The visual form of comic books, what we as readers see splashed across the funny pages and beyond, is something very unique. It is something that has been experimented with during its infancy and is still tampered with today. One thing that made comic books so accessible to readers and the general public was a formula. The “Funny Pages” in the local newspapers, especially when the paper was the only way to read a comic, was seen as something cheap and repetitive in form. Sure, there are some that appear to be content with the four frames of content and the switch in appearance for a Sunday, but there are many special exceptions.
Take Winsor McCay for example. There are many words that can describe what McCay did to influence the comic world, but he can surely be agreed to embody the definition of genius. McCay’s Little Nemo in Slumberland is incredible. The way the dream world of a young boy stretches the very frames of the comic, the colours kaleidoscope unlike ever before. It was as if the magical nature of the work was trying to break free of the page it was laid out on. Sure, McCay wasn’t the only one to tamper with form and usher in a new outlook on the very notion of “low art.” Many names should be considered alongside McCay, such as George Herriman with Krazy Kat, Osamu Tezuka with many of his works, and Bill Watterson with Calvin and Hobbes, to name just a few.
Even in the present time, you can see the influence that these geniuses have on the new school of comic artistry. Marco Rudy is doing some incredible work for both DC and Marvel. His experimenting with form can be seen with oddly shaped frames that blur into one another, beautifully spread out amongst images that overlap like layers of sediment rock. Rudy’s work on Marvel Knights: Spider-man and the recent New Avengers Annual are great examples of his style. Another more contemporary artist that plays with form is Mike Del Mundo. His work on the new Elektra is nothing short of spectacular. Del Mundo plays too with the images he draws. Alongside co-colourist Marco D’Alfonso, Del Mundo utilizes a water colouring that breathes a dream like aura to every page. Once again, Marco Rudy and Mike Del Mundo are just two major peas in a much grander pod.
It is great to see an art form such as comic books still be up to challenge the test of time. Countless artists are to be thanked and honoured for the impact made on the industry as a whole. Luckily, there are many talented individuals out there that crave for something new, presenting a whole wide array of possibilities for us as readers to enjoy. It is people like McCay and Rudy that exemplify the bewildering possibilities of the comic book form, flooding the gates of imagination.
By: Anthony Spataro