The Art of the Comic Book: An Aesthetic History

In this definitive study of one of popular culture's favorite genres Robert C. Harvey, a cartoonist and comics critic, traces the evolution of the comic book as a potent form of narrative art. He takes it from its beginnings in the 1930s through the most contemporary of productions in the mid-1990s.

In defining comic book aesthetics Harvey establishes both a critical perspective and a vocabulary for evaluating the art. Because he is an able practitioner himself, his insights are especially valuable. As he demonstrates how words and pictures function together to tell stories in ways unique to the medium, he explains the processes of narrative breakdown, page layout, and panel composition, and shows how these aspects of the art form can be manipulated for dramatic effects.

Enhanced by many illustrations, this detailed examination of comic book art includes work from both the mainstream and the counterculture, both veteran and newcomer. Whether traditional or iconoclastic, their cartoon art continues to uphold the aesthetic that Harvey finds to be the basis of cartooning.

Author: Robert C. Harvey
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Published: 02/01/1996
Pages: 304
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.51lbs
Size: 10.90h x 8.22w x 0.66d
ISBN13: 9780878057580
ISBN10: 0878057587
BISAC Categories:
- Art | Techniques | Cartooning
- Humor | Form | Comic Strips & Cartoons
- Art | Popular Culture

About the Author
Robert C. Harvey, a comics historian and critic, is a cartoonist who writes for The Comics Journal, Comics Buyers' Guide, and Cartoonist PROfiles. Among his books are The Art of the Funnies: An Aesthetic History (1994) and The Art of the Comic Book: An Aesthetic History (1996). Both are published by University Press of Mississippi.