Comics and the Visual Arts

You may think that comics and the fine arts are antithetical, more at odds than Marvel and DC comics, but cartooning falls under the subcategory of drawing, a form of visual expression often associated with the fine arts. In the hierarchy of arts, there are many doors that lead to the grandeur we associate with the finer arts, and cartooning is certainly one of them. 

Comics and the fine arts are interrelated through a system of interaction and transferences. Cave paintings, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and pre-Columbian American picture manuscripts or codices are examples of visual art that expressed cosmologies, world views, religion, and philosophy; concepts that are often times associated with higher meaning or "meaningness", which is one of two integral components of fine art cartooning or comics, the other differentiation belonging to the purity of expression of a given medium. In this sense, there is a reciprocal referencing of theory and practice from which we can prepare and establish a theoretical basis for the inclusion of cartoons and comics into the field of fine arts. 

Study for the Head of Leda

Leonarda da Vinci (c. 1504-6)

Royal Collection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 

Cartooning, as a form of artistic research, is an art that understands itself as research, in that scientific processes or conclusions become the instrument of art and are used in the artworks. This refers to carefully thought out or considered sketches, which are, for the artist, a form of knowledge. Utilizing cartoons as an artistic means to analyze a preliminary work phase of art production turns the cartoon sketch or comic into research, an essential and intricate component of the artistic method.  

Sun Hat Sketch

© Shenn

Fine art represents the ephemeral forces and manifestations that emerge spontaneously and involuntarily. This opening for the unknown, yet the imminent and the yet to come, means that comics, which belong to both the art and cultural sciences, can confidently claim territory inside one of the many doors belonging to the fine arts.  

Design for the Laurentian library door

Michelangelo, British Museum

The Laurentian library was built to house the collection of books gathered by Cosimo de Medici and greatly enlarged by Lorenzo. It was commissioned by Guilio de Medici, and building work began after he was elected as Pople Clement VII in 1523. The door needed a black panel above the opening for a dedicatory inscription on the vestibule side and this is shown in all the sketches. In the finished design more space had to be found as Clement wanted a Latin inscription of between 100 and 140 letters and went to considerable trouble in finding one he liked. 

While the use of comics in fine visual arts is not new, their contribution in developing artistic work is undeniable. Exploring the history of fine art comics allows us to more easily recognize the long-time presence of fine art cartoons and comics in relation to fine works of art. 

Cartoons and comics were historically employed as a form of artistic research by some of the greatest artists in history. These hand drawn comparative analysis sketches done by Michelangelo (above and below) demonstrate the different modes of perception and thinking that were investigated prior to his embarking onto larger scale artistic feats, such as those associated with the remarkable frescoes of the Sistine Chapel or even the less than lively, but equally beautiful tombs intended for 16th century popes. 

Appropriately, these comic sketches are invaluable to our understanding not only of history but of the processes the artist employed in creating what is considered by the world as masterful pieces of artwork. 

Elevation of the lower story of the Julius tomb

Michelangelo, British Museum

Michelangelo was commissioned to create a monumental tomb for Julius II in 1505, eight years before the pope's death. This project took him forty years to complete, and caused the artist a great deal of anguish. The initial design was very ambitious and was intended for the old St. Peter's. The final work - much more modest in scale - was installed in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome. 

© Photo Scala, Florence / Fondo Edifici di Culto 

Ministero dell'Interno, 1999

The Julius tomb

Historically, the use of comics in the visual arts have served as a function of fine art, as an object of science. This implies a certain symmetry between art and science (or, rather, between comics and science) whereby science is translated into a comic, which is then translated into a piece of artwork or on occasion, simply left alone, existing in and of itself. Here, cartoon sketches and comics serve as an artistic claim to truth, objectivity qualified by artistic reflection and consideration. Seen from the vantage point of the artist, the comic is but another aspect of artistic knowledge.

Grotesque heads; Hercules and Antaeus

Michelangelo, The British Museum

Michelangelo was quoted as saying that such grotteschi should be a source of 'variation and relaxation of the senses'. Fine art cartoons and comics are often just that, a grotesque variation of the fine arts and a relaxation of the senses, but often times cartoons achieve a higher level of aesthetic expression. 

Drawing Jokes

Cartoon humor is essentially a "drawn joke."  Cartoons represent a pictorial aspect of a joke with its symbolic nature - both are necessary to make the cartoon funny. 

©Robert Thaves was the creator of the comic strip 'Frank and Ernest'

In the field of humor research, there are few studies focusing entirely on cartoons; the majority of the research focuses on the verbal or psychological aspects of humor. Typically, scholars in the field of humor utilize the cartoon as a visual reminder of the why the subject is interesting in the first place or to break up complex or analytical text (i.e., humor's foil). 

RR Behrens (1977) stated that "visual wit" wasn't visual: Cartoon drawings and comic strips are considered verbal humor embellished with a picture, and the pictures by themselves as not humorous. Obviously, as in the case of the cartoon below, this definition overlooks purely pictorial cartoons that have or need no verbal elements to make them funny. 

Given the lack of attention cartoons receive in humor research, it is no wonder they end up in cultural studies. 

Arthur Asa Berger

"Social studies is the application of humor research that tells us something about the users of humor, while theoretical research is development of humor theory, telling us about humor itself" (Hemplemann and Samson). 

Considering both areas naturally compliment one another, I aim, over time, to not only give a complete historical overview of cartooning through the ages and cultures, but also to provide readers with the tools to carry out their own research in the field of comics. 

This combination of cartoon history and theoretical research (along with lots of comics) provide a good starting point for such an endeavor.

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Seeing Comics

Starry Eyed

© Shenn

What do we see when we look at comics? 

• Do we see the face of the artist, speaking through the colorful composition of this comic? 
• Do we see the art or the artistry speaking directly to us? 
• Do we see our own adopted social identity - contemplative, playful, pensive - reflected back to us? 
• Do we see a mere affirmation that we're looking at what is - and, by association, that which we ourselves are - popular, hip, funky, cool, badass, obscure, or refined? 
• Or do we see nothing at all? Maybe we only look to comics in an attempt to close ourselves off from a world that we find threatening, strange, annoying, exhausting, or simply dull. 

Clearly, at different times, we see all of these things when we look at comics. When we place ourselves into the comic world, we isolate ourselves; and yet, we isolate ourselves within a world of culture, expression, and individual and social meanings. And, when we attempt to encounter the other through comics, we can't help but see our own identity reflected back: I am the kind of person who likes Dilbert or Snoopy or Shenn's Contemplative Comics. When we look at comics, we see (and find) private meanings. 

Perhaps what is of greater philosophical significance here is the fact that when we look at comics, we see so much more than just comics. We see the world - and ourselves - in a whole new way!