The artistry and sophistication of today's comics and graphic novels did not simply materialize out of thin air; rather, today's comic book creators were largely influenced by the artists and writers of the past. On this page, I've noted some of the most significant of these pioneers. Their work continues to garner serious study, and anyone interested in this medium should make themselves familiar with these names and their work. To see which of these titles we have in the Palomar College Library, CLICK HERE.
Carl Barks, Walt Disney's Comics and Stories by Carl Barks and Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge Adventures (various volumes)
Carl Barks was an anonymous creator for Walt Disney comics through the 40's and 50's (the only name that appeared on any Disney comics was Walt's), but he was later recognized--and deservedly so--by fans of the brilliant work he did on Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck. Barks's comics are wonderfully drawn and written, with sharp characterization and satire. His best works were the longer adventure stories where Donald and his nephews--Huey, Dewey, and Louie--accompanied Scrooge to fantastic places, usually in search of treasure. Many of these titles are available from Bud Plant Comic Art (www.budplant.com).
EC Comics
William Gaines, owner and publisher of EC (Entertaining Comics), presided over some of the most innovative, well-written, and disturbing comics in pre-Comics Code America. His roster of talent was impressive and included Harvey Kurtzman, Wally Wood, Will Elder, Jack Kamen, Jack Davis, Al Feldstein, and many others. EC dominated the comics market, so the other publishers worked against him by supporting the Comics Code, essentially ending Gaines's reign. Later, however, EC would publish Harvey Kurtzman's brainchild, MAD Magazine, which in turn would influence a number of underground comics artists--including R. Crumb--and leave its imprint on the current state of alternative and independent comics.
Harvey Kurtzman, Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book
Harvey Kurtzman was one of the great innovators in comics. So influential was he over people like Robert Crumb and Art Spiegelman (both of whom worked for him), he is often referred to as the "Godfather of Underground Comics." After his extraordinary work on the EC war titles (he wrote and edited every story), Kurtzman, along with William Gaines, conceived of Mad Magazine, which first introduced the idea of pop culture as an object of satire rather than simple fantasy. The roots of Mad can be seen in Jungle Book, which has the added bonus of featuring all-Kurtzman illustrations. It's out of print, but used editions are readily available online (that's where I got mine).
Grant Geissman and Fred Von Bernewitz, Tales of Terror! The EC Companion
This is great secondary source material for EC, providing a comprehensive listing of their publications, full color pictures of all the covers, essays, and interviews with the key EC players.
Maria Reidelbach, Completely Mad
Likewise, this book is great secondary source material for MAD Magazine, containing a history of the magazine (including some discussion of its roots in EC horror comics), interviews, and reproductions of material from the pages of MAD. Hard to find, but worth it.
Will Eisner, The Spirit, A Contract with God, To the Heart of the Storm
Will Eisner has been involved with the comic book industry since its inception, and along with Jack Kirby and Harvey Kurtzman, he is one of the most influential forces in the history of the medium. His Spirit introduced bold new methods of visual storytelling, while A Contract with God introduced the term "graphic novel" and To the Heart of the Storm helped introduce the possibilities that the medium offered for autobiography. At the 2003 Comic-Con, I had the pleasure of serving with Will Eisner on a panel about teaching comics as literature. Here we are sharing a laugh (no doubt at some witticism of mine).
George Herriman, Krazy Kat
Krazy Kat must really be read to be understood--and even then... Superficially, the story is about Krazy Kat, who loves Ignatz Mouse, who hurls bricks at Krazy's head, and action which is interpreted by Krazy as a sign of affection. More than this, however, Herriman plays word games, makes visual puns, and introduces a whole host of characters that provide subtle and surreal commentary on life. Before they went out of business in the 1990s, Eclipse Comics had begun to rerelease Herriman's seminal strip; more recently, Fantagraphics Books has taken up where Eclipse left off by releasing beautifully designed (by Chris Ware) collections of two-year runs.
