur la BD, Paris: Editions de Minuit.

———. (1982) Spettri di carta: Saggio sul fumetto, Naples: Liguori Editore.

Riche, D. and Eizykman, B. (1986) La bande dessinée de science fiction americaine, Paris: Albin Michel.

Rivière, F. (1976) L'école d'Hergé, Grenoble: Glenat.

Robin, C. (1974) Travaux diriges et bande dessinée, Paris: Sudel.

Rosier, J. M. (1986) Didier Comes, Silence, Brussels: Labor.

Roux, A. (1970) La bande dessinée peut-être educative, Paris, Editions de l'Ecole.

Sadoul, J. (1968) L'enfer des bulles, Paris: Pauvert.

———. (1971) Les filles de papier, Paris: Pauvert.

———. (1976) Panorama de la bande dessinée, Paris: J'ai Lu.

———. (1989) 93 ans du B.D., Paris: J'ai Lu.

Sadoul, N. (1971) Archétypes et concordances dans la bande dessinée, Paris: Author.

———. (1974) Gotlib, Paris: Albin Michel.

———. (1976a) Mister Moebius et Docteur Gir, Paris: Albin Michel.

———. (1976b) Portraits à la plume et au pinceau, Grenoble: Glenat.

———. (1989) Entretiens avec Hergé, Tournai: Casterman.

Santamaria, C. et al. (1990) Els anys '80 en el comic, Barcelona: Ficomic.

Smolderen, T. (1983) Les carnets volés du Major, Paris: Schlirf Books.

Smolderen, T. and Sterxs, P. (1988a) Hergé ce que Tintin ne savait pas, Tournai: Casterman.

———. (1988b) Hergé, portrait biographique, Tournai: Casterman.

Sohet, P. and Mince de Fontbare, G. (n.d.) Discours social et production culturelle du medium bande dessinée, Paris: SERG.

Soumois, F. (1987) Dossier Tintin, Paris: Jacques Antoine.

Sternberg, J. et al. (eds) (1967) Les chefs-d'oeuvres de la bande dessinée, Paris: SERG.

Sterxs, P. (1988) Hergé dessinateur, Tournai: Casterman.

Stoll, A. (1978) Astérix, l'epopée burlesque de la France, Brussels: Complexe.

Sullerot, E. (1966) Bande dessinée et culture, Paris: Opéra Mundi.

Sullerot, E., Pascal, P., Metais, E., Gauthier, G. and Lafond, S. (1970) Les bandes dessinées, Bordeux: CRDP.

Tezuka, O. (1981) Tezuka Osamu no Subete, Tokyo: Daitosha.

Thevenet, J. M. (1987) Bilal, Paris: Seghers.

Tiberi, J. P. (1981) La bande dessinée et le cinéma, Paris: Regards.

Tibi, J. (1983) Voyage au pays de Tintin, St-Etienne: Université de St-Etienne.

Tilieul, J. L. et al. (1991) Lectures de la bande dessinée, Paris: Editions Academia.

Tisseron, S. (1978) Histoire de la psychiatrie en bandes dessinée, Paris: Savelli.

———. (1985) Tintin chez le psychanalyste, Paris: Aubier-Archimbaud.

———. (1987a) Hergé, Paris: Seghers.

———. (1987b) Psychanalyse de la bande dessinée, Paris: PUF.

———. (1990a) La B.D. au pied du mot, Paris: Aubier.

———. (1990b) Tintin et les secrets de famille, Paris: Librairie Seguier.

Vendrome, P. (1959) Le monde de Tintin, Paris: Gallimard.

Yonezawa, Y. (1980) Sengo SF Mangashi, Tokyo: Shimpyosha.

Zimmer, J. (1978) La bande dessinée, Paris: SERG.

Price Guides and Indices

Bell, J. (ed.) (1986) Canuck Comics, Ontario: Matrix Books.

Béra, M., Denni, M. and Mellot, P. (annually) Trésors de la bande dessinée, Paris: les Editions de l'Amateur.

Burns, M. (1978) Comix Index, Brighton: John Noyce.

Fiene, D. M. (1981) R. Crumb Checklist of Work and Criticism, Cambridge, Mass: Boatner Norton Press.

Geist, C. et al. (1989) Directory of Popular Culture Collections, Phoenix, Arizona: Oryx Press.

Gerber, E. and Gerber, M. (1990) Photo-Journal Guide to Comic Books (2 vols), Las Vegas, Nevada: Gerber Publishing Co. Inc.

———. (1990) Photo-Journal Guide to Marvel Comics (2 vols), Las Vegas, Nevada: Gerber Publishing Co. Inc.

Gifford, D, (1975) The British Comic Catalogue, London: Mansell.

———. (1985) The Complete Catalogue of British Comics, London: Webb and Bower.

———. (1990) The American Comic Book Catalogue: The Evolutionary Era, 1884-1939, London: Mansell.

Kempkes, W. (1971) The International Bibliography of Comics Literature, New York: R. R. Bowker and Company.

Kennedy, J. (1982) The Official Underground and Newave Comix Price Guide, Cambridge, Mass.: Boatner Norton Press.

Lent, J. A. (1986) Comic Art: An International Bibliography, Drexel Hill, Penn.: J. Lent Publishing.

McAlpine, D. (annually) The Official Comic Book Price Guide for Great Britain, London: Price Guide Productions.

Overstreet, R. (annually) The Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, Cleveland, Tennessee: Overstreet Publications/House of Collectibles.

Scott, R. H. (1988) Comic Books and Strips: An Information Sourcebook, Phoenix, Arizona: Oryx Press.

———. (1990) Comics Librarianship, Jefferson, N. Carolina: McFarland.

———. (forthcoming 1993) Comic Art Catalog (Michigan State University Library Collection Catalog), Conn.: Greenwood Press.

Weiner, R. (1979) Illustrated Checklist to Underground Comix, Cambridge, Mass.: Archival Press.

Fanzines and Journals (Current)

British

British Comics World, Alan and David Coates, London. Occasional. Articles on British comics.

Comic World, Aceville, Colchester, Essex. Monthly. Intended ‘for buyers, sellers and collectors’, but includes interviews and reviews.

Comic Cuts/ACE Newsletter. Association of Comics Enthusiasts Newsletter (by subscription to Denis Gifford, 80 Silverdale, Sydenham, London, SE26). Twice yearly. News for Collectors of British comics.

Comic Journal, A. and B. Whitworth, London. Occasional. Articles on vintage British children's comics.

Comics Forum, magazine of the Society for Strip Illustration, London. Quarterly. Reviews, news and criticism of primarily British and American comics.

Comics International, Derek Skinn, London. Monthly. News and reviews of American and British comics, plus coverage of interest to collectors and investors.

Golden Fun, Alan and Laurel Clark, London. Occasional. Articles on vintage British comics.

Zum!, Luke Walsh, Liverpool. Occasional. Small press news and reviews.

American

Comics Arena, Bob Hickey, Florence, Kentucky. Monthly. News and reviews of American comics, mainly superheroes.

Comic Buyers Guide, Krause Publications, Iola, Wisconsin. Weekly. Collector orientated news.

Comics Interview, Fictioneer Books, New York. Monthly. Interviews with creators and publishers.

Comics Journal, Fantagraphics Books, Seattle, Washington. Monthly. Criticism, reviews and news of mainly American adult comics.

Comics Scene, O'Quinn Studios, New York. Bi-monthly. Articles on comics-related media.

Comikaze!, David Linabury, Royal Oak, Michigan. Occasional. Music and comics fanzine, with emphasis on new wave in both cases.

Journal of Popular Culture, The Popular Press, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio. Quarterly. One of the very few academic journals to include comics.

Mangajin, Mangajin Inc., Atlanta, Georgia. Quarterly. Japanese comics, plus guide to learning Japanese, with detailed explanations of the strip translations.

Wizard, Wizard Press Ltd, San Francisco, Calif. Monthly. Information for collectors.

Foreign Language

(Can be ordered from some specialist shops.)

Les cahiers de la bande dessinée, twice a year, Paris: Glénat.

Fumo di China, bi-monthly, Milan: Ned 50.

It is also possible to obtain back issues of some now defunct fanzines in specialist shops: for example, Speakeasy, BEM, FA, Ark, Comic Media News, Comic Reader, Amazing Heroes, etc. Back issues of the comics Escape and Blab! also contain useful articles.

Videos

Alan Moore: Iconoclasm at the ICA (1988) London: Acme Video/CA Productions.

Bill Sienkiewicz and John Bolton (1988) London: Acme Video/CA Productions.

Comic Book Confidential (1989) Canada: Castle Hendring, London (Dir. Ron Mann).

The Comic Book Greats: Todd McFarlane (1991) New York: Excelsior Productions/Stabur Video.

Masters of Comic Book Art (1988) New York: Stabur Video (Dir. Ken Viola).

Raymond Briggs in Conversation (1982) London: ICA In Conversation Series.

Storm Over Jevington: Don Lawrence Profile (1988) London: Photon.

Ten Years of 2000AD—A Video Celebration (1987) London: Acme Video/CA Productions.

Viz: The Documentary (1990) Channel 4 TV: London: Polygram.

Watch the Men—Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore (1988) London: Acme Video/CA Productions.

Will Eisner: A Life in Sequential Art (1988) London: Acme Video/CA Productions.

Word Balloons: Interviews with Comics Folk (1991) New York: Stabur Video (interviews by Keith R. Candido).