Innovative/Notable Webcomics (I): Memory Lane

On 6 May 201611 May 2016 By Nicolas VerstappenIn AesComm Theo, Animation/GIF, CARRÉ, Lilli, Creat Writ: Lesson 16, Infinite Canvas, NILSEN, Anders, On Comics Legitimation, Self-referential, Through Space Through Time, WARE, Chris, WebcomicsLeave a comment

THE BLOODY FOOTPRINT by Lilli Carré

In The Bloody Footprint (link) published by The New York Times on February 5, 2015, American multidisciplinary artist, illustrator and cartoonist Lilli Carré explores a personal memory yet later reclaimed by one of her childhood friends. Who experienced the event and who made its recollection her own? An intimate and effective take on the blurred contours of memory through a clever blend of prose, comics and GIF animation.

MIRROR by Chris Ware & John Kuramoto

More animated film than webcomics (yet using comics features), Mirror (link) is the result of a collaboration between The New Yorker and the radio program This American Life. Through a cover for The New Yorker and its expansion as a short animated feature, extraordinary American cartoonist Chris Ware – with the assistance of John Kuramoto -revisits a radio interview (and an interesting reflection) of writer Hanna Rosin and her daugther about parenting, makeup and teenage self-awareness. Published by The New Yorker on November 30, 2015.

Cover-Story-Chris-Ware-ART-690x942-1448407478

ME AND THE UNIVERSE by Anders Nilsen

In Me and the Universe (link), American cartoonist Anders Nilsen cleverly combines diagrammatic storytelling and the infinite canvas feature to explore his place in the Universe, from ancestral past to more-or-less present and distant future. Published by the New York Times on September 24, 2014.

WHY I LOVE COMICS by Chris Ware

Echoing Anders Nilsen‘s Me and the Universe, Chris Ware‘s Why I Love Comics (link) also depicts an artist’s lifetime on Earth. Playing with iconic solidarity and text spatialisation, the first word of each rounded panel spells out an acrostic hidden message. Published by The New York Times on October 16, 2015. Note also the epigraph:

“Cartooning is the art of turning time back into space.” Art Spiegelman.

“In the Search for the Ninth Art” by Fabrice Neaud, FR, 2008

On 5 May 20165 May 2016 By Nicolas VerstappenIn AesComm Theo, Batman, Braiding, BUSCH, Wilhelm, Creat Writ: Lesson 01, France, Little Nemo, NEAUD, Fabrice, Rare/Classic Short Comics, TintinLeave a comment

In the Search for the Ninth Art (“A la recherche du 9e Art”) by Fabrice Neaud (FR) in: Qu’est‐ce que la Bande Dessinée aujourd’hui (“What is Comics Art Today?”), Beaux Arts éditions, France, 2008.
Copyright ©2008 Fabrice Neaud/Beaux Arts/TTM éditions

003 — PAGE 3/8. “Histoire de M. Jabot” by Rodolphe Töpffer (CH), 1830/1831.

004 — PAGE 4/8. Up: “Histoire d’Albert” by Rodophe Töpffer (CH), 1845. Bottom “Impressions de voyages aériennes et maritimes de Mr. A.A.N. Trouillard épicier de la veille” by Cham (FR), unpublished and unfinished story, France, 1847-1848 but may be earlier than 1840.

005 — PAGE 5/8. “Puis”; then. “Quand soudain”; when all od sudden. Bottom left; “Der Virtuos” by Wilhelm Busch (DE), 1865.

BRAIDING: “The way panels (that is the images in the panels) can be linked in series (continuous or discontinuous) through non-narrative correspondences, be it iconic (repetition of certain symbols or elements) or other means. In a way this is a kind of rhyming for comics.” Derik Badman commenting the term introduced by Thierry Groensteen in: Système de la bande dessinée, Presses Universitaires de France, 1999.

GW01 — On “braiding”, from the first Graphic Writing lesson, CommArts, Chula

“The Virtuoso” by Wilhelm Busch, DE, 1865

On 5 May 20165 May 2016 By Nicolas VerstappenIn 1860s, BUSCH, Wilhelm, Creat Writ: Lesson 01, Germany, Rare/Classic Short Comics, Silent (or almost)1 Comment

The Virtuoso (“Der Virtuos“) by Wilhelm Busch (DE), Germany, 1865. Via Animation Resources.

Virtuoso01 - Silentium — PANEL 1/15: Silentium

Virtuoso02 - Introduzione — PANEL 2/15: Introduzione

Virtuoso03 - Scherzo — PANEL 3/15: Scherzo

Virtuoso04 - Adagio — PANEL 4/15: Adagio

Virtuoso05 - Adagio con Sentimento — PANEL 5/15: Adagio con Sentimento

Virtuoso07 - Smorzando — PANEL 7/15: Smorzando

Virtuoso08 - Smorzando — PANEL 8/15: Maëstoso

Virtuoso09 - Capriccioso — PANEL 9/15: Capriccioso

Virtuoso10 - Passagio Chromatico — PANEL 10/15: Passagio Cromatico

Virtuoso11 - Fuga des Diavolo — PANEL 11/15: Fuga del Diavolo

Virtuoso12 - Forte Vivace — PANEL 12/15: Forte Vivace

Virtuoso13 - Fortissimo Vivacissimo — PANEL 13/15: Fortissimo Vivacissimo

Virtuoso14 - Finale Furioso — PANEL 14/15: Finale Furioso

Virtuoso15 - Bravo Bravissimo — PANEL 15/15: Bravo Bravissiomo!

