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Comics (comic or cartoon) is an art , often referred to as the "ninth art" after a series of articles published under the signature of Morris in the between 1964 and 1967. This classification has been adopted and popularized by Francis Lacassin in his book For the ninth art, comics , , carrying the ninth art and materializing through a whole semiotics and iconic set. It can tell stories through a series of drawings mean. According to Will Eisner , "Currently, the comic is the main application of sequential art to paper" .

Thirteenth floor of the History of Mr. cryptogamic Tpffer Rudolph , one of the first comics.

Summary

/ / Definitions

It is customary to distinguish between "the" comic and "how" comics. This distinction is highlighted by Francis Lacassin , . This involves giving a double definition, one of the comics and the medium of comics.

Defining comics

Since the cartoon is an art, there are two major perceptions of this art. The first perception considers comics as a minor art, comics is art. Another collection of comics is an art in itself.

The cartoon is art

If the cartoon is art, it is then necessary that this art belongs to all pictorial forms that preceded it. This is the position of Scott McCloud . This way of perceiving the comic forced to relocate in the mainstream arts and culture that begins with the first drawings, those of cave art , as the Lascaux cave , even if today such approximation is artificial. A priori, the experts agree that it is not a result of drawings. Moreover, the narrative quality of these paintings remains unproven, many archaeologists, as Professor Norbert Aujoulat site manager, look for a shamanic interpretation (the drawings have a magical function) .

There is no reason to link the cave paintings to comic books rather than other graphics as well as the bas-reliefs of Egyptian temples , the pre-Columbian codices and Biblia pauperum from the late Middle Ages . It should be added to this list: the Bayeux Tapestry , the Josee Rouleau of the Vatican Library and the 182 collages of Max Ernst A week of kindness . These artistic references all have in common the desire to tell a story as does a comic strip or frieze of the Parthenon in Athens , the Column of Trajan in Rome , the bas-reliefs of the temple of Angkor in Cambodia.

"The history of art could not recognize the narrative dimension of these works the standard of an independent discipline within the visual arts . This vision of a great artistic movement which traces the history of art to give its credentials to the comic strip is less and less restraint since the highlighting of the comic book, the ninth art.

The comic is an art

In the latter case, it is obviously necessary to define how the comic is "one" art, it is not enough to say that. Again two views clash:

  • The cartoon is an art at the crossroads of literary writing and writing graphics . The vision of the inventor of the cartoon Rudolph Tpffer : "This little book is a mixed nature. It consists of drawings autographed line. Each drawing is accompanied by one or two lines of text. Drawings, without the text, would have little meaning, the text without the drawings, would mean nothing. The whole forms a sort of novel all the more original it does not look better in a novel than anything else . "What A. Tpffer called "Literature in prints" in his Essay of Physiognomy and Will Eisner's Sequential Art, "sequential art" or Visual Narrative, "visual storytelling" .
  • If the cartoon is that combining text and graphics design, the text must necessarily register in graphical form in the drawing in a bubble: as H. Filippini, "the comic strip is a sequence of drawings telling a story, the characters express themselves with texts inscribed in bubbles . This definition rejects the cartoonists so called "picture stories" like the French JP. Pinchon (Snipes), Louis Forton (Feet nickel and Bibi Fricotin), Dutchman Marten Toonder (Tom Poes / Tom Thumb), Americans Rudolph Dirks (Katzenjammer Kids / Pim Pam Poum) and Gustave Verbeek (Upside-downs/Sans top below). This definition also rejected, may be less categorically, comics without text such as the American Soglow Otto (Little King / Little King), which in 1975 still did not include text.

The experts of the comic defend with fewer restrictive force this second vision of the comics, even H. Filippini integrates all the authors cited above in his Dictionary of the comic book (see bibliography).

However, this debate can not remain that specialists would be a paradox in view of the popularity of the genre ... Eg "BD" (an abbreviation of popular but little use precisely popular amateur) is now considered a genre in contemporary art, where a map only aesthetic (though not narrative) it results from a artistic process, this recognition led the authors to exhibit and sell their original plates, but we are in an artistic approach derived from the comic considered an art in itself as we speak in this case fragments Cartoon.

Defining comics medium

If the definition of comics still divides critics and experts of the comic strip, comics fans have no problem to define in practice the comics medium.

  • Cartoon: succession of images arranged to tell a story and presented in various ways (in plank, illustrated, small format, album, etc..).
  • History in pictures: distinction made by some scholars to differentiate between sequences of images arranged to tell a story but the text is arranged under the recitative images. Also occurs in various forms. This is where the famous images of Epinal imagery Pellerin.

In practice, it has happened to the two types coexist in the same author: for reasons of format and printing quality, Marten Toonder was published as a pictorial history in the French regional press and in everyday Cross , but in comics at Artima. The weekly youth Brave Hearts imposed some time Herg a dual format (comic book Tintin in America in which each box had a legend behind them), then gave up the relief of the designer United States

  • Funny : in the late nineteenth humor drawing appearing in the daily press. In the early twentieth century synonym strip.
  • Strip apheresis comic strip : humor drawing in two or three boxes arranged horizontally and appearing with the Sunday supplement of a newspaper, also called strip sunday when he gathers the daily strips on a page, before becoming a real story with recurring characters rather for adults.
  • Comic , comic strip apocope: also called daily strip, cartoons in two or three boxes arranged horizontally appearing every day and managed to tell a story rather for adults.
  • Comic book : originally the eight-page comic strip in the Sunday supplement folded into four, 32 pages, covered with a color cover. Then a book of 64 or 96 pages specially edited to tell the stories of superheroes bound youth.
  • Graphic novel : hardcover with up to a hundred pages and telling a unique story.

In Europe

  • Illustrated journal , abbreviated as shown Newspaper published from the late nineteenth century and includes comic stories bound youth.
  • Fumetto : phylacteries for the Italians look like small clouds of smoke. So the speech bubble that defines here the comic.
  • Tebeo is the name of the first Spanish journal of comics (TBO in 1917) which gave its name to comics in Spain. They are also commonly means by "comics" (original English) and anecdotes, the latter being more frequently used for comic strips , which are literally a "story" of a single band or a single page.
  • Small format : name of French comic books often taking adventures from the United States.
  • Album : hardcover-cover often rigid near the A4 having originally forty pages and 46 boards (50 pages), usually in color. As with the development of comics pagination is free and runs over 150 pages for sequences of stories.

An album is usually part of a series, if not the professionals use a anglicism to designate a single album: One shot (one shot), to approximate the American graphic novel.

In the West

Many countries simply means "comics" in their vernacular as the Portuguese speaking of desenhada banda, or use the term American comic. Others, like the Brazilians use a term more colorful and talk histria em quadrinhos (story in little pictures). In Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, is used as in Spain the word anecdote (short story). Young designers often prefer to use the term American comic.

In Asia

Manga
  • Manga in Japan, a term coined by Hokusai Gakyjin, "drawing the Mad" in 1814 and applies to anything approaching from near and far to Japanese comics. Manga () is generally translated as "pictures ridiculous" (man in Chinese originally means "to overflow, at its discretion"), "clip art" in the sense of free interpretation. Note that the manga-ka Shotaro Ishinomori also used the spelling, which then means "ten thousand pictures."
  • Amekomi : Japan, translation of the American soul rican Comi c, to describe the cartoons and U.S. imports usually translated into Japanese.
  • Lianhuanhua ("linked images"): comic Chinese composed of small books containing only one image per page accompanied recitative, very rarely phylacteries.
  • Manhua : refers to import Japanese comics and translated into Chinese.
  • Manhwa (, order man-h'oua) refers to Korea's second production of comics in Asia after Japan.

Anatomy of a Cartoon

Fans agree on a number of words and definitions to describe the different elements that comprise the comics:

  • The recitatives panels are generally located at the edge of the thumbnails and comments using the "voice", especially to give indications of time and place or to provide information enabling a better understanding of the action. The clear line style has been widely used as the recitative Edgar P. Jacobs , the author of Blake and Mortimer. The "picture stories" are characterized by the exclusive use of recitative.
  • Bubbles, originally called phylacteries (term - less used today than bubble in comics - which meant the banners bearing the text in the illuminations of the Middle Ages) or English balloon (balloon, rarer in French than bubble ). Usually round or elliptical (rather in the style rectangular line), they contain the dialogues of the characters to which they are attached. For the thoughts or dreams, they often have a form of cloud.
  • The onomatopoeia are words or icons suggesting a noise, action, thought by phonetic imitation, graphic or iconic. The manga uses onomatopoeia to suggest feelings.
  • The box is a picture or sticker containing a drawing and usually framed. Note that a comic does not necessarily box, the box in this case coincides with the board.
  • The band (in English: strip) or headband is a sequence of boxes, arranged on a line.
  • The board is a superposition of bands, noted that a board is not necessarily made up of bands and even some boxes.
Originally the word board was reserved to the original document drawn by the author. It dials his board often quietly in a corner of it. The numbering of the plates is not necessarily, if ever, identical to the numbering of the pages of the album in which they appear.
  • An album is a collection of plates that tell an adventure. They may belong to the same series, the same author, or a theme (collective albums).
In the golden age of comic adventures of the heroes of comic books were published as serials called "stories to follow" and published in albums.
Since the virtual disappearance of comic books stories are sometimes pre-published in all kinds of media, magazines, fanzines, magazines, newspapers, etc.. before being published in albums.

The rest of the time, stories are published directly by albums, this practice tends to generalize.

  • A series is a set of bound albums with a theme or character, organized in chronological order when the story runs the length of the series.

History

Main article: History of Comics.

Appeared in Switzerland in the early 1830s with the release of the first albums Tpffer Rudolph (see History of Mr. Jabot ), comics spreads during the nineteenth century in the world via the satirical magazines and newspapers (see especially in France the cosine of Savant Christophe ). Popularized at the end of this century in American newspapers as the comic strip , comics becomes a mass medium, fairly diversified with U.S. , more and more restricted to humor and children in Europe.

Increasingly dominating the global children's press, through periodicals from the 1930s, the comic also affects adolescents and some adults, in the comic book and strip quality to the United States , the " small format in Europe. From the 1950s, she knows a third major focus of development when Japan began to create massively under the influence of Osamu Tezuka. All three homes are then relatively independent, both in published works in the editorial structures, only the American home entering the other two.

In the 1960s, comics began to seek to legitimize themselves by leaving the fields of childhood and gender. The creations of Jean-Claude Forest , movement gekiga and the underground U.S. lead to many questioning that allow the emergence of a first critical discourse in Europe and the United States. In the 1970s, experiments are continuing behind Moebius , while the claim of authorship, more and more obvious, explodes at the end of the decade with the success of the term " graphic novel "by Will Eisner or the concept of "comic novels" launched to promote Corto Maltese of Hugo Pratt.

If the series of classic entertainment markets still dominate in the late 2000s, the comic has explored since the 1980s all the fields covered by the other narrative arts, and has seen more and more legitimate, despite the recriminations its recurring actors on the slow recognition.

Technique

Creative Process

Although the steps of creating a comic depend on artists and works, a general routing can be mentioned:

  • Synopsis: history or inspired or original idea of an existing work (literary or film, for example).
  • Timeline: detailed treatment of the story. He says, plank by plank, cutting action, the position of the characters, and this dialogue.
  • graphic research: The designer works in the general style. It creates the main characters and the environment in which they operate.
    If the place and time exist or have existed, a research typographical and iconographical material is made. If the universe of the story comes from the imagination of the author, searches are much more oriented towards graphic design.
  • Layout: choice of points of view, framing and layout of the thumbnails in the plate.
  • sketch: first draft of the design itself. From this stage, work is usually done on a larger carrier ( A2 size ) than the printed sheet ( A4 ).
  • inking: the process of redrawing in ink and pencil sketch the outlines of the shadows to give the drawing a definitive line. In the end, only this plot will be printed. Sets and phylacteries are added and positioned during this step. They are not always present, which then succinctly in the sketch.
    Some authors encrent directly on the pencil, then remove them by erasing. Thus losing all traces of this step. Others use a transparent layer placed over the sketch.
  • setting color: operation which is to select and apply color to different areas bounded by the lines inked (characters, sets, clothing), while maintaining continuity of color over the boards. The colorist must also define the lights and shadows of the drawing. The coloring is called traditional performed on a particular draw of the board, called " blue ", where the black lines of ink are printed in blue-gray.
    In the past this task was done in watercolor applied with brush and airbrush, nowadays it is often done by computer. The colors are increasingly carried out by professionals, colorists and sometimes by the designer himself.
  • Direct color : ink and color setting may be made in a single step, like a painter.

The graphic field is wide depending on the technique used ranging from early drawings etched in dry point to the use of the airbrush by some authors like Juan Gimenez. The latter method (now often replaced by computer graphics) enables achievements that are more visually similar to the picture drawing with the total elimination of the line.

  • Lettering: The text of the dialogues and comments is inked by aligning in the spaces left for this purpose during the inking of the plate. The operation is repeated for each language in which the story is published.

Depending on the work and the artist, the same person can perform all or part of the job creation: script, drawing, inking. Most often the work is shared between a writer and cartoonist. Some more specific steps, such as the lettering and the coloring, can be left to specialists.

Enki Bilal , for example, is a complete artist. Writer and cartoonist, he worked in direct color. It also has the distinction of drawing boxes on separate sheets, which allows him to arrange them at leisure on board.

Economy

The new home market

In 2007, the market for comics in France accounted for 33.6 million albums for 320 million euros, or 6.5% of turnover from publishing .

The market opportunity

The market opportunity of the comic strip is a dynamic market, driven by the various festivals and specialized libraries (especially in Belgium).

The market for first editions, autographs, original boards, ...

A dedication is an original drawing done by the author of a comic and usually dedicated to a reader. This dedication is often drawn on a blank page that begin or end the album. The comics festivals often include many stalls dedication, the popularity of authors is an important factor of attraction for visitors. The original board is the board (usually A2 size) on which the author has done his drawing. The first comics authors paid little attention to these documents when the album was printed. Today, enthusiasts argue these boards with gold. The original editions are the albums (limited) published the first time. When the album's success, it can be reissued many times, collectors place a value can be very important to albums of the original edition. The value varies according to the rarity of the original edition, the state of the album and the presence of a dedication.

This market is active on festivals but also at auctions.

It should be noted that artists rarely receive significant amounts sometimes to which their works are exchanged.

The market goodies

The comic's most famous creations inspire many (figurines, posters, ...). Some hero comics are also used on items called "licensed" clothing, stationery, characters or even reconstruction of scenes from a comic strip characters such hits from Walt Disney for a long time or, more recently those of Tintin, Asterix and more ...

Publishers

A rapid classification allows to distinguish among the French-language publishers:

Museums, archives, libraries

The comic, like any mature art, has its specialized agencies. Among the most important centers:

In Europe

  1. In Belgium, the Belgian Centre for Comic , Brussels
  2. In France, the international city of comics and picture in Angouleme
  3. In Switzerland, the fund's Heritage Service Library & Archives of the City of Lausanne and the Cartoon Museum Basel

In North America

  1. United States, the National Cartoon Museum in New York City

Festivals

See more complete article on Cartoon Festival.

A way for long was considered impaired and

Just as the pop music or the detective novel , comics enjoyed it very difficult to get real recognition. First seen as a mere means of entertainment for youth, the comic had to emancipate itself from its status as a comic to establish a means of artistic expression again. Some authors contributed substantially to this emancipation, this recognition, as Hugo Pratt. Note however that unlike the film (which has benefited from the struggle of filmmakers, critics of the New Wave ), the comic remains largely unrecognized as an art in itself, and often seen as the literature for illiterates and pre-teens (one wonders what extent the success of the Franco-Belgian comic book , Herge in mind, has not helped this situation, the public does have held that the clear line / A> humor and sometimes a little schoolboy, and forgotten the countless narrative possibilities uncovered by this current).

