Chris Kowalski has created a very cool, short potted history of the comics form, from prehistoric cave paintings like the famous ones in Lascaux through the Egyptian heiroglyphics and the Bayeux Tapestry as a form of proto comics strip narrative to Rudloph Topffer, godfather of the modern comics and Outcault with his Yellow Kid and innovative use of the world balloon, through the 20th century, popularising newspaper strips, the birth of the superheroes, Siegel and Shuster, the post war lurid crime and gorey horror book, the conservative reaction to this (and Wertham’s utterly baseless ‘research’ which authorities used to stifle the presses to ‘protect the children’; today it is video games and rap they tend to target, but it’s the same song), the Silver Age of Marvel and DC, the growth of graphic novels aimed at a adult readership and on up to today’s scene. All of it without any dialogue or voice over, just a few short captions and the artwork from a century-plus of comics and graphic novels. And ending with pointing the viewer towards their public libraries for more reading, which is always A Good Thing, in my book.

Graphic Novels from Chris Kowalski on Vimeo.