Agnieszka Wolańska The birth, evolution and function of comics
	Institute of Librarianship, Wrocław University, Electronic Information Services - 5th year of studies
	This article was translated thanks to the grant received from the Open Society Institute

1. Definition and characteristics of the phenomenon

In the realm of contemporary culture, comics are already well established, but they have not always enjoyed a respectable status. For a long time, the term "comics" had a pejorative connotation. Even now, its Polish adjective form "komiksowy" is often used to describe things that are unauthentic and superficial. Since its beginnings, this art form, depreciated and disregarded by the world of higher culture, which saw it as a product of lesser value and for the masses insensitive to art, has been evolving and steadily gaining supporters. There have been many attempts to define and establish immanent characteristics of this child of mercantilism and technology, conceived thoughtlessly and born in disarray.^[1]They all proved unsuccessful because the form of comics was constantly changing, thus, making definitions unsuitable. It has been wrongly viewed as a medium that merely adapts the existing literary forms.^[2] Its relationship to caricature and newspapers has been overemphasized.^[3] Furthermore, it has been equally difficult to define a chronological and territorial scope of this phenomenon. To this day, many consider comics a typically American medium, as inseparable from its culture as jeans or Coca-Cola but, given their European success, this notion is not quite as obvious.^[4]

One of the most important tasks in developing a definition of a comic concerns identifying characteristics that apply only to this art form and establishing the stages of evolution in history. French researcher Gerard Blanchard argues that the history of comics is inseparable from the history of all art created by humankind.^[5] He believes that the notion of communicating ideas through images has its origins in prehistoric times. The comic form has a strong association with great works of art, such as, the sculptures of Trajan's Column, the Medieval Bayeux Tapestry or Giotto's frescoes. Rene Clair goes a step further in saying that the stained-glass windows in the Chartres Cathedral, the "Biblia Pauperum" of its time, is an example of a "pre-comic."^[6] Blanchard stresses some stages in the evolution of comics. Some of the key events, which contributed to its character were the development of press and newspaper illustrations, as well as, the emergence of the film medium. Blanchard's theories, which placed comics on the same level with works of art, were met with criticism. The main objection was that his arguments considered this phenomenon too broadly, which could lead to reckless classification of various, often very distant forms of artistic activity, as comics.^[7] Although Blanchard's ideas were incorrect and too farfetched, his analysis became a point of reference for further attempts to define the basic characteristics of comics.

Surely, not every form of pictorial narration automatically becomes a comic. A significant identifying factor is the notion of conveying reality in such a way that it is easily understood without prior knowledge of the event presented in the pictorial narration. In the light of this, to consider the above mentioned works of art as "pre-comics" is incorrect since they require the viewer to be acquainted with the subject matter. Furthermore, Pierre Couperie says that the basic characteristic of comics is that individual pictures are closely connected in time and represent a quite accurate analysis of the action. At least, in a general sense, the story should be easily understood on the basis of a series of pictures.^[8] Couperie's observation is indeed accurate. Moreover, it eliminates the association of comics with the mentioned works of art, organized in a series of interconnected pictures but not presenting a cohesive action.

The relationship of the image with text, called by Bernard Touissant, "an icono-linguistic unity,^[9]" is a meaningful criterion for describing the art form. It is important in terms of differentiating a comic from, for example, a sequence of illustrations with captions.

Nowadays, any series of pictures describing a set of events combined with narration in some way (although this condition need not be satisfied since a set of pictures without text can tell a story just as well) could be considered a comic. The most important criterion to be fulfilled by contemporary comics is that of presenting a set of events through motionless sequences of pictures.

The Polish term "komiks"^[10]derives from the English language and is a short for "comic" and "strip." The first term refers to the humorous content. The second one addresses the format, in which early comics were presented, that is, the form of a strip of pictures aligned next to each other. When analyzing the term etymologically, it is clear that, currently, the term "comics" is inadequate to neither the content, which is no longer limited to its humorous function, nor the form, which now includes many non-linear arrangements of stories. The term "comic strip" refers to newspaper comics, as opposed to separately published comics, known as graphic novels. The Polish language does not offer an equivalent for the latter term. No matter what its publishing format, all publications that exhibit the features of this medium are labeled as comics.

2. European origins

Contrary to popular belief, comics were not born in America, but in Europe. Their origins date back to the development of periodical press in the 18th and 19th centuries. Most researchers as "proto-comics" consider press drawings that bordered on political satire and commented on the social situation. These drawings also appeared in satirical press that was emerging at the time.

The European originators of comics were Wilhelm Busch, Rudolf Topffer and Gustav Dore. Busch created his comics in the years 1864-1872 and he is best known for "Max und Moritz" (1865), a story of two mischievous boys. The picture arrangement tells a story that is possible to understand even without the minimal text below. Evidently, the textual commentary plays a secondary role, which probably became an inspiration to later comic artists to use similar methods of storytelling.

