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Every art, especially comic book art as a graphic storytelling, draws its aesthetic legitimacy through the specific and autonomous media identity and through the capacity for social and cultural influence. The first one speaks about the iconography of the comic book language and its authentic bimodal literacy, and the second one about the subversive potential of the comics and its capacity for causing social and cultural changes. However, what gives the final legitimization of every art discipline is always its history and the highest achievements in it. History of comic book art has been incredibly rich and different over the last hundred years. From Rudolf Töpffer and his Les amours de Mr. Vieux Bois (1837), through the golden age of the superhero comic books, to the latest masterpieces of contemporary comic art works such as Habibi (2011) by Craig Thompson. In it, it is widely recognized that the comic book art, formally speaking, is a graphic storytelling in which the fable and iconic elements are laced in a forme of narrative sequential side-by-side visual compositions (or so-called comic panels) which are inserted textual tools that complement the figurative narration. This structural definition illuminates the autonomy of the comic books as an artistic genre, but even more importantly, as soon as comics are visual storytelling in which the pictorial and fable elements are composed in arranged frames, then this technique of narration can be recognized in many other forms of expression throughout history. Far more older than the first comic books of Gustave Dore, Wilhelm Busch, Charles Ross and Marie Duval from the second half of the XIX century. Based on this, we can profaundly talk about procomics, archaic comic formats and about comic book phenomenology and its proto-forms of expressive articulation. All this, through the prehistory to comic book art. In this study, we will focus on most remarkable achievements in the history of visual narratives in the medieval period in which we see graphic storytelling similar like a modern comic books. Based on the Will Eisner's and Scott McCloud's operative and structural definition, the comic books as a narrative medium enables us to recognize in the medieval graphic literature such achievements that strongly resemble to the iconography of the modern comic books. Most of the medieval graphic literature has a sacred literary function and represents the divine and religious humility of the believer. This kind of venerative function graphic storytelling in medieval period was a subject of research in the history of literature science, in the history of Christianity, and so on. But, structural analyzes with the help of the hermeneutics of medieval bimodal literature became possible and scientifically relevant only after the conviction of the academic, cultural and professional public that the comic booka as art has its undeniable value and aesthetic legitimacy. For a long time the comic books was considered to be schundliteratur phenomenon in pop culture, and additionally not only "responsible" for "nurturing" the bad literary taste, but also for the moral corruption of the youth. But overcoming of this long-standing stereotypes enabled the posobility of scientific research on the history and philosophy comic book art. Today, we even spoke about special science of comics - panelology. However, this overcoming has opened up space for research on the complex forms of ideological power and political reflections that the comic as a phenomenon of pop culture brings in itself. From Art Spiegelman, who received the Pulitzer Prize for the comic book Maus, not allowing the new generations to forget the horror of the Holocaust, through the iconic political influence of Alan Moore and David Lloyd with the comic book V for Vendetta and Guy Fawkes's mask, until the raising of rights woman in the Islamic culture in the Persepolis and Embroideries graphic novels by Marjane Satrapi and Joe Sacco's civic comic journalism from the military hotspots around the world. Today it is more than justifiable to speak not only about the prehistory of the comic book, but also about all the aesthetic issues that comics draws as a narrative gender. Especially after the recent news that the Columbia University's Department of Education has allowed Nick Sousanis to complete a PhD dissertation titled Unflattening: A Visual-Verbal Inquiry into Learning in Many Dimension, which was written/painted entirely in the form of a comic book. This unusual doctorate in form of comic book carries with itself kind of academic legitimacy of graphic language and through the deconstruction of the usual academic discourse, offers an astonishing graphic art of visual telling that examines the human power of cognition and pedagogical perspectives of graphic literature. On the basis of all this, in the following chapters we will present, analyze and evaluate the following achievements of the history of visual narratives in the medieval period: proto-comic medieval manuscripts, Biblia pauperum, Xylographic medieval comic books, graphic version of Psychomachia and Alexandria Roman d'Alexandre en Pro, hagiographic iconography in bizantine art, caricatured drawings in The Smithfield Decretals and cynocephalystic depiction of Saint Christopher in orthodox iconography tradition. All this in order to show that the comic book as a medium for storytelling has a rich and a certain prehistory which is one of the foundations of its aesthetic legitimacy as an artistic form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article assembles all the references to Plato the philosopher and his works in the comic fragments of the fourth century. It demonstrates that the comic poets engage with Plato in a variety of ways: some assimilate him to earlier portraits of sophists and philosophers; others make superficial references to Platonic doctrines; several depict Plato as a character, or allude directly to Plato's dialogues. These last form the central focus of this article: the comic poets, recognizing affinities between drama and dialogue, parody Plato's texts using the same techniques of imitation and distortion they use to parody tragedy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fujiko F. Fujio (1933-1996), known as the author of Doraemon, sometimes adapted from foreign literary works immediately after debuting as a professional comic artist. For example, Ulysses by Homer, The Dog Crusoe by R. M. Ballantyne, and The Rose and the Ring by W. M. Thackeray were used in his adaptations. Also, his UTOPIA: the Final World War (『Utopia 最後の世界大戦』, 1953) was influenced by Aldous Leonard Huxley’s Brave New World. After the Pacific War was over, many new literary works became available from overseas. However, it does not seem that he read them in the original form. Despite his popularity, there are many questions regarding the sources of Fujiko F. Fujio’s knowledge about foreign literary works. This paper argues the case of Shonen-sencho ( 「少年船長」, 1958). Its origin is Mr. Midshipman Easy (1836) by Frederick Marryat, a retired captain in the Royal Navy. He was by no means popular in Japan. In prewar times, only three of his works were translated. To begin with, it is important to ask how Fujiko F. Fujio came to know about Frederick Marryat. The first part of this paper discusses the possible course of acquiring the knowledge about Frederick Marryat. The second part of this paper compares in detail Shonen-sencho, the adaptation, to Mr. Midshipman Easy, the original. Further, it investigates which parts Fujiko F. Fujio adopted and omitted from the original text, and why he did it. The focus of this paper is to explore how a Japanese comic artist understood and adapted foreign literary works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interview is presented with artist and journalist Josh Neufeld. He discusses the development of comics journalism in which journalistic approaches and topics are used to present information in the form of comic strips. Other topics covered include his book "A.D.," his comic "The Road to Germany: $240" which incorporates reporting by Alia Malek and photographs by Peter van Agtmael, and Neufeld's thoughts on collaboration.

