Comic Book Guy: Degrees of Separation

“In their juxtaposition of words and images, comic books have fashioned one of the most sophisticated narrative languages in the history of visual art.” So are the words of Prof. Andrei Molotiu of NACAE and there are indeed far fewer than six degrees of separation between comic book illustrations and the world of art and design. Comic book artists, graphic artists, graphic designers and illustrators operate healthily within the same remit. From the early influences of, say, Roy Lichtenstein who was a central figure in the pop art movement blending the style of advertising and comic books to create works worthy of a gallery wall – to the modern day prominence of such artwork across a multitude of mediums, that allows the comic book style to become a design template of integrity, thus allowing for a much more diverse field. And through this field, a hybrid breed of talent within the comic-bookisation of the media keeps emerging on a regular basis.

One example of this core is Joe Snow, a young design illustrator currently in the progress of designing greeting cards for a Glasgow based company and who described his style as follows: “…totally inspired by comic books, in particular John Romita and [Spiderman co-creator] Steve Ditko. More stylistically I have a love of the relationship between ink and paper especially the bleed when the colour gets accidentally off set. It's that essence of paper and ink that I try to capture. Comic books also gave me a love of the female form as seen through the eyes of the pin-up artist so expect to see more pin-ups in the future.” (Lucky us.) He continues: “Drawing inspiration from cartoons, comic books and science fiction, my work is a fusion of vintage 1950's era atomic optimism and a love of traditional print.

Joe’s work appears on greeting cards, toy boxes and iPhone apps. It shows that with the continued rise of graphic novels, comic book movies and games along with other meta-cartoon forms, there is little doubt that this medium is central to the postmodern sensibility. The reward of such authority is designers can happily include comic book and graphic art within any portfolio. Once considered the lowest form of literature, they even predated video games in being denounced by parents, teachers, and clergy for their corrupting influence on the minds and morals of the youth. Comics now command the attention of not only the general public but cultural critics and scholars of art history. This is exactly where it belongs.