Rudolf Topffer, though created before Busch,^[11] is considered the next founder of the European tradition of comic art. In the evolution of the genre, Topffer's work is seen as more advanced than Busch's. He developed a narrative method imitating the film technique, based on pictures of different length, which created an illusion of an ongoing action. Handwritten text became typical in his comics, although it wasn't framed in the form of "balloons."

Gustav Dore, who was most famous for his more serious illustrations, is considered one of the founders of comics because of one satirical work "History of Holy Russia," which achieves the humorous effect due to the "dissonance" between the content of pictures and text.

3. American comics

The seed that was planted in Europe soon reached America, where it found a very fertile soil. The American success of comics had a lot to do with the popularity of newspaper press in the New Continent.^[12] Furthermore, the American society, being such a diverse conglomeration of nationalities, faced greater problems with illiteracy than Europe. Therefore, visual representation of information became as important in communicating with the American people as the written word was in Europe.

The first American comic strip^[13] was Richard Felton Outcault's "The Yellow Kid,"^[14] which, since 1896, appeared daily in the "New York Journal." However, some researchers believe that the status actually belongs to Outcault's earlier work, "The Origin of a New Species or the Evolution of the Crocodile Explained," printed in "The World" in 1894. "The Origin of a New Species" contained some characteristics of a comic strip but did not include dialogs and "balloons." Additionally, because it wasn't printed continually in the periodical, it cannot be considered a newspaper comic.

The next work that had an enormous impact on the evolution of the genre was Rudolf Dirks' "The Katzenjammer Kids," which began appearing in "The New York Journal" on December 12, 1897. Dirks' work maintained a classical form of a comic. It was modeled after Busch's "Max und Moritz" and featured two boys entangled in various amazing adventures. To this day, it reminds of contemporary comics and, what's more, continues to be published under the same title and features the same characters.^[15] The appearance of another series in the same issue of "The New York Journal," James Swinnerton's "Little Tiger," started a new trend of comics with animals. Mickey Mouse stories, still popular today, owe their beginnings to Swinnerton's comics. The success of these early picture stories set off the production of more comics, some representing better quality than others. They were published in such reputable American periodicals as "Life" or "New York Herald," as well as, in less read magazines and newspapers. For many years, the concept of publishing comics in newspapers defined their shape. They became limited to several or a dozen of frames that formed a short episode culminating in a humorous point. This shape of comics served as a foundation for the development of the genre but, at the same time, it also retained its uniqueness and continues to be published in its short newspaper form to this day.

In addition to the typical newspaper comics, there were cartoons. They were smaller in content and presented humor that commented on the existing reality based on American stereotypes in order to be better received by readers of all backgrounds. Early cartoons took advantage of a scheme used in movies, known as slapstick comedy, in the form of fighting, running away, throwing cakes etc.

These trends continued into the 1910s, the "golden age" of newspaper comics,^[16] represented by C. Serret's "Polly and Her Pals," G. Manus' "Bringing up Father," G. Herriman's "Krazy Kat," and many more. The last of the mentioned comic strips was the first work in the genre that earned the name of a masterpiece^[17] although, despite being well received by intellectuals, showed very little appeal to the ordinary American public.^[18]

The first attempts to establish specific rules that would govern the creation of comics appeared at the beginning of the 1930s. After Belgian cartoonist G. Remi, better known as Herge, started to use the ligne claire^[19] technique, other authors began to apply different artistic methods, typical in comic art, such as, drawing lines around all elements, dropping the use of light shadows, hence, moving away from realistic expression, and applying fixed colors to emphasize some elements of the presented reality, not necessarily agreeing with it.^[20]

In the early days, comics did not constitute independent publications because their brief design was predetermined by the newspaper format. Even when most popular comics were published as books, the content of individual strips did not form a complete story. Only when publishers began to release comics as books on a periodical basis, similarly to literary magazines, the amount of content grew as writers had to expand their stories. There were three important types of magazines: humorous, topical (which included different types of comics but similar in the subject matter) and adventure stories featuring heroes (which reminded books the most).

As the form, subject matter and main characters were changing, due to the easing newspaper dominance, comics were starting to exist as separate publishing entities. In addition to humorous stories, there were also tales of fantasy, action adventure, and science fiction. At the time, the evolution of comics was also influenced by H. Foster's adaptations of "Tarzan" (1929) and "Prince Valiant" (1937). In his comics, Foster created perspectival illusion and drew with a line that was very advanced for his time.^[21] It is worth noting that Foster abandoned the use of "balloons" in favor of concise commentaries placed within picture frames. Also, another one of early works in the adventure genre was M. Caniff's "Terry and the Pirates" (1934). Caniff's work, not only, pleased the eye with its outstanding graphics, but also, demonstrated some use of film techniques in his representation of perspective. The author's use of point-of-view, just like in the movies, later became commonly practiced in comic art.^[22]

The first science-fiction comic strip that received great popular success was A. Raymond's "Flash Gordon."^[23] The series established a science-fiction formula that became imitated by next generations of comic artists.

The next example of a science-fiction comic introduced the concept of a hero as a main character. Namely, it was "Superman" (1938), by J. Siegel and J. Shuster, which many consider representative of the entire sci-fi genre. Superman became a model for a number of other comic heroes with extraordinary qualities, such as, Captain Marvel, Spiderman, Batman and others. Superhero comics applied the contrasting colors of black and white to show the struggle between good and evil.

By the end of the 1940s, comics experienced a yet another transformation. The comic magazine series "Classics Illustrated" began publishing its versions of world literature classics, such as, Dostoyevski's "Crime and Punishment" and Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," showing that comics can also present complete plots.

4. Post-War comics - censorship and the Underground

EC Comics, a publisher formed after World War II, had an enormous impact on the evolution of American comics. In searching for new ways of attracting adult readers, it began publishing series of comics containing violence, terror, atrocities and eroticism, which stirred up a lot of controversy. It is worth noticing that, despite the questionable value of the content, the quality of drawings was of the highest standard.^[24] EC Comics also published two magazines, "Mad" and "Panic," which presented aggressive black humor attacking the American mass culture, creating an atmosphere of critical ridicule [...]. The tendency of this persistent and drastic humor [was] to reduce the entire culture to a boundless anarchy [...].^[25] As a consequence of challenging social norms, the genre was subjected to an "anti-comic crusade," led by Dr. Frederic Wertham, who saw comics as a source of moral deprivation. In 1954, the anti-comic campaign brought William Gaines, the owner of EC Comics, to court. This seemingly irrelevant incident set off a discussion on the artistic value of comics. Furthermore, it led to the establishment of the so-called Comics Authority Code by the Comics Magazine Association of America, a form of self-censorship, which was a clear sign of how impossible it became to ignore this phenomenon. The Comics Authority Code set many limitations to content and imposed a control system. Disobeying the code could result in publisher's bankruptcy since all comic books required a special seal of approval, lack of which discouraged distributors from selling them. The code addressed some subject areas, such as criminal murder, and ways of depicting some institutions and people. For instance, authority figures had to be shown in a respectful, not deprecating, manner. Furthermore, comic artists were forbidden to show images of violence and situations of man making a pact with evil, unless it was part of a moral teaching. The code also referred to specific issues, such as, the use of vocabulary and symbols that could generate unwanted associations.^[26] The regulation shaped the entire genre in a major way and, later, influenced the development of underground comics.

The subjects condemned in America were also emerging in European comics. Eroticism, black humor and crime became the domain of French publisher Le terrain vague, owned by Eric Rosfeld. Le terrain vague published many albums, some of which were considered masterpieces of the genre. Two of them are Jean Claude Forrest's "Barbarella" and a series on the adventures of Valentina by Guido Crepax. The latter is dominated by surrealism and uses a specific style of calling the reader's attention to some details by exposing them in small individual frames.

As a result of restrictions imposed by the Comics Authority Code, underground comics were beginning to flourish in America. The alternative market for this art form has existed in America for a long time^[27] but, when a number of publishers victimized by the censorship joined in the activity, it became a real Underground movement. The creators of the movement expressed their own ideological and aesthetic views and ignored the legal distribution route by printing and selling their works directly to the readers.^[28] One of the representatives of the Underground was R. Crumb's "Zap Comics" magazine, which showed a world full of aggression, racism and eroticism. Moreover, these comics offered a certain truth about life in America that was unacceptable to "the moral defenders" who favored the sugarcoated version of reality.

The Underground distinguished itself by a diversity of styles and trends. It was a certain reaction to the cultural unification and homogenization, and a rebellion against ignoring taboo subjects by publishers. The Underground leaders were Vaughn Bode and Art Spiegelman, who represented very interesting artistic qualities by using different styles. In the 1980s, Spiegelman experienced great success with his "Maus: A Survivor's Tale." His story addressed the Holocaust, based to a great degree on his own experiences, in which he used the technique of anthropomorphism in presenting the Jews as mice and the Germans as cats. The book version of the tale won him the Pulitzer Prize in 1992.

Underground comics developed in the United States but, for the French comic artists, they became a foundation for a new wave of adult comics. In 1975, two outstanding French artists, P. Druillet and J. Giraud (known as, Moebius) with publisher J. Dionnet, created a new journal "Metal Hurlant." They published commercial comics, as well as, those that represented the Underground style. Their main characteristics were frequent use of the already known classical science-fiction themes and references to youth subcultures. There were representations of catastrophic visions of the end of the world, dark reality of life placed in an undefined space, superhuman characters or weak and corrupt human beings. "Metal Hurlant" quickly gained popularity with the readers, as much as, the creators. Its high aesthetic and editorial quality attracted the Americans, R. Corben and V. Bode, resulting in the appearance of the American version of the magazine, in 1977, under the title "Heavy Metal." The American magazine became a good ground for developing new artistic directions and styles, shaped by European influences to a great degree. In the United States, small independent publishers, such as Independent Comics, began to emerge. They welcomed beginners, as well as, established comic writers. Two trends became evident in comics published in the independent magazines. One of them were humorous parodies of popular comics, which presented heroes as animals, for example, Samurai Penguin, Neil the Horse or Ninja Turtles. D. Sime's "Cerebus Aadvark," which features an ant bear (based on "Conan the Barbarian") is still on the market. The second trend in the independent comic genre was represented by comic books, which, although differing in subject matter, portrayed the world with great attention to detail thus emphasizing its authenticity. "Elfquest" by R. and W. Pini and "American Flagg" by C. and J. Sable led this trend.