An interview with comic book artist Paul Gulacy is presented. He reflects on his career starting with Marvel Comics in the 1970s before commenting on visual storytelling techniques in comic books as well as his work on graphic novels such as "Sabre: Slow Fade of an Endangered Species" and "Six From Sirius."

An interview with comic artist Arthur Ranson is presented. He discusses his career development before commenting on his process for creating art, how he approaches comic books, and the importance of sequential art as a form of storytelling. Particular attention is given to his collaboration with authors Angus Allan, John Wagner, and Alan Grant.

The article discusses a comics created by Allan Beaton telling the story of the adventures of an Ookpik, a stylized owl. Topics discussed include the Canadian cultural identity depicted in Beaton's comics, the original Ookpik design created by Jeannie Snowball in 1962, and Arthur Laing, the Canadian Minister of Northern Affairs and Natural Resources in 1964. Also mentioned is the personification of Ookpik by Beaton.

The article discusses the work of Singaporean comic book artists Sonny Liew and Leslie Chew who have staked their citizenship, their freedom and their finances to pursue their art. Topics include the practice of regulatory censorship faced by both artists and along with their peers, the reactive and preemptive censorship of their work by Singaporean authorities, and the naturalization and invisibility of comics censorship in Singapore.

This article explores how Japanese comic artists represented the early years of the Chinese Cultural Revolution in popular print culture, especially lowbrow comic magazines. It posits that Japanese cartoonists in their role as both purveyors of everyday humor and keenly observant social commentators employed the imagery and rhetoric of the Red Guard movement to critique the conservative social and economic order of Japanese corporate culture during the late 1960s era of high-speed growth; moreover, it contends that there was a surprisingly receptive audience for such criticism among the rank-and-file “salarymen” of the urban Japanese middle class. Finally, the precisely informed humor found in these comics also suggests that their target audience possessed detailed familiarity with contemporary events on the continent and interpreted those events through a deeply embedded cultural framework of ambivalence concerning modern Chinese society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A personal narrative is presented which explores the author's business model as a cartoonist and mentions related topics such as comic book artists, AutoTrader.com, and Andertoons.com.

An interview with Singaporean comic book artist Sinann Cheah on February 20, 2015 is presented about his career and the comic book industry. Topics covered include the comics scene in Singapore from the mid-to-late 20th century to the early 21st century, his thoughts on making comics for "The Straits Times" newspaper during the 1980s and 1990s, and the 1971 purge of the Singaporean press.

Benjamin Marra is the founder and publisher of Traditional Comics and the creator ofNight Business, Gangsta Rap Posse, The Incredibly Fantastic Adventures of Maureen Dowd (A Work of Satire and Fiction), Lincoln Washington: Free Man!andBlades & Lazers. He holds a BFA in Illustration from Syracuse University and an MFA in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. In this interview he discusses his influences as well as his artistic process and the aesthetic principles that inform his own approach to comics. Topics explored within the interview include image–text relationships in comics; art process; ways in which form and content are interconnected; use of colour to support drawings; decision making regarding panels and panel arrangements; working in genre; the distribution and dissemination of comics; the art and influence of Jack Kirby, Jim Steranko and Paul Gulacy; Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’sTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; and the uniqueness of sequential art as a storytelling form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the rise of the comic book industry as a global force, the development of the work for hire doctrine with respect to comic book artists and authors. Topics discussed include the U.S. copyright law concerning the rights of independent contractors in the work for hire context, U.S. Supreme Court cases such as Marvel Characters, Inc. v. Kirby related to authorship rights and the case Fred Fisher Music Co. v. M. Witmark & Sons related to renewable copyright.