Fiction

The History of Comics

Øyvind Holen

Comic strips might not be children’s and teenager’s main source of entertainment these days. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that comic strips as an art form has been very influential in modern culture, and there are no signs that comic strips are losing terrain. Comic strips for children, young adults and grownups are produced as never before and is a huge source of inspiration to Hollywood filmmakers, the visual arts, computer games, commercials as well as literature. Many of us have some kind of relationship to comic strips. But what do you really know about the history of this art form? In this book, author Øyvind Holden and illustrator Tore Strand Olsen will take young readers on an educational yet very entertaining journey through the history of comic strips, through Europe, USA and Japan. You will get to know talking ducks and flying superheroes, but also ambitious and rebellious artists. The history of comics is an easy read, showing you the way into an exciting world. It is homage to imaginative authors and remarkable artists around the world, and a tribute to the art of comic strips. Super speeding through comic history"Journalist and writer Holen is one of the most knowledgeable in the field of comics in Norway, and Olsen is both known and renowned as a comic strip artist. The use of original strips and facsimiles is generous, something that strengthens the non-fiction part of the book."Five out of six starsDAGBLADET "As a "sometimes" (or rather former) lecturer about the world of comics for children and young readers, this is the book I would use as a reference; to pupils, students, teachers and librarians. The book is a «Magical Mystery Tour» though a thousand years of telling picture stories, with the main weight is of course on the last 100 years or so. Wandering through pages overfilled with remarkable illustration, where the walk itself can bee seen as a look into the being of comics."SERIENETT.NO