5. From the 1980s to present time

The evolution of the earlier mentioned cartoons, which led to the emergence of adult comics, took on a different course. In the 1950s, the cartoon movement brought to life the most famous work of its kind, "Peanuts," by Charles M. Schultz. This specifically humorous cartoon, still considered one of the most popular in the world, features a group of kids, who exhibit a genuinely grown-up way of thinking, a lovable dog named Snoopy and Woodstock, the bird. The popularity of "Peanuts" gave birth to a completely new industry. The characters are now featured on T-shirts, notebook covers, calendars and other merchandise. The cartoons were printed in serious political or economic newspapers, which contributed to its distinct character. Their format was dictated significantly by the nature of the newspaper in which they were published and, also, by the fact that they introduced characters that usually did not appear in a typical comic. In addition to "Peanuts," other popular cartoons were "Dennis the Menace" by H. Ketcham, "Beetle Bailey" by W. Walker and "Doonesbury" by G. Trudeau, which won the author 1975 Pulitzer Prize in the political satire category.

In the early 1970s, Underground comics were beginning to reach official distribution in America. The first publisher to violate the Comics Authority Code was Marvel Comics Group, which dealt with drug addition in one of the "Amazing Spiderman" issues. Previously forbidden subjects, such as violence, death and brutality, soon began to reappear in other comics.

In the 1980s, comics were influenced greatly by the emergence of fantasy novels. There were also many new characters based on Conan the Barbarian, a hero from the novel of R. E. Howard. These, often brutal and morally contradicting muscular men, far from the ideal heroes of Superman, became popular with the readers. Their stories were published in the British comics magazine "2000 A.D." Moreover, in the 1980s, individual styles in comics were on the rise. Comics that burst with originality, often treating themselves as subjects, were most recognized. Among those, the work of Italian Milo Manara became very popular.

While, in Europe, the gap between artistic and popular comics was growing, in America, this trend was progressing in the opposite direction; the differences between the elite and tabloid comics were disappearing. Resulting from this was an important piece of art, a mini serial titled "Elektra: Assassin," written by F. Miller and drawn by B. Sienkiewicz. The work applied many painting techniques, alluding to the Neo-Expressionist style and producing an extraordinary visual effect.^[29] The change in technique was largely dictated by the content, for example, it was used to differentiate main characters from the secondary, or to distinguish reality from dreams and memories. Furthermore, the comic made use of visual short-cuts to emphasize certain stereotypical qualities of characters, for example, a presidential candidate would have a fake smile fixed on his face, regardless of what he was saying. Upcoming comic artists, such as, J. J. Muth, K. Williams, G. Pratt or D. McKean, also used some elements of the Neo-Expressionist style. F. Miller, one of the creators of "Elektra: Assassin," had a huge impact on American comics in terms of writing, as well as, drawing. He changed the perception of comic heroes by presenting them from a completely different perspective. For example, in "Dark Knight Returns," he showed an aging Batman. His scripts gave illustrators great possibilities for artistic expression. He partnered with illustrator D. Gibbons to make "Give Me Liberty" and with G. Darrowe to create "Hard Boiled." F. Miller started an era of scriptwriters collaborating with comic illustrators. Moreover, Neo-Expressionism was imitated by, among others, S. Bisley, the British author of an internationally famous comics "Slaine: the Horned God," based on the script by P. Mills.

It became impossible to ignore the systematic violations of the Comics Authority Code. In 1992, EC Comics divided its publications into two types, those for the general public, which maintained the official seal of approval, and those for mature audiences appearing under a common name of EC Vertigo.

Present-day comics are, so-called, graphic novels. In terms of scripts, which tell complete stories, they are similar to literary novels, and in terms of publishing format, they are recognized as books. In addition to graphic novels, comic series and newspaper comics are still published. Along with the development of electronic media, comics found a new method of publishing. Many Internet websites present newest trends in comics created by accomplished artists, as well as, newcomers.

6. Japanese comics

The distinctive character of Japanese comics remains, above all, in the origins of this art form, which differed completely from those in Europe or America. It must be noted that the tradition of pictorial representation of stories in Japan dates back to the 12th century.^[30] One example of an early comic is an animal story by a Buddhist monk Kakuju of Toba. This social satire, drawn with ink on two scrolls, is considered the first work of manga. The term "manga" refers to the widely understood genre of Japanese comics, characterized by a very specific style, such as, great dynamics of drawing. The term "manga," which literally translates into "irresponsible pictures,"^[31] was first used in 1814 by a famous artist, Hokusai.

