forginganewmedium

Forging a New Medium

homepage Pascal Lefèvre

Forging a New Medium, The Comic Strip in the 19th Century

Summary

Batman, Tintin, Peanuts, Maus - would all these famous 20th century comics have been possible without the authors of the 19th century comics? Genuine artists who further developed the sequential art and proved that their graphic stories had a broad pu lic. Unfortunately, most of the 19th century cartoonists and their work are forgotten or unknown. For the first time several prominent comic strip historians from different countries collaborated on a publication about the comic strip in the 19th century. Most of the specialists give an overview of the comic strip production in their country, and present some of the finest cartoonists of that era, including: Paul Gravett on Great Britain; David Kunzle on the USA; Antonio Martin on Spain; and Nop Maas and Vansummeren on the Low Countries. There are also two more detailed discussions - Thierry Groensteen on Töpffer and Hans Ries on Busch - which offer insights into the two major cartoonists. The editors, Pascal Lefèvre and Charles Dierick also discuss the controversy over the definition of the comic strip, and explain how the comic strip developed in the 19th century as a mass entertainment. There is also a timeline which gives an overview of the most important facts and names from 1800 till 1914.

Pascal Lefèvre & Dierick Charles, Forging a New Medium, The Comic Strip in the 19th Century, VUB University Publishers, Brussels, 1998, 214 pages (illustrated), ISBN 90 5487 206 3.

• • Contents

• 1. Introduction, Pascal Lefèvre and Charles Dierick, p. 9.

  2. A Timeline, 1800-1914, p. 25.

  3. From 'Mannekensblad' to Comic Strip, Patricia Vansummeren, p. 37.

  4. The Archeology of the Dutch Comic Strip, p. 49.

  5. The Cartoonist's Progress: The Inventors of Comics in Great Britain, p. 79.

  6. Toepffer, the Originator of the Modern Comic Strip, Thierry Groensteen, p. 105.

  7. Comic Strips in the Work of Wilhelm Busch, Hans Ries, p. 115.

  8. Notes on the Birth of the Comics in Spain, 1873-1900, Antonio Martin, p. 129.

  9. Precursors in American Weeklies to the American Newspaper Comic Strip: A Long Gestation and a Transoceanic Cross-breeding, David Kunzle, p. 157.

  10. Abstracts in French and Dutch, p. 187.

  11. Contributors, p. 197.

  12. Index, p. 203.

What does the press say about Forging a New Medium, The Comic Strip in the 19th Century?

European Journal of Communication: "this is a very useful collection and is to be recommended to historians and media scholars alike."

Leesidee: "een schitterende bijdrage tot een wetenschappelijk gefundeerd onderzoek van het stripverhaal."

CS/Culturele Studies: "Het werk, dat een kloeke en mooi geïllustreerde publicatie is geworden, zal dan ook moeiteloos zijn plaats vinden in de "bibliothèque idéale" van de stripliefhebber."