comics studies Comics studies (also comic art studies, sequential art studies or graphic narrative studies) is an academic field that focuses on comics and sequential art. Although comics and graphic novels have been generally dismissed as less relevant popular ...

, sequential art is a term proposed by

comics artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the literar ...

Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner ( ; March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series '' The Spirit'' (1940–1952) wa ...

, ''

Comics and Sequential Art ''Comics and Sequential Art'' is a book by American cartoonist Will Eisner that analyzes the comics medium, published in 1985 and revised in 1990. It is based on a series of essays that appeared in ''The Spirit'' magazine, themselves based on Ei ...

'', Poorhouse Press, 1990 (1st ed.: 1985), p. 5. to describe

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

forms that use

image An image or picture is a visual representation. An image can be Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or Three-dimensional space, three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be di ...

s deployed in a specific order for the purpose of graphic storytellingWill Eisner, ''

Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative ''Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative'' is a 1996 book by American cartoonist Will Eisner that provides a formal overview of comics. It is a companion to his earlier book '' Comics and Sequential Art'' (1985). See also * Comics studies * ...

'', W. W. Norton, 2008 (1st. ed.: Poorhouse Press, 1996), "Introduction: Comics as a Medium". (i.e.,

narration Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

of graphic stories) or conveying information. The best-known example of sequential art is

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

Etymology

The term "sequential art" was coined in 1985 by comics artist Will Eisner in his book ''

''. Eisner analyzed this form into four elements: design, drawing, caricature, and writing.

Scott McCloud Scott McCloud (born Scott McLeod; June 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist and comics theorist. His non-fiction books about comics, ''Understanding Comics'' (1993), '' Reinventing Comics'' (2000), and '' Making Comics'' (2006), are made in comