Early Contributions to Sequential Art

As we approach the 18^th and 19^th centuries we begin to look more at individuals who contributed to sequential art of Japan and The West. Four specific individuals come to mind when looking at this time frame. Suzuki Harunobu who innovated woodblock printing by introducing full colour prints, Katsushika Hokusai who's sketches became famously known as the first book of manga, William Hogarth who's sequential engravings gained international recognition and finally, George Cruikshank who began the regular use of word balloons in his illustrations. These men were all contributors to modern sequential art as we know it.

Suzuki Harunobu was student of the Torii school. He didn't create any works of note until after he joined with a group of literati samurai in about 1762. He helped them to make calendar prints of working class women going about their daily tasks and women in mythological scenes. Harunobu was an innovator in printmaking. He used up to 10 different woodblocks of varying colours and the finest materials to create the elegantly coloured prints which were exchanged at Edo gatherings and parties. His works were commonly forged, among the forgers was Shiba Kokan who in turn heavily influenced Hokusai.

Katsushika Hokusai was a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period. He was the leading expert on Chinese Printmaking in the early 1800's. Initially, Hokusai was trained to engrave and cut woodblock prints but later was influenced by Shiba Kokan's Western style oil paintings and copperplate etchings. In 1811, at the age of 51 years, Katsushika changed his name to Taito. In 1814 he would create his first book of “manga”, sketches or caricatures.

These It was these sketches and caricatures that influenced the modern form of comics known as manga today. By 1820, Hokusai had published twelve volumes of manga. Three more volumes of his work were published posthumously.

William Hogarth is well known as an engraver and caricaturist of the 18^th century. He is also often referred to as one of the Western forefathers of modern sequential art. Hogarth began his career as an apprentice to Ellis Gamble, a silverplate engraver. In 1720 Hogarth, who now ran his own business printing billheads, book illustrations and funeral tickets, discovered Sir James Thornhill's historical paintings. It was during the 1720's that Hogarth began to create political satires such as the Punishments of Lemuel Gulliver. However, in 1731, he would produce The Harlot's Progress which is a series of paintings depicting a girl who arrives from the country and promptly enters into the life of a prostitute, paintings were unfortunately lost in a fire in 1755. However, engravings of the Harlot's Progress still survive from 1732. He then created A Rake's Progress and Marriage a la Mode. His engravings became so popular that, just like Suzuki Harunobu, his works were constantly being forged. Unlike Suzuki however, Hogarth led a campaign against pirating that consequently led to the Copyright Act of 1735. Later that year he would also establish St. Martin's Lane Academy, a guild for professional artists and a school for young artists. He would continue to do paintings and engravings until his death in 1764.

George Cruikshank was a British caricaturist and book illustrator. He began his career by apprenticing under his father Isaac Cruikshank. In 1819, he collaborated with William Hone to create the political satire The Political House That Jack Built. He created many social caricatures that attacked the Royal Family and many leading political figures. He became so infamous that in 1820 he received a royal bribe for £100 in agreeance that he would “not caricature King George IV of the United Kingdom in any immoral situation” During his time he not only replaced one of his major influences, James Gillray, as England's most popular satirist but he was also referred to as a “modern Hogarth” as well. In 1836 he would illustrate Sketches by Boz for his then friend Charles Dickens. What is most notable about his work is the regular use of word balloons to illustrate who in the picture is talking.

As we look at the 18^th and 19^th centuries we begin to look less at technological innovations and more on improving existing technology and artistic techniques. Harunobu didn't invent woodblock printing but he improved full colour printing by adding more blocks of different colours to enhance the pictures. Hokusai didn't invent manga per se, he did however create books that developed the modern form of manga that we know today. Hogarth didn't invent sequential art but his works were so popular that they were constantly being plagiarized thereby driving the medium. Finally, without George Cruikshank we would not have the word balloon as we know it today. These four artists made major contributions to the medium that helped make sequential art what it is today. It is also at this time that we begin to see Western influence creeping into Japanese art.

{Please note, I originally intended on having a bibliography for this post but to cite each place I got information from would more than double this posting. I will, however publish a specific post talking about where to go to find information on the history of Manga and Comics}