Graphic novels

摘要

They're called "funnies" and "comics" for good reason. As early as the seventh century in Japan, temple workmen etched irreverent caricatures in hidden corners. Later, humorous 11th-century scrolls parodied religious ceremonials, showing animals in all the roles. In 1830s Europe, pioneer Rodolphe Topffer's amusing "picture stories" diverted German writer Goethe, who was mourning his late son-"This is really too crazy!" he exclaimed. But comics newbie Goethe could take in only ten pages at a time, resting afterward to avoid "an indigestion of ideas" (see David Kunzle's Rodolphe Topffer: The Complete Comic Strips, LJ 7/07).rnEach artist pictures humor differently: a recent New Yorker challenge for cartoons to "make red funny" led to a drunk Rudolf imbibing to maintain his red reindeer nose hue and a hungry vampire with a crimson thought bubble. Humor grants us entry into obscure and individual crevasses of creativity without prejudice andrnso, to no surprise, humor comics celebrate the bizarre, outrageous, and unlikely. Swashbuckling space pirates with a crew of disobedient children? Gotta love Sardine in Outer Space. A send-up of true crime featuring (real) pets as victims?