David Kunzle, The Early Comic Strip, 1973: “A sequence of separate images” with “a preponderance of image over text” that appears (and was originally intended to appear) in “a mass medium” and tells “a story which is both moral and topical.”
Will Eisner, Comics and Sequential Art, 1985: “Sequential art”
Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics, 1993: “Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer.”
David Carrier, The Aesthetics of Comics, 2000: A comic has three essential features: “the speech balloon, the closely linked narrative, and the book-size scale.”
Greg Hayman and Henry John Pratt, “What Are Comics?”, 2005: “x is a comic iff x is a sequence of discrete, juxtaposed pictures that comprise a narrative, either in their own right or when combined with text.”
I think Will Eisner's short and simple definition works the best- but I think it's interesting that McCloud talks about the intent: aesthetic and/or informative. That's a significant different. Fine Art- supposedly- is purely aesthetic. Crafts tend to be functional. Comics can be either or both.
While my own journals tend to employ devices seen in comics- specifically the speech bubble- my images definitely don't have a specific sequential aspect. They don't follow a narrative other than the broad narrative that is my life story. Each image addresses a "day in the life"- and while themes emerge, and images and characters repeat- there's no specific sequential progression.
I think this class will be useful in a couple of ways. I'd like to be exposed to new comic artists. Also, I'm interested in the way that comics merge the written word and visual images and would like to incorporate new techniques and directions in my own art.
Would I consider making my own art "more sequential?"--- I think it could be an interesting exercise. I'm already drawn to art that tells a story- and I think that comics do it quite effectively. I was taught that art shouldn't attempt to tell a story- that it's purely an aesthetic experience. I've always resisted that school of thought. Some of my favorite artists tell stories with their art: Henry Darger, David Wojnarowicz, William Wiley... There are beautiful exceptions to every rule.
Throughout the history of art, there have been great works that tell a story. I think story-telling is not much a part of "Modernist" art, but Post-Modern takes the narrative leap.
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