Gisp! - 12.03.2005, Page 203

Raw Mice and Disappearing Towers: Art Spiegelman
To date Spiegelman has only published two works,
apart from shorter fiction, the Pulitzer-price-winner
Maus and In the Shadow of No Towers. While this
does not seem much output in terms of comics,
his contribution has been influential in otherways.
Togetherwith hiswife, Fancoise Mouly, Spiegelman
has for a long time been an important editor. In
1980 they started the comic magazine Raw, and
most recently they have edited a series of comic
books for children. Apart from this Spiegelman is
also known as an illustrator, drawing front pages
forThe NewYorkerand illustrating Joseph Moncure
March’s 1928 poem “The Wild Party”.
Maus was published as a graphic novel in 1986
and broke the barrier between comic books and
other books, being the first comic to be available
in mainstream bookstores. Equally an autobiography
and a biography, Maus describes the story of Art
Spiegelman's parents in the second world war,
and how they survived the Holocost. The mice in
question are the jews (which the Nazis called
vermin), Germans are cats and so on. This usage
of anthopomorphic animals is particularly striking
as such are usually a source for laughter and fun,
often seen as trivial children’s material.
The style is very simple, quite unlike the style of
Spiegelman’s former work, which tended towards
the expressional and decorative complete with
innovative experiments with the form. This is a
heritage from the underground comix, where
biographical and autobiographical material also
became a strong current.
This experimental style resurfaces in the work In
the Shadow of No Towers (2004) which is
Spiegelman’s reaction to September 11 2001.
Partly autobiographical, it is also an exploration
of the roots of comics in early newspaper comics,
some of which are re-printed at the end of the
book, in a kind of a homage to the influence of
these authors on Spiegelman’s own work. No
Towers is not strictly a story, rather a combination
of fragments, reflections, memories - all with a
strong political undertone.
Erró and the Comics
The comic book is one of the many sources for
Erró's work. He uses comic book imagery as words
and sentences, and his work seems to be on the
borderline of a narrative. He describes himself as
a journalist, someone who watches the images of
the world and documents them by placing them
in a sequence. The reader of the comic book,
recognising the figures, might be annoyed at Erró's
plundering, while the art gallery visitor might
wonder where these powerful images come from,
and ponder how the artist makes pulp appear like
art.
Action in New York
Erró traces his interest in comics to his first visit
to the United States in 1963. There he got to
know the action comic book and started using this
material in his work. However it is not until the
late sixties and early seventies that the comic
influence really starts, with added political thrust
from the artist. Comic-scape (ath) from 1972 is
Erró's first large work, based entirely on the comic
book, later he uses underground comix in the
series For R. Crumb. However, it’s the action of
the superhero comics that continues to fascinate
him.
Erró, Kirby and Crumb
Erró does not seem to have any favourite authors
in the comic book world. The exception however
is Crumb. The titles of his paintings usually refer
to the characters rather than the authors. This
reflects the comic book world, where authors
usually did not have the copyright to their own
creations and characters moved between authors
and artists in endless series and sequels. Thus,
the character becomes stronger than the author.
This however is different in the field of underground
comix, where the artist is everything.
Erró the Comic Book Artist?
Erró does not view himself as a comic book artist
although sometimes the structure of his work bares
strong resemblance to comic book design. Early
in his career he places images in a sequel
reminiscent of the sequential art-form of the comic
book. His style is, like the style of the American
superhero comics, moving towards a more complex
visualisation, using influences from film and
computergraphics.
Erró the comic book author uses the outer form
of the comic book to tell layered stories - or rather
to create a narrative condition - and break up time
in his paintings.
Originai - Copy
Erró likes the mass printed image that vipes out
the author. Face to face with his paintings, however,
the spectator witnesses the handmade. Erró has
started quoting himself in his paintings, sampling
freely and changing lines and styles, managing to
conflate different styles of different authors to
make them work together in one painting.
The lcelandic Comic Book
Comic books in lceland
The Second World War soldiers brought comic
books to lceland as to so many other countries.
Newspaper strips also appeared and some
translations of Danish material. Translations of
Europian stories only started in around 1970, with
TinTin, Asterix and other classical titles in the
forefront. In 1983 Donald Duckwasfirst published
in lcelandic, an in 1984 translations of american
superhero stories started. Most recently Nordic
comic attempted to publish ambitious translations
of new Europian material, but distribution proved
difficult.
In 1991 the comic bookstore Nexus opened as a
department of Eymundsson's bookshop. A year
later it became independent and has been
instrumental in lcelandic comic book culture since.
In 2000 a comic book department was opened in
the new house for the main branch of the Reykjavík
City Library, other libraries soon opened their own
sections.
Icelandic comic book artists
The lcelandic comic book does not have a long
story. The artist Muggur (1891-1924) is considered
by many to be one of the beginners, but the first
regular comic is assumed to be Bubbi litli by
Haraldur Einarsson, appearing in Vikan 1960-62.
Tryggvi Magnússon drew caricatures and comics
forthe magazine Spegillinn (starting in 1926),
and between 1950 and 1975 Halldór Pétursson
did illustrations and cartoons. He was also a painter.
Gísli Ástþórsson started writing and drawing Sigga
Vigga at the end of the seventies. Cartoonist
Sigmund has contributed regluarto Morgunblaðið
for many years.
In 1965 two comics appeared, Stebbi stælgæ by
Birgir Bragason and Sæmundur og Kölski by
Haraldur Guðbergsson. Haraldur had earlier
published Ása Þór in Lesbók Morgunblaðsins. He
was the first to make sequential comics. Gylfi
Gíslason has drawn comic adaptions of folktales,
most recently publishing some in english.
Others include Kjartan Arnórsson and Ingi Jensson,
both have published erotic/pornographic material.
Ingi is today the only comic book author who
drawing comics for a living, apart from erotic stories
he draws various comics for magazines and
newspapers. Hugleikur Dagsson is more in line
with underground comix with his publications
Elskið okkur, Hatið okkur og Ríðið okkur (Our
Prayer is an english collection from the first two).
Blóðregn and Brennan are free adaptations from
a saga, Njáls’ saga, by Embla Ýr Bárudóttir and
Ingólfur Örn Björgvinsson. Sjálfstætt framhald,
Brennan, hefur einnig hlotið lof.Three comic
magazines have been publisehd sporadically since
the early nineties. Ómar Stefánsson and Óskar
Thorarensen publish Bandormur, in 1990 a few
artist started publishing GISPi, and the third
irregular comic vehicle is Blek, published since
1996.
ENGLISH SUMMARY
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