Despite the different origins, Japanese comic artists were greatly influenced by Western comics. Thanks to journals, such as, "The Japan Punch," published by Englishman C. Wirgman since 1862, and "Tobae," published by Frenchman G. Bigot since 1887, and thanks to translations of Western newspapers and comics, the Japanese were familiar with European and, even more so, with American comics. The contact with Western comics influenced them to use some techniques of drawing picture stories, such as, presenting events in sequences, onomatopoeia, chiaroscuro. Combined with these Western effects, the Japanese traditional drawing created a unique style, unparalleled in the Western world.

The explosion of fascination with comics in Japan took place in the 1950s and it was spurred by Osamu Tezuka's "Shintakarajima" ("The New Treasure Island"), "Jungle Taitei" and "Atomu Taishi" ("Ambassador Atom" and "Astro Boy"). Based on these three immensely popular comics, Tezuka created animated films.^[32] Tezuka's comics are very typical of contemporary manga, which feature characters with unnaturally big heads and eyes, and thin-lined lips.

It should be mentioned that animated films based on previously published comic books greatly contributed to the popularity of this genre in the 1970s. Thanks to these animated films (and for other reasons), in the 1980s, Japanese comics gained readers outside of Japan. The process actually took several years because of problems with translation. The publishers had a difficulty with picture arrangement since, originally, they followed a right-to-left order, contrary to the Western practice. Other problems dealt with onomatopoeia, an integral component of the Japanese comics, as well as, content that was often too drastic or simply unclear to someone unfamiliar with the Japanese reality.

Animated films based on Japanese comics appealed to European and American audiences, prompting publishers to issue their Western versions, which soon became popular all over the world.

In 1980, publishers in America attempted to introduce manga to their audiences with Keiji Nakazawa's "Barefoot Gen," which touched on the subject of the Hiroshima bombing, or "Lone Wolf and Cub" by Goseki Kojima and Kazuo Koike, which referred to the Japanese samurai tradition. However, what made Japanese comics genuinely popular and, almost fashionable, was an animated science-fiction film titled "Akira" by Katsushiro Otomo, who also created the comic book by the same title. Later, anime and manga flooded the market, but some of them did not represent great artistic qualities. In short, Japanese comics stopped being a foreign phenomenon in the Western culture. On the contrary, they found a permanent home in the West.

The role of manga in Japanese culture is very different than in Europe and America. There are differences in public reception, as well as, in certain nuances related to the format in which it is published. Japanese comics can take on two basic forms: a manga magazine and tokoban.^[33] The first one is a type of a comic journal, 300-500 pages long, printed on paper similar to that of a phonebook. The magazine could be a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. Shockingly, a single weekly issue can sell in 5-6 million copies and there are about 250 titles in all of Japan. The popularity of manga magazines can be linked to their low price of about $4, which is due to being printed on recycled paper and in black and white, with the exception of covers. Most importantly, these publications are very widely read in the Japanese society. They are subdivided into a number of types, depending on the reader group. For instance, kodomo-manga is for kids, shounen and shoujo manga is for teenagers, seinen manga is for adults and hentai manga is an erotic, or better said, "pornographic" comic. There is manga that corresponds to Western harlequins for women, known as josei manga.^[34] The various mentioned types of manga show that the Japanese comic market is very responsive to its audience and successfully reaches all levels of the society. However, it should also be pointed out that manga magazines are usually read on the way to, or from, school and work and, afterwards, they are tossed out, suggesting that the actual status of manga in the Japanese society is far from worship.

Contrary to manga, tokoban takes on a rather luxurious form. It is printed on good quality paper and beautifully colored like a graphic novel. Tokoban is likely to be created by an established graphic artist and sometimes it is a reprint of his earlier works.

7. Erotic comics

The history of erotic comics begins in the 1960s although, in the 1920s, they existed in the United States in the form of underground pornographic brochures. Due to differing attitudes towards this type of publications on both sides of the Atlantic, the evolution of erotic comics in Europe and America took on distinct courses. In the 1960s, in America, the Comics Authority Code was still in effect. Officially, eroticism appeared in a small number of magazines for men, such as "Playboy." In Europe, it was in Italy that erotic comics experienced their greatest growth because of the abolition of censorship in that country.

The first examples of erotic comics in Italy were so-called "fumetti neri" ("black comics") although, aside from extreme form of eroticism, they also included violence, crime and brutality, and featured criminals as main characters ("Diabolik" by the Guissani sisters). "Fumetti neri" often violated all possible moral norms and could as well be considered pornographic. Unfortunately, their standard leaves much to be desired.

French publisher Le terrain vague, established by Eric Losfeld, began to publish comics that represented better quality, artistically and content-wise (although this is disputable). Le terrain vague is responsible for Jean Claude Forest's famous comic "Barbarella," which differed from its dark predecessors in the fact that its fable did not restrict itself to depicting women in unambiguous situations. Instead, it offered elements of fantasy, where eroticism was only a spicy addition to the story.

