Descrizione
The ninth art
“I’ve heard it repeated for years that comics are a minor art. I was so tired that one fine day I sent
to hell with everyone and I said: Well, gentlemen, then I’ll do some illustrated literature. And today there are many who define it that way.” – Hugo Pratt (Italian cartoonist, illustrator and writer, creator of Corto Maltese)
Let’s start from the basics: The comic is a narration “made through graphic elements” of which we attribute the authorship to the American cartoonist Richard Felton Outcault who, on May 5, 1895, in the Sunday supplement of the New York World, presented a sequence of cartoons whose dialogues are enclosed in a puff of smoke, hence the word “comic”.
Initially these representations were limited to humorous strips in newspapers, but in the 1930s the editorial transformation of comics began, where the authors experimented with the possibility of telling any type of story through illustrated narrative, whether it be science fiction, facts of daily life, social, political, historical, war events… characterized by a biting satire, sometimes nonconformist and protest, generating acts of censorship in the past, as they are considered uncomfortable.
“…Comics can be the gateway to any new world because they are easier to follow thanks to the drawings” -Keiko Ichiguchi (Japanese cartoonist 1966 Origin: From Keiko Ichiguchi: “Memoirs of Iris” and “Promise of Cherry Trees”) Having said this, we can begin to make our considerations on what the position of comics is “in the literary organization chart”.
From the first American comics, the world of comics has grown exponentially all over the globe, giving away real literary masterpieces, told by refined pens that have also made the history of illustration. Their creations have engaged their readers so much that they have attracted the attention of Hollywood and brought their adventures back to the big screen. The greatest examples that can be made are “The Spirit” by the great author Will Eisner and “Batman” by the very important DC Comics publishing house.
Other famous works follow such as “Superman”, also from DC Comics and “Captain America” from Marvel Comics. We arrive in post-war Europe which takes center stage with French and Italian masterpieces. Beyond the Alps with “The Adventures of Tintin” by Hergé or “Asterix” by the Hachette Livre publishing house. Timeless series are born in Italy that bring Noir and Horror into comics for the first time, such as “Dylan Dog” created in 1985 from the mind of Tiziano Sclavi and “Diabolik” conceived by the Milanese Giussani sisters in 1967.
Shortly after, attention returns to the United States, with Stan Lee, where the concept of superhero is revolutionized, bringing the reader closer to the stories, giving humanity to heroes who, with their problems and insecurities, are no longer invincible. Icons of this period are “Spiderman”, “Hulk” and “Fantastic 4”. He could not mark in this analysis the land of the Rising Sun which in the 90s, thanks to its animated transposition of its comics, began to export the Manga, whi-ch tells stories in a different way than the American comic. Japan has given us great emotions, among these we all know the extraordinary thefts and spectacular escapes on Parisian roofs of the gentleman thief, Arsenio Lupine, born from the pen of the Frenchman Maurice Leblanc in 1905.
For those who love Japan and their culture it is easy to understand that the word Manga is an understatement, in so far there is a different name based on the genre and the age it is aimed at from Manga Kodomo for children, to Manga Seinen for adults, to Manga Shoujo for girls and so on. For the Japanese comic we should dedicate ourselves further. One thing I would like to say, which can unite everyone, is that comics from whatever part they are, graphically represent everyone’s fantasies and dreams, as happens with classical literature, drawn literature is a contemporary art capable to make us dream and deserves its place on the literary podium.
Enjoy reading
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