As the exact definition of graphic novel is debatable, the origins of the art form itself are open to interpretation. Cave paintings may have told stories, and artists and artisans beginning in the Middle Ages produced tapestries and illuminated manuscripts that told or helped to tell narratives.
The first Western artist who interlocked lengthy writing with specific images was most likely William Blake (1757–1826). Blake created several books in which the pictures and the "storyline" are inseparable, such as Marriage of Heaven and Hell. In a more modern era, graphic novels typically come in paperback that combine images, narratives, and captions. Instead of expressing literature and themes with images, graphic novels began to create fictional worlds such as It Rhymes with Lust, Blackmark, Sabre, Watchmen, Superman, and much more. However, artists and writers within the last 50 years have moved graphic novels into propaganda pieces of work to comment on social movements and injustices. As an effective and powerful form of communication, it comes as no surprise that graphic novels have been misappropriated by governments, self-interest groups, do-gooders, and sinister organizations to spread their message. World War II comic book propaganda-with Superman, Batman, and Captain America raising war bonds, and bashing cartoon Japanese and Germans-was everywhere that there was barely a US comic untainted by the war effort. But all this propaganda was used in the medium of fictional graphic novels. Only recently--within the past decade-- has graphic nonfiction been added with literary purposes and meaning. |
Click the following to learn more about the different types of graphic novels:
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