The publication of comic albums by G. Pichard, N. Devil, G. Pellart and, most importantly, Guido Crepax's "Valentina" liberated erotic comics from schematic representations of content and, thanks to some artistic techniques, improved their overall quality. With his characteristic image break-up into many frames, Crepax does not force eroticism on the viewer; instead, he hides more than he shows.

However, it is clear that eroticism in "Valentina" plays a key role. Similar experimental techniques Crepax used in his next works, "Bianca" (1968) and "Anita" (1971). By the end of the 1970s, when pornography lost its "forbidden fruit" status, Crepax changed his way of depicting reality and included pornographic elements in his literary adaptations, such as, De Sade's "Justine" and "Emanuelle."

Milo Manara, another Italian creator of erotic comics, who began his career by drawing "fumetti neri," became popular with fans of pornography and obscenity. His comics "HP and Giusseppe Bergman" does not just offer eroticism, but also, presents a satirical and ironic outlook on the very issue of eroticism in comics. For instance, one of his characters often emphasizes that although she is merely a drawing, she would eagerly fulfill all the sexual desires of the reader.

The erotic trend in comics had a relatively easy time of establishing itself in Europe. In the United States, the story was slightly different since the Comics Authority Code was still very much the guardian of American morality. In his work, an artist could portray anything he wanted but violating some of the Code rules would discourage distributors from selling it. This system worked well until the work of Robert Crumb became known. In 1967, his magazines "Zap" and "Snatch" started appearing on street corners of San Francisco where they would be sold within minutes. In fact, the content of these magazines was hardly erotic. For the most part, they presented the sexual life of man in its most repulsive manifestations. Crumb was also provocative in other ways. He often depicted himself, he mocked the hippie or feminist ideals, and he was quite authentic and accurate in his observations.

The third of the classical erotic comic artists was Richard Corben, who had a difficulty with establishing himself in official comic journals. Eroticism permeated his work but it also attacked the censorship with satire. For example, he drew naked people without pubic hair because one of the rules of the Comics Code stated that apparent pubic hair qualifies a work as pornographic. After winning an award for the best foreign comic in France (in 1971) for "Rolf," which was reproduced illegally, Corben gained popularity in Europe. Soon after that, he began working with "Metal Hurlant" (a magazine known as "Heavy Metal" in the United States), which transformed illegally distributed comics into officially publishable ones in all the different language versions. By doing so, it pushed the envelope on erotic content in comics.

American comic artists, mentioned above, slowly began to change the amount of eroticism or, in Crumb's case, pornography in officially published comics. This way, they also paved the way for upcoming artists who, with society's consent, were able to go even further. When it became possible to show "everything," there was a decline in artistic experimentation among comic artists. [...] After that, all that could be done was to increase the amount of erotic scenes (until the reader became bored) [...].^[35] Unfortunately, this freedom of expression in comics led to a transformation of eroticism into pornography.

8. Comics in Poland

It is impossible to ignore the presence of comics in the Polish culture. After all, Polish artists have produced many outstanding comics (by some considered as cult) possessing the kind of artistic originality of Western comics. Unfortunately, they are minor exceptions in the overall Polish culture firmament.

When comics began appearing in Poland after World War II, they were not accepted by the censorship due to their "imperialist" provenance. Foreign comics became available only outside official publication and did not always become understood by the Polish reader because of the language barrier. However, their "underground" popularity became so apparent that the government of the time decided to use it to disseminate its propaganda. When the socialist ideology was applied to comics, there appeared stories of heroes acting in the name of the only right cause. One example is a very popular comic book series about Captain Jan Zbik, Civic Militiaman, or "Podziemny Front," which dealt with the achievements of the Czwartacy Storming Battalion of the People's Army. The Polish market of comics also offered adaptations of popular television series such as "Stawka wieksza niz zycie" and "Janosik." The latter was particularly interesting in terms of its artistic quality imitating the style of American comics of the 1940s.^[36] The 1970s in Poland brought the birth of cult comic series, T. Chmielewski's "Tytus, Romek i A-tomek" and J. Christy's "Kajko i Kokosz."^[37] Western-style comic magazines were also beginning to emerge into the market. The first one was "Relax" (1975), which included works representing various artistic standards and intended for an unidentified reader. However, "Relax" had an unquestionable impact on the development of Polish comics. It is where the classical Polish comic artists, G. Rosinski, B. Polch and T. Baranowski, began. In the 1980s, monthly magazine "Fantastyka" published one of the most famous Polish comics, "Funky Koval," written by M. Parowski and J. Rodek and illustrated by B. Polch, which started the trend of fantasy in Polish comics. Riding on the wave of popularity of fantasy comics, in 1989, Rosinski's and Van Hamme's "Thorgal" started its publication. It became, possibly, the most popular series and remains one of the top Polish comics due to renewed publication of early issues and continuation of the series on much better quality paper and with better coloring.

The government transformation in 1989 brought many changes to Polish comic art. However, unfortunately, they were not positive. As Poland's borders opened, the publishing market experienced an overflow of various reprints of foreign comics, often ones of poor artistic quality. This diminished the chances of domestic comics to claim a firm position on the open market.

Undoubtedly, the most important event shaping the nature of current comics in Poland is the Polish National Convention of Comic Artists, organized annually in Lodz since 1992. The conference provides a venue for the young generation of amateur and professional comic artists to display their work, often resulting in genuine careers. Perhaps promotional activities of this kind will create a competition for foreign comics currently dominating the Polish market.

9. Contemporary comics

In the beginning, the guiding principle of comic artists was the idea that their work was supposed to present a certain plot using graphical means. This visual representation would aim to satisfy the demands of readers in terms of clarity and comprehensiveness. Since the early form of comics depended on the requirements of the popular press, comic artists stayed clear of complex elements that could interfere in the process of communication with the reader. The basic function of comics was significantly commercial. It was to entertain the reader. However, when comics began to liberate themselves from under the domination of the press, their function changed. Next to graphically simple comics, greater artistic aspirations began to emerge, creating stronger aesthetic impressions. Also, the changes in drawing techniques and subject matter brought the need for new representation forms. The overall characteristic of comics is that they offer a kind of "redrawing" of depicted reality, thus acting as a distorting mirror. The reader is aware of the not so serious form of comics and, therefore, approaches them with a certain distance. This attitude among comic readers remains today, although comic artists often approach their work with the opposite assumption.

Comics contributed to the popularization of several heroes existing in the consciousness of the mass culture. The emergence of these heroes was partially due to the fact that they represented a blend of real and mythological characteristics with timelessness as a significant trait. Their strong presence in the contemporary culture is proven further by appearing in film adaptations of comics.^[38] Popular cartoon characters developed a different function as they started appearing on the little screen in the form of animated films for kids, now enjoyed by generations all over the world. Also, one feature that distinguishes comics from other forms of narration is the agelessness of their heroes. The passing of time presented in stories does not affect the characters.

It is clear that comics and movies permeate each other, not just in terms of subject matter, but also, on the artistic level. Simplification and visual short-cuts to show action used by comic artists were also applied in film editing, such as, cross-cutting between scenes.

When discussing the function of comics it is impossible to ignore their significant impact on the evolution of the "culture of images." It is noticeable that modern-day communication between people seems to depend a lot on ideographic signs. Surely, it was influenced by the idea of representing reality in an abbreviated form practiced by comic artists for a long time. In the age of ongoing cultural unification, there is a future in pictorial communication. It seems that language barriers do not pose a great obstacle to human communication since audiovisual methods of exchanging ideas offer great possibilities in that aspect.^[39] K.T. Toeplitz considers the effect of audiovisual transmission on human perception claiming that people are more trusting of visual representation to imitate reality as opposed to text.^[40] Additionally, Toeplitz emphasizes the role of comics in political agitation, propaganda or teaching.^[41] One example is W. Majakowski's work appearing in the Russian periodical "Okna ROSTA" and in an Italian left-wing publication, which issued, among others, a comic adaptation of the "Communist Manifesto." The aims of early Polish comics were also driven by propaganda.

In addition to movies, comics also had a significant impact on other art forms, such as fine arts. One evident example is the art of Roy Lichtenstein, who painted enlarged frames of comics, claiming that [...] the subject of [his] paintings deals with the American definition of image and visual communication.^[42] Expanding the size of frames added value to their meaning. Additionally, there is a clear influence of comics on the development of pop art aesthetics.

10. Comics as a form of art

Without a doubt, comics have earned their own status in contemporary culture although the distinctiveness of this phenomenon, in comparison to other art forms, is still disputed. The 1991 opening of the Museum of Comics in Angouleme, France, as well as, the annual festival, also held there since 1974, further proves the recognition of comics as an element of the 20th century culture.

The categorization of comics into "popular," "tabloid" and "artistic" demonstrates that they are recognized as an artistic phenomenon. It means that one cannot apply the same criteria of evaluation to all the types of comics that have appeared since the beginning of their existence as a narrative form.^[43] It is difficult to keep simple picture stories from the early 20th century in the same category with artistic comics using various creative methods and multi-layered storylines. Furthermore, the question of situating comics among other forms of art, such as literature or fine arts, poses a problem. Comics cannot be classified under either one of those forms and cannot be evaluated using their criteria. For the literary form, comics are too superficial and of little value while, for the fine art form, they are inauthentic and secondary.

Comics emerged as an opposition to arts of the elite. They traveled a long way over more than 100 years, finally, to earn acceptance as an art form. Unfortunately, they remain on the sidelines of artistic activity. Despite being considered a product of mass culture, a form of mass art, inevitably tied to the print tradition, they are slowly becoming overshadowed by the new electronic audiovisual means and labeled as a rather old-fashioned medium.

