The Prehistory of the Graphic Novel

Whatever the term “graphic novel” actually means, it is one that rose to mainstream use in the 1980s. But most people seem to agree that the term was first applied in 1978 to Will Eisner’s ...

Ishii, Arriola, and stereotypes

The MoMA just posted a comics biography of Ruth Asawa done by Jillian Tamaki. On the second page, Tamaki mentions Chris Ishii and a comic strip created about life at the Japanese-American concentration camps. I ...

Jesse Hamm, 1975-2021

I was shocked to hear on the morning of the 12th that the cartoonist Jesse Hamm had died suddenly. Jesse, as he was for many of us, was my ambassador into the community of comics. ...