This sentiment seems less strong today. Thus, Vincent Berniere he wrote in 2008 that "want to defend the Japanese comics, or comics in general, is fighting a rearguard action" Women and the Art of Comics

Several recent studies attest to the place of women in comics, and almost all its business as evidenced by the research and writings of Annie Pilloy .

This section is empty, insufficiently detailed or incomplete. Your help is welcome!

References

Notes
  1. In 1942, an exhibition organized by the American Institute of Graphic Arts, entitled The Comic Strip, its history and its meaning has drawings of the parietal cave of Lascaux , which had been discovered two years earlier, as the sources of the comic strip .
  2. The Catalan philosopher and missionary Ramon Llull is run in the fourteenth century of stories juxtaposed images depicting his adventures including Muslim lands. Image sequences are dialogued using scrolls (G. Blanchard (1969), p.28). In the Catalan tradition, the ona series of images were accompanied by rhyming text tells a story.
References
  1. a and b F. Lacassin (1971)
  2. a and b D. Dupuis (2005), p.6
  3. a and b A. Baron Carver (1985), p.5
  4. Will Eisner, the first book of the trilogy Comics and Sequential Art (1997)
  5. S. McCloud (1999), pp.10-11 and 14-19
  6. W. Fuchs and R. Reitberg (1971)
  7. N Aujoulat (2004)
  8. S. McCloud (1999), p.14-15
  9. S. McCloud (1999), pp.10-11
  10. A. Baron Carver (1985), p.7
  11. G. Blanchard (1969)
  12. B. Galimard Flavigny (1981), p.19
  13. S. McCloud (1999), p.19
  14. T. Groensteen (2005), p.4
  15. M. Alessandrini (1979)
  16. R. Tpffer (1837) Preface
  17. R. Tpffer (1845)
  18. Will Eisner (1997)
  19. Will Eisner (1998)
  20. Henri Filippini (1989), p.IX
  21. Source: IPSOS figures, reported in the article " The cartoon, a healthy sector , "The World of Books, January 29, 2009.
  22. Beaux Arts magazine special issue: What is the manga? In the same magazine, we read that "it now seems obvious to own comics in his living room. "
  23. Cf art. "Women of the band"
  24. Cf Annie Pilloy, "Women in the comics ... " The book and its companions of comic book heroes: women and bubbles, Paris, L'Harmattan, coll. Social logics, 1994. See also the activities and conferences of the Association Artemisia /

Bibliography

Main
Complementary
  • Marjorie Alessandrini Duveau Marc, Jean-Claude Glasser, Marion Vidal, Encyclopedia of Comics, Albin Michel , 1986
  • Norbert Aujoulat Lascaux, gesture, space and time, Seuil, Paris, 2004
  • Gerard Blanchard , The cartoon history of graphic narrative from prehistory to the present, Marabout, et al. "Marabout University", 1969
  • Alain Chante, 99 responses on the comic, Montpellier, CRDP, 1996
  • Duke Bernard , The Art of Comics, Volume 1: from script to completion, Glnat , Art Collection and Technical, 1993
  • Duke Bernard , The Art of Comics, Volume 2: Technical drawing, Glnat, Art Collection and Technical, 1993
  • Henri Filippini , Dictionary of comics, Bordas , 2005
  • Francis Lacassin , For a ninth art, comics, ed. 10x18, Paris, 1971, repr. Slatkin, Paris, 1982
  • Benedict Mouchart , comics, et al. Misconceptions, published The Blue Rider, 2004 ( ISBN 2-8467-0071-0 )
  • Jean-Bruno Renard , Keys to the comic, Seghers, Keys Collection, 1978
  • Pierre-Fresnault Deruelle and Jacques Samson (collective work directed by), Poetics of the comic, Editions de l'Harmattan, 2007
  • Andrs Tth, The hyperbd and mtabd, Interactivity and games with the medium in comics
  • Annie Pilloy , The companions of comic book heroes: women and bubbles, Paris, L'Harmattan, coll. Social logics, 1994.

See also

Related articles

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