“Arzach” (2 stories) by Moebius, FR, 1975-1976

On 5 May 20165 May 2016 By Nicolas VerstappenIn 1970s, Creat Writ: Lesson 09, Dream/Subconscious, France, Humanoïdes Associés (Les), Métal Hurlant (magazine), MOEBIUS (GIRAUD, Jean), Rare/Classic Short Comics, Silent (or almost)Leave a comment

Arzach / Harzak (two short stories) by Moebius (Jean Giraud, FR) in: Métal Hurlant magazine, France, 1975-1976. Via Pasa La Vida.

“Batman: Once Upon a Time…” by Len Wein & Walter Simonson, USA, 1981

On 5 May 20165 May 2016 By Nicolas VerstappenIn 1980s, Batman, Creat Writ: Lesson 09, DC Comics, Rare/Classic Short Comics, SCHULZ, Charles M., SIMONSON, Walter, Snoopy, Text Substitution, USA, WEIN, LenLeave a comment

Batman: Once Upon a Time…, tribute to Charles M. Schulz‘ Peanuts (adaptation of Snoopy’s novel), by Len Wein (USA) & Walter Simonson (USA) in: Detective Comics Vol. 1 #500, DC Comics, USA, March 1981.

Between “August and September of 1969, Charles M. Schulz devoted a few weeks’ worth of strips to Snoopy’s novel.” In 1981, Len Wein wrote a Batman “two-pager with art by the great Walt Simonson. The story has no dialogue. It only has captions. The captions? All lines from the aforementioned Snoopy novel!!” Brian Cronin, Comic Book Resources, 2010.

darkstormy0 — Peanuts strips by Charles M. Schulz (1969)

“Untitled” by Chester Brown, CAN/USA, 2004

On 5 May 20165 May 2016 By Nicolas VerstappenIn 2000s, BROWN, Chester, Canada, On Comics Legitimation, Rare/Classic Short Comics, Self-referential, Talking Animals, USALeave a comment

Untitled by Chester Brown (CAN) in: The New York Times magazine (front & back covers), USA, July 11, 2004.

browncomicsnyt2004070801 — PAGE 1/2 (front cover)

browncomicsnyt2004070802 — PAGE 2/2 (back cover)

“Big Tex” by Chris Ware, USA, 1996

On 5 May 201628 January 2020 By Nicolas VerstappenIn 1990s, AesComm Theo, Fantagraphics Books, Rare/Classic Short Comics, Through Space Through Time, USA, WARE, Chris4 Comments

Big Tex (one-pager) by Chris Ware (USA) in: Acme Novelty Library Vol VII, #7, Book of Jokes, Fantagraphics Books, Summer 1996.

“Like how does something happen, and … how does it reverberate through time? And that act of memory is important, and comics are great for memory. Like even when you have a short comic, like a three-panel comic, you’ve got a past, a present and a future as soon as you look at those three boxes. And that allows you to reflect and compare times.” Art Spiegelman, NPR interview, 2011

“Looking for Nemo” by Benoît Peeters & François Schuiten, JP/BE/FR, 1991

On 5 May 20165 May 2016 By Nicolas VerstappenIn 1990s, AesComm Theo, Belgium, France, Japan, Little Nemo, Onomatopoeia, PEETERS, Benoît, Rare/Classic Short Comics, SCHUITEN, FrançoisLeave a comment

Looking for Nemo, tribute to Winsor McCay (and Little Nemo), script by Benoît Peeters (FR) and art by François Schuiten (BE) in: Morning magazine, Japan, 1991. English edition followed by French publication, 1996 (for colour quality’s sake).

“Architecture is the simplest means of articulating time and space, of modulating reality, of engendering dreams.” Ivan Chtcheglov, Formulary for a New Urbanism, 1953.

Hommage Nemo 1996 — PAGE 1/2 (French version)

Hommage Nemo 1991 — PAGE 2/2 (French version)

“The Giraffe” by Gotlib, FR, 1971 (?)

On 5 May 20165 May 2016 By Nicolas VerstappenIn 1970s, Creat Writ: Lesson 06, Fantagraphics Books, Fourth Wall Breaking, France, GOTLIB, Marcel, Pilote (magazine)Leave a comment

The Giraffe by Gotlib (FR), originally published in: Pilote magazine, France (year ?). Re-published in Rubrique-à-Brac Vol.2, Dargaud, France, 1971. English translation by Kim Thompson for Honk! #4, Fantagraphics Books, USA, 1986.

“Screw Style” by Yoshiharu Tsuge, JP, 1968

On 4 May 20164 May 2016 By Nicolas VerstappenIn 1960s, Creat Writ: Lesson 10, Garo (magazine), Japan, Rare/Classic Short Comics, TSUGE, Yoshiharu2 Comments

Screw Style (ねじ式, “Neji-shiki”) by Yoshiharu Tsuge (JP), originally published in: Garo magazine #47, Japan, June 1968. Scans from The Comics Journal #250 (February 2003). Translation by Bill Randall. Via SAP Comics. With some original artwork (below).

Contains scenes of a sexual nature. Viewer discretion advised.

Tsuge - Neji-Shiki - 1968 — PAGE 1 (original artwork)

Tsuge - Neji-Shiki - 1968 2 — PAGE 2 (original artwork)

Tsuge - Neji-Shiki - 1968 3 — PAGE 14 (original artwork)

Tsuge - Neji-Shiki - 1968 4 — PAGE 15 (orignal artwork)

Tsuge - Neji-Shiki - 1968 x — PAGES 8 & 9 (original artwork)

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