Walt Kelly, Pogo
Pogo is commonly regarded as one of the supreme creations of comic art in the 20th century. Set in the Okeefenokee Swamp, Pogo chronicles the daily intrigues of the creatures who live there. Aside from his pioneering work in voice and dialect, Kelly created witty and sharp social satire. His critical eye reached its zenith during the 50's (collected, for the most part, in Volume 10), when he used his strip to critique McCarthyism and the witch hunts. Fantagraphics (www.fantagraphics.com) publish the collected works, eleven volumes and counting.
Frank King, Walt & Skeezix
King's Gasoline Alley is one of the all-time great comic strips, and Drawn & Quarterly has begun serializing them from the beginning (they've already featured reprints of many of King's gorgeous Sunday pages in their D & Q anthologies). One of the great features of this strip is the way that the characters aged over time. This dimension (appropriated later by Los Bros Hernandez for their Love & Rockets characters), coupled with King's innovation with line and characterization makes these collections "must have" for enthusiasts of the medium.
Jack Kirby, Captain America, The Marvel Age of Comics, The Fourth World Saga
There simply isn't enough room here to do justice to "King" Kirby, who has exerted more influence over the visual language of mainstream comics than any other person in the history of the medium. His work introduced a new kind of visual dynamism through more varied perspectives that "opened up" the page. With Joe Simon, he created Captain American in the 1940s, and with Stan Lee, he reinvigorated the mainstream by creating the Fantastic Four, the Incredible Hulk, the X-Men, Spider-man (with Steve Ditko), Iron Man, the Avengers, Thor, etc. This period--the early 1960s--is known as the beginning of the Silver Age of comics, and it represents one of the most creatively fecund periods in the history of the medium. Later, after Lee and Kirby parted ways, Kirby became involved in a number of solo projects, the most prominent of which was the Fourth World saga, published by DC. This saga spanned four different titles--Jimmy Olsen Adventures, The Forever People, Mister Miracle, and The New Gods, and is available in trade paperbacks. DC has reprinted all of the Fourth World comics in four lavish hardcovers (Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus, Volumes 1-4). What's more, they reprinted the comics in the order in which they appeared on newsstands, rather than dividing them up according to title. The books are expensive, but they look very nice.
Bernie Krigstein, various EC stories
Though he only worked for EC for eight years, they were productive ones for Bernie Krigstein, one of the great visual storytellers in comics history. Greg Sadowski has produced two books on this master, the first a biography and the second (pictured above) a collection of his best comics, gorgeously remastered.
Winsor McCay, Little Nemo in Slumberland
These gorgeous, oversized, one-page comics appeared in newspapers in the early part of this century, and they are stunning in terms of their lushness and imagination. The "story" of each is quite simple. The bulk of each page documents some fantastic situation that Little Nemo encounters, only to have him wake up from his dream in the final panel. Even though the basic set up remains the same, McCay was able to make each page unique. Some of the most beautiful artwork in comics history.
Charles Schultz, Peanuts
There are many collections available on Schultz's work, but for my money the best collections are of those strips that appeared before the mid-1980's. During the earlier part of Schultz's career, Snoopy and the gang provided big laughs and great commentary about family and society. Fantagraphics has recently begun to release the complete Peanuts; this ambitious and worthwhile project is expected to run over twenty volumes.
E.C. Segar, Popeye
Forget the cartoons, this comic strip was the real thing: a great combination of humor and action.
Basil Wolverton, Powerhouse Pepper and Woolverton in Space
Basil Wolverton is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting comic book artists. His gift for exaggeration and monstrosity is nearly without rival, and his influences can be seen in many of the underground comic artists like Jack Jackson and S. Clay Wilson. The two collections above represent the diversity of his work; Powerhouse Pepper is an affable lunkhead with an penchant for alliteration, and Wolverton in Space collects the artist's sci-fi adventures, including "Space Hawk."