Week 1/2 Comics

How and why are comics becoming more accepted as an art form? Can/should they be regarded as a literary genre?

The humble comic found its origins in Egyptian hieroglyphics and Greek antiquity (Trajan’s Column). Since its glory days they have been relegated to the lowest shelf of Pantry of Culture. 

Until now.

The comic is making a resurgence! Like Lazarus from the grave, comics are making their way back from subculture death and into the mainstream. But the Comic Renaissance requires further examination: Is the comic finally achieving ‘art form’ status? And furthermore; what has changed for the comic to be endorsed as a literary genre?

The juxtaposition of images and words has been championed by some as an invaluable tool in developing literacy. Eastman of teachcomics.org proposes intertextuality as the next frontier in education. By teaching a person to read with sequential images and accompanying text, they are associating words with actions and pictures and eventually recognising the words in and out of context.

Comics boast pithy dialogues, beloved characters and a fan base beyond Harry Potter’s wildest dreams. A anthropological snapshop in every frame. What’s not to love? But does having a fan base allow a genre firmly planted underfoot to climb the ladder?

Cronin (melodramatically) recalls a 1998 exhibition shown at UNB Art Centre, an exposé on the unknown genii of comic art. As a childhood comic fanatic, Cronin relives the experience in enlarged form, comic strips blown up on jib panels and muses on the unknown artist in light of the successes of American pop art legends like Roy Lichtenstein.  

Lichtenstein focused on the detail of the comic, screen printing some of the 20^th century’s most recognised modern art.

If the elemental comic can be universally celebrated in works of art (the most obvious example being Lichtenstein’s), can one argue that its complete counterpart is artistically flawed? I propose that it is not the content but the manner in which the content is created that exclude the comic from the realm of ‘High Culture.’

Two dimensional art has reached an apex in the noughties with Takashi Murakami’s Versailles exhibition at the peak. The comic style had officially re-emerged in the mainstream with cartoon illustrations adorning Louis Vuitton handbag and Kanye West albums. They came to life in movie format with Sin City, the Marvel Series and Suckerpunch. And yet the comic remains largely disregarded as an art form.  Why? It comes down to Romanticism. 

Western society associates art as a time honoured tradition only mastered by the greats. The art world is in bubble of its own, shrouded by exclusivity and millionaires. For as long as there is an Armageddon Expo, the comic will not be an art form. 

DISCLAIMER: Pulled all my posts down to edit them after we were given the extension. Didn't notice the edit button. Yikes!