#masereel

A revised list of the ancestors of the graphic novel.

Based on some suggestions via Twitter and email, here is an updated list of books that could be classified as graphic novels, but that were published before the term was coined. Special thanks to Steve Blatchford, Lev Bernstein, and Woodrow Phoenix. Besides additions, I have also included hypertext links to the works available in full text online. I have also included the country of the artist,…

DOING LAPS IN FREE SWIM

“May we suggest that art is likely to be characterized by low stringency (i.e., high ambiguity and interpretability) where systems of conduct ideals are in doubt or social values are in the process of transition.” —Ernst Kris, psychoanalyst and art historian.1

No shit. No art, all politics. No politics, all economics. Happy 2020! Have a “nice” day and a  postmodern rest of your life!

So…

“Moloch whose mind is pure machinery! Moloch whose blood is running money!” —Allen Ginsberg, Howl

This post’s illustration idea was manifest (scribbled, but not doodled in my journal) before I remembered the Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s Carceri d’Invenzione (1745-61)images that give it its title. It was inspired by a couple of lines from London,William Blake’s 1794 self-illustrated poem:…

Frans Masereel (Belgian, 1889-1972)

Street with street lights, Paris, in the evening, 1939

Frans Masereel (Belgian, 1889-1972)

Two women at the port, 1927

Frans Masereel (Belgian, 1889-1972)

The Cinema Exit, 1924