The undisputed and perhaps most important achievement of comics is their status in publications about culture which do not treat them as a marginal issue.

Footnotes

[1] M. Horn: Introduction: Informationes et Documents 1974 no. 344, p. 3, cit. in: K. T. Teoplitz: Sztuka komiksu. Warsaw 1985, p. 24.

[2] Słownik wyrazów obcych. Warsaw 1961.

[3] The Columbia Encyclopedia. New York 1954.

[4] A. A. Berger: The Comics - Stripped American. New York 1973.

[5] G. Blanchard: Gerard Blanchard La Bande Dessinee, histoire des histoires en images de la prehistoire a nos jours, Paris 1969, (Marabout Universite no. 179).

[6] K. Kuliczkowska: W obrazkowym mikroświecie. Literatura na świecie 1974 no. 8, p. 238.

[7] In this theory, especially debatable is a question of the material that was used for pictorial representation. It is hard to consider stories pressed on clay, engraved in wood or stone as proto-comics.

[8] P. Couperie: Antecendents and definition of the Comics Strip. [In:] Wolfgang Fuchs, Reinhold Reitberger, Comics: Anatomie eines Massenmediums, Zurich 1972.

[9] B. Toussaint: Ideographie et bande dessinee. Communications 1976 no. 24, p. 82, cit. in: K. T. Teoplitz: Sztuka komiksu, Warsaw 1985, p. 21.

[10] English: comics, comic strip, comic book, graphic novel; German: der Comics, der Comic strip; French: la Bande Dessinee; Russian: Komiks.

[11] R. Topffer 1799-1846.

[12] The most popular illustrated magazines in America of the late 19th and early 20th century were "Frank Leslie's Weekly" and " Harper's Weekly."

[13] Generally considered as first comic ever created.

[14] It is possible that the title originated from the fact that "The New York Journal" was considered the so-called "yellow press." In order to make their newspapers more appealing, publishers added the yellow color because it was the most accessible for technical reasons.

[15] Obviously, "The Katzjammer Kids" was continued by many other comic artists.

[16] The expression is used by Klaus Strzyz in: Sonntags in farbe und wochentags in schwarzweiss. Comics Forum 1983 no. 22.

[17] In 1922, a ballet version of "Krazy Kat" was created and, in 1956, a book version was published with a foreword written by poet E. E. Cummings.

[18] The lack of general interest in "Krazy Kat" is proven by the fact that not many newspapers published it. Perhaps it was not appealing to people due to its excessively abbreviated content and rather surrealist form.

[19] French: clear line.

[20] The ligne claire technique was used by Herge in his "Tintin" series, in which the author also eliminated details that were not significant to action. Furthermore, Herge used a system of symbols emphasizing the movement of his characters, later adopted by probably all comic artists.

[21] When viewing Foster's drawings, one has the sensation that they are very current.

[22] The relationship between comics and movies later becomes more evident, not only in terms of techniques of representing reality, but also, in terms of subject matter.

[23] The first strictly science-fiction comic was "Buck Rogers in 20th century" by P. Nowlan and D. Calkins, however, it didn't earn the same kind of popularity with the readers as "Flash Gordon."

[24] EC Comics illustrators were, among others, B. Wolverton and Ray Bradbury.

[25] R. Warshow: Paweł, komiksy grozy i doktor Wertham. [In:] Super-Ameryka. Szkice o kulturze i obyczajach. Vol. 1, Warsaw 1970, pp. 205-206.

[26] The Comics Code itself did not possess any legal authority but many of its directives were later applied in the government of the New York State, which passed its own law on comics in 1955.

[27] Especially popular were the so-called Tijuana Bibles, 8-page pornographic stories based on some known comics.

[28] Robert Crumb, who was considered the pioneer of the trend, sold his comics on the streets of San Francisco.

[29] When viewing this comic book, it is hard to deny it its place among other forms of art.

[30] Z. Orlińska: Manga-tajemnicza historia. Machina 1998 no. 2.

[31] Ibid.

[32] Cartoons based on comics are called "anime.

[33] A. D. Peters: Anime and Manga in Japan and America. [Accessed April 1, 2003]. Available online at: http://animemania01.tripod.com/essay01.htm

[34] Z. Orlińska: Manga. Op.cit.

[35] J. Szyłak: Komiks erotyczny-zakazane obrazki. Machina no. 12.

[36] Unfortunately, it wasn't well received, possibly, because readers expected a comic book version that was more straightforward.

[37] Both series are still published today.

[38] For example, there were movie versions of Superman, Batman and Dick Tracy.

[39] Comp. M. McLuhan: Galaktyka Gutenberga. [In:] Wybór pism. Warsaw 1975.

[40] K. T. Teoplitz: Sztuka komiksu. Warsaw 1985.

[41] Ibid, p. 142.

[42] J. Hendrickson: Lichtenstein. Koln 1988, p. 38; cit. in: J. Szyłak, Komiks w kulturze ikonicznej XX wieku. Gdańsk 1999.