Louise Fitzhugh and Sandra Scoppettone, Suzuki Beane (1961)

 

Suzuki Bean by Louise Fitzhugh and Sandra Scoppettone, 1961.

Pablo Picasso, The Dream and Lie of Franco (1937)

Sueño y mentira de Franco [Dream and Lie of Franco] by Pablo Picasso, 1937.

 

Max Ernst, Une semaine de bonté (1934)

Une semaine de bonté (A Week of Kindness) by Max Ernst, 1934.

 

Salvador Dali, Mystères surréalistes de New York (1935)

Mystères surréalistes de New York by Salvador Dali, 1935.

 

Jean Bruller, Le Mariage de Monsieur Lakonik (1931)

Le Mariage de Monsieur Lakonik by Jean Bruller, 1931.

 

Jean de Brunhoff, The Story of Babar

The Story of Babar by Jean de Brunhoff, 1931.
 

Stanley Link, Tiny Tim (1931)

 Tiny Tim by Stanley Link , 1931.

Suihō Tagawa, Norakuro (1931)

 

Norakuro by Suihō Tagawa, 1931.

Edwina Dumm, Alec the Great (1934)

 

Alec the Great by Edwina Dumm, 1934.

Phil Bond, No Jobs Today (1931)

No Jobs Today by Phil Bond, 1931.

 

Hergé, Tintin in the Congo (1931)

Tintin in the Congo by Hergé, 1931.

Henry Kiyama, The Four Immigrants Manga (1931)

The Four Immigrants Manga by Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama, 1931.

 

Chester Gould, Dick Tracy (1931)

Dick Tracy by Chester Gould, 1931.

 

Helen Hokinson, So You're Going to Buy a Book (1931)

So You're Going to Buy a Book by Helen Hokinson, 1931.

 

Helena Bochráková-Dittrichová, Childhood (1931)

Childhood by Helena Bochráková-Dittrichová, 1931.

 

Barbara Shermund, Shermund's Sallies (1944)

Shermund's Sallies by Barbara Shermund, 1944.

 

Brian Talbot, The Adventures of Luther Arkwright (1982)

Luther Arkwright by Brian Talbot, 1982.

 

Gary Panter, Jimbo (A RAW One-Shot), 1982

 

Jimbo by Gary Panter (RAW One-Shot #1, 1982).

Vitorrio Giardino, Hungarian Rhapsody (1982)

Hungarian Rhapsody by Vittorio Giardino (1982).

 

Mark Marek, Hercules Among the North Americans (1986)

Hercules Among the North Americans by Mark Marek, 1986.

 

Baru, Tour de France (1986)

 

"Tour de France" by Baru (RAW #8, 1986).

Kawashima Norikazu, Her Frankenstein (1986)

 

Her Frankenstein by Kawashima Norikazu, 1986.

Charles Burns, Big Baby: Curse of the Molemen (1986)

 

Big Baby: Curse of the Molemen by Charles Burns, 1986.

Burns' scalpel-like ink lines dissect the dark underbelly of suburbia in this short horror tale published as RAW One-Shot #5 in 1986. The story, which did for comic books what Blue Velvet did for film, tells the tale of a strange child who may or may not have seen a subterranean monster digging around in his backyard. 

Hergé, Tintin and the Alph-Art (1986)

 

Tintin and The Alph-Art by Hergé,1986.

Hergé's last unfinished masterpiece!

Mark Newgarden, Love's Savage Fury (1986)

 

"Love's Savage Fury" by Mark Newgarden, 1986.

Not many experiences can compare to the thunderclap of reading Mark Newgarden's deconstructive examinations of the gag comic format for the first time. In this famous strip, first published in RAW #8, Bazooka Joe and Nancy are forcibly dragged into the netherworld of the New York City subway system and experience a "missed connection" that reconfigures our understanding of sequential narrative.

The critics: “Newgarden’s dense, formally experimental work began appearing regularly in RAW from the publication’s first issue. ‘Love’s Savage Fury,’ a narrative about the failure to find love on the subway, is based on a personal advertisement Newgarden read in a newspaper. The characters who Newgarden chose to star in this story were also drawn from mass culture: the lead character of Ernie Bushmiller’s comic strip Nancy and Bazooka Joe, the main character in a series of comic strips printed on bubble gum wrappers manufactured by the Topps corporation. More than an act of détournement, ‘Love’s Savage Fury’ intensely deconstructs the visual appearance of Bushmiller’s Nancy as a meditation on heartbreak, memory, and the iconic precision of those widely known fictional characters who exist within the public imagination.” – Bill Kartalopoulos, Formula Bula 7, Paris.

Alberto Breccia, Mort Cinder (1963)

 

Mort Cinder by Hector German Oesterheld and Alberto Breccia.

Breccia's art is the real star of these philosophical, dreamlike tales of an immortal soldier who dies a thousand times and is reincarnated throughout history as a key participant in some of the most tragic battles and apocalyptic events.

Joe Brainard, Nancy Collages (1963)

Nancy Collgaes by Joe Brainard.

In 1963 poet and artist Brainard began cutting up Ernie Bushmiller's classic Nancy into new assemblages, recombining and detourning the comics into profane, looking-glass versions of themselves. Brainard was one of the first to incorporate comics and appropriation into a large part of his artistic practice. (He also adapted his friends' poetry into comics form in his C Comics magazine, but those will have to wait until 1964.)

 

Hergé, The Castafiore Emerald (1963)

 

The Castafiore Emerald by Hergé.

In many ways the best Tintin album but also the least typical. In place of the usual globe-trotting adventure we get an exquisite farce with all the precision of a stage-play or classic film.

Shigeru Mizuki, Akuma-kun (1963)

Akuma-kun by Shigeru Mizuki.

Groundbreaking series by the yokai horror mangaka about a little boy who can summon demons. Very similar to Mizuki's long-running Kitaro series, Akuma-kun is full of the same inventive grotesques and monsters. 

Daniel Clowes, Lloyd Llewellyn (1986)

Lloyd Llewellyn #1 by Dan Clowes.
 

Lorenzo Mattotti, Fires (1986)

 

Fires by Lorenzo Mattotti. 

Art Spiegelman, Maus, Volume One: My Father Bleeds History (1986)

 

Maus, Volume One: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman.