Tag: words and images

RESEARCHING COMICS ART: Eighth Reading

Comics February 28, 2025

_{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 graphically lively Japanese manga magazine GARO…with cover art by Terry Johnson, described on the cover as “Gorgeous Art”.}

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.}

_{A useful tome from which to study the Underground comics movement…usually spelt ‘comix’…is this book by Mark James Estren, A History of Underground Comics, 1993(Third Edition)..(above, with Crumb cartoon on the cover), Ronin Publishing, Berkeley, California…(originally published in 1974).} _{Crumb’s work is heavily featured in this book. Others mentioned include Mike Barrier, Joel Beck, Vaughn Bode, Paul Buhle,… Kim Deitch, Will Eisner, Clay Geerdes, Justin Green, Rick Griffin, Bill Griffith, George Herriman, Rand Holmes,…Jaxon, Jay Kinney, Denis Kitchen, Aline Kominsky, Harvey Kurtzman, Jay Lynch, Lee Marrs, Victor Moscoso,…Pete Poplaski, Gilbert Shelton, Art Spiegelman, Foolbert Sturgeon, John Thompson,…Trina Robbins, Spain Rodriguez, Larry Welz, Robert Williams, Skip Williamson, S. Clay Wilson, Basil Wolverton and Wally Wood.}

_{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 Herrima}_{n, 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).

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.29

Art, Blotting Paper, Cats in Comics, Comics, Germania, Japanning, printmaking November 7, 2018

It has taken me some time to finish wrapping up production of this title but things are finally taking shape. The latest development in my comics creation and production scheduling is that two of my titles will now be merged. These two titles are my most recent project working title…The Cat Cooking Comics In Kappabashi and my longer, earlier work Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions of Doctor Comics. The former, that took the form of some of a sequel to the previous title,…now becomes an additional chapter…actually the final chapter of the Blotting Paper graphic novel. My initial thoughts were to make it a stand-alone comic…despite it having some connections to the main title by virtue of sharing some of the same characters…however, I have now opted for closure of the production period…and time to wrap it all up in one bundle. This means that The Cat Cooking Comics In Kappabashi will cease being a proposed stand alone comic title…and instead become a chapter title of Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions of Doctor Comics. Despite this manga merging, their blog posts that were completed with the different title of The Kappabashi Cat Nos. 1, 2 and 3…will remain as existing blog posts, retaining their original title and date and history, and accessibility on this site. Sorry about the changes but I hope that has clarified matters.

The above image shows a rough cover design of the proposed comic The Cat Cooking Comics In Kappabashi…that is now being merged with Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions of Doctor Comics as Chapter 6…the final chapter of the intended 300 page graphic novel. Although the Doctor Comics character does not appear in this chapter one of his cats, Cohl, does. Living in the Kappabashi area of Tokyo…Cohl learns the Japanese form of woodblock printmaking called sosaku hanga. This is the same method that Doc had employed…and demonstrated to his cats at their home in Sydney whilst making a series of creative prints. This edit wraps things up in terms of the story. In this final chapter Cohl becomes, as the title of that chapter infers, The Cat Cooking Comics In Kappabashi. Wherever he was at this time, I am certain that Doc would have been impressed and offered his enthusiastic support.

_{A page from The Cat Cooking Comics In Kappabashi …now Chapter 6 of the graphic novel Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions of Doctor Comics. (Art and Photo-©2018 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

Above, a page from Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions of Doctor Comics showing Doc at work making woodblock prints…an act that Cohl would have observed on several occasions back in Sydney when Doc and the cats lived together…and that would have possibly inspired Cohl to take up printmaking on his arrival in Japan.

Above, yet another page from Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions of Doctor Comics…showing Cohl being impressed by examples of the the art of celebrated Japanese printmaker Shiko Munakatta… whose exhibition Cohl’s new Japanese friend Moto takes him to see…and below, another page from the same title…showing Cohl’s visit to an art supply shop in the Asakusa area of Tokyo…where he purchases woodblock printmaking tools, again thanks to his knowledgeable art school friend Moto. _{(Art and Photo-©2018 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

Yet another page from The Cat Cooking Comics In Kappabashi…now Chapter 6 of Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions of Doctor Comics…showing Cohl’s artistic development with his manga mixing…his printmaking and his creative layout of prints…with panels and pages from the randomly found manga during his travels in Tokyo.

I hope these edits will bring these separate units together under the one title of…Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics. It seems the best solution at the moment.

MY COMICS ART HISTORY AND RESEARCH.

art postcards, comic art, Comics, graphic novels, printmaking May 21, 2018

Although not initially included in my published posts I wish to add further details of my background story…how I arrived at my present moment celebrating and researching comics art…acquiring my DOCTOR COMICS moniker…detailing aspects of my teaching, research and passage from technical work into academia…and subsequent research, publishing and the writing and presenting of conference papers based on that research…as well as a series of supplementary creative projects.

_{Doctor Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics (Photo by Alison Van Hees).}

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

PROFILE: Subsequent to my artistic work in theatre and film, I have nearly 30 years tertiary experience in academia. This involved teaching, research, publication, course design, management and direction…plus consultation, working within the art and design and humanities disciplines…at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and on both a local and international basis.

_{My Ph.D by virtue of the thesis:…A Study Of Contemporary Australian Alternative Comics 1992-2000 With Particular Reference To The Work Of Naylor, Smith, Danko And Ord…Division Of Society, Culture, Media And Philosophy, Macquarie University, 2003.}

On completion of my Ph.D. at Macquarie University in Sydney I donated my collection of comics art research materials…including my collection of more than 500 comics…to the National Library of Australia, as the Michael Hill Collection of Australian Comics.

_{Master of Arts by virtue of the thesis…Slave To The Rhythm: Animation At The Service Of The Popular Music Industry…Faculty of Humanities And Social Sciences, University Of Technology, Sydney, 1995.}

_{Graduate Diploma in Media, Australian Film and Television School, 1986.}

_{Certificate in Group Work, South Australian Institute of Technology.}

ACADEMIC POSITIONS

UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY

Course Design and Management

Co-creator and first Director of the Master of Animation Course, spread across three Faculties of the university.

Director of Postgraduate Design

Director of Visual Communication Design Department

SYDNEY COLLEGE OF THE ARTS

Lecturer in Film and Video

Technical Officer in Art and Design

RESEARCH

In the comics art area and previously in the fields of film, video and theatre. Australian representative on the International Editorial Board of the International Journal Of Comic Art, 2000 to present, 2025.

_{An issue of the International Journal Of Comic Art…I always carry the current issue in my brief case.}

PUBLICATIONS

List of published articles on comics art. (NOTE: Work in progress: details to be added.)

PRESENTATIONS

Lectures, Tutorials and Panel Participation-multiple, local and international. (NOTE: Work in progress: details to be added.)

EXHIBITIONS

_{Participating in Group show on comics theme at KNOT GALLERY, Sydney.}

(NOTE: Work in progress: details to be added.)

AWARDS

(NOTE: Work in progress: details to be added.)

CREATIVE WORKS