Above: cover shot of an impressive new volume COMICS 1964-2024…on comics art and comics history…cover illustration Starwatcher, 1986, by Moebius(1938-2012)…book published by Centre Pompidou and Thames & Hudson…Edited by Thierry Groensteen, Lucas Hureau, Anne Lemonnier and Emmanuele Payen…the volume is based on the exhibition held in Paris: Bande designee, 1964-2024 at the Centre Pompidou in 2024.
The recent comics art exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris…BANDE DESIGNEE 1964-2024…included works from comics magazines Arcade, BigAss Comics, Bijou Funnies, Garo, Motor City Comics, Yellow Dog, Zap Comix…and from creators including Shinichi Abe, Neal Adams, Fujio Akatsuka, David B., Edmond Baudoin, Alison Bechdel, Enki Bilal, Blutch, Alberto Breccia, Claire Bretecher, Charles Burns, John Buscema,…Daniel Clowes, Gene Colan, Guido Crepax, Robert Crumb, Julie Doucet,…Will Eisner, Emil Ferris, Andre Franquin, Fred, Herge, Hideshi Hino, Gil Kane, Killoffer, Jack Kirby, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Harvey Kurtzman,…Ulli Lust, Jay Lynch, Lorenzo Mattotti, Frank Miller, Shigeru Mizuki, Moebius,…Gary Panter, Hugo Pratt, Joe Sacco, Marjane Satrapi, Charles M. Schulz, Seth, Marie Severin, Gilbert Shelton, Posy Simmonds, Art Spiegelman,…Jiro Taniguchi, Jacques Tardi, Yoshihiro Tatsumi, Osamu Tezuka, Lewis Trondheim, Yoshiharu Tsuge, Albert Uderzo, Chris Ware, Bill Watterson and S. Clay Wilson…a most impressive lineup!
The book based on the exhibition, COMICS 1964-2024…(pictured at the top of this post),…was published by Centre Pompidou and Thames & Hudson. Edited by Thierry Groensteen, Lucas Hureau, Anne Lemonnier and Emmanuele Payen. Chapters include An Evolving Artform by Benoit Peeters…The Decade That Reinvented Comics; Counterculture; and Humour; all three by Thierry Groensteen…Fear; and Science Fiction; both by Lucas Hureau…Dreams: At The Edge Of Reality by Johanna Schipper…Colour And Black And White by Anne Lemonnier…History And Memory by Joe Sacco with Paul Gravett…Personal Stories: Autobiographical Comics, their forms and themes by Laurent Gerbier…Everyday Life; and Cities by Emmanuele Payen…Literature-Literature and comics: sister arts by Tristan Garcia…and Geometry: Bringing infinity within reach by Marguerite Demoete. It begins with the Foreword: A New “Golden Age” Realized by Paul Gravett.
Above, cover shot of an earlier book on comics art…CO-MIX: A Retrospective Of Comics, Graphics, And Scraps by Art Spiegelman, published by Drawn & Quarterly, 2013, New York…the cover image by Art Spiegelman is titled Comics as a Medium for Self-Expression…Spiegelman’s work is cited in COMICS 1964-2024.
In his Foreword Gravett refers to several key figures and developments that led to the acceptance of comics, its creators and their works as an art form. He notes that it was in 1964 that the term graphic novel was first used in English. Hokusai is cited as a developmental reference for his 19th Century pre-manga sketchbooks. Gravett acknowledges that France was…“the first and to date the only country in the world to decide that…comics, in the singular, is also an art.” The French film critic Claude Beylie followed this up with the suggestion that comics be named the “9th Art”. Other notable events Gravett cites include…the Museum of Modern Art’s exhibition of Art Spiegelman’s artwork for his graphic novel Maus…staged in New York in 1990-91, titled High and Low. Prior to this he lists what he terms a “landmark” exhibition…titled Bande dessinee et figuration narrative at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris…which opened on 7th April 1967…and to quote Gravett “…marked the first time any major art museum had presented comics.”
The BANDE DESIGNEE, 1964-2024 comics art exhibition in Paris included a Japanese manga element…so I wanted to include some related content in this post. The Japanese magazine GARO (see cover image above), a manga collection, can be described in graphic terms as highly creative! Basically a bi-monthly magazine about manga…that is affectionately, if cheekily, labelled “King Of Comics!”…it features, to quote the magazine, “gorgeous art by Terry Johnson for Flamingo Studio Inc.” plus “popular design by Mr. Stereo and Mr. Monoral for the Stereo Studio Inc.” There is also a French element in this exhibition a.k.a. BANDE DESIGNEE, 1964-2024 apart from the hosting and staging of the event. In fact, it appears to be promoted as a combined, three-way nation effort…involving France, Japan and the USA. To that effect in this post, following the cover image of the Japanese magazine GARO (above)…I have one of the French comics journal lapin produced by L-Association (below)…followed by two books of comics with covers by the American cartoonist Robert Crumb (below). There are comics and creators from other countries also involved but those three nations would appear to be dominant.
Cover of an edition of the French comics journal lapin: bandes dessinees pour la jeunesse…produced by La Association. The journal has been opened and pressed, open side down, flat on the desktop, for the photograph…due to the difficulty I had getting it to lay flat for the photo.
In the opening chapter of COMICS 1964-2024, titled An Evolving Artform…Benoit Peeters describes the trend in comics which occurred in the 1980s that led to the development of graphic novels…citing notable examples such as: MAUS by Art Spiegelman (see Spiegelman book CO-MIX above)…Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons…Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo…Blankets by Craig Thompson…Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi…and The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller. Reference is also made to established and ongoing series such as Asterix and Obelix, Tintin, and Lucky Luke. Also referred to in COMICS 1964-2024 is the Robert Crumb series: The Complete Crumb Comics (cover image below). I have also added a photo (below) of Mark James Estren’s A History of Underground Comics…that has Crumb’s art on the cover.
Above, cover shot of The Complete Crumb Comics Volume 5…Edited by Gary Groth with Robert Fiore and Robert Boyd…published by Fantagraphics Books, 1990, Seattle.
Another artist referred to in COMICS 1964-2024 is David B…(cover shot, above, of his book)…the Armed Garden and other stories…published by Fantagraphics Books, 2011, Seattle. Pierre-François “David” Beauchard also known by the pen name David B., is a French comic book artist and writer, and one of the founders of L’Association. Another of his books…Epileptic…is referred to in COMICS 1964-2024 in the chapter DREAMS: At The Edge Of Reality by Johanna Schipper.
Above, cover shot of…KRAZY KAT: The Comic Art Of George Herriman, by Patrick McDonnell, Karen O”Connell and Georgia Riley de Havenon…published by Harry N. Abrams, New York.
George Herriman, creator of Krazy Kat (see image above)…is another legendary American comics creator referred to in this book…in the chapter Geometry: Bringing infinity within reach by Marguerite Demoete. My visual reference is to the front cover of the book The Comic Art Of George Herriman above…with Krazy strumming a banjo and getting a little help from Ignatz Mouse…whilst Officer Pup sits alongside them in a state of mesmerised attention. The expression in the eyes of all three characters is telling, I think.
In summary, COMICS 1964-2024 is an impressive book about various aspects of comics art. As a physical entity it comes in the large format…approximately 24 x 31 cm. in size and near 300 pages in length…it is both heavy to hold…and a little awkward to handle with its weight and soft cover…heavily illustrated in both colour and black and white with only 20% of the pages without illustrations…and priced accordingly. It contains 14 informative articles on comics art (see chapter titles and authors above). I regret having missed visiting the exhibition in Paris…but at least I have this book! If you have read it, and would like to comment, please consider adding your response here! M
(Original text-c.2025 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics).
Doctor Comics 