Sixty years before the comics entered the American newspaper press; Rodolphe Touml;pffer of Geneva (1799-1846); schoolmaster; university professor; polemical journalist; art critic; landscape draftsman; and writer of fiction; travel tales; and social criticism; invented a new art form: the comic strip; or "picture story;" that is now the graphic novel. At first he resisted publishing what he called his "little follies." When he did; they became instantly popular; plagiarized; and imitated throughout Europe and the United States. Touml;pffer developed a graphic style suited to his poor eyesight: the doodle; which he systematized and also theorized. The drawings; with their "modernist" spontaneous; flickering; broken lines; forming figures in mad hyperactivity; run above deft; ironic captions and propel narratives of surreal absurdity. The artists maniacal protagonists mix social satire with myth. By the mid-nineteenth century; Messrs. Jabot; Festus; Cryptogame; and other members of the crazy family; comprising eight picture stories in all; were instant folk heroes. In a biographical framework; Kunzle situates the comic strips in the Genevan and European culture of the time as well as in relation to Touml;pffers other work; notably his hilarious travel tales; and recounts their curious genesis (with an initial imprimatur from Goethe; no less) and their controversial success. Kunzles study; the first in English on the writer-artist; accompanies Rodolphe Touml;pffer: The Complete Comic Strips; a facsimile edition of the strips themselves; with the first-ever translation of these into English.
#285451 in eBooks 2000-12-07 2000-12-07File Name: B001KVZL02
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Great bookBy TstewartThis book is wonderfully researched. The photos accurately depict the era and the people who built Brookside. I give this book as gifts to all my friends and family.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. This is a great part of my family history.By hmgbandsabMy family played a great part in the coal mining industry. Most of the towns listed in this book have significant meaning to my family.3 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Historical InaccuraciesBy Birminghams Mining HistoryThis is supposed to be a book about coal mining. Unfortunately; it contains several miscaptioned historical images of Birminghams RED ORE (iron) mines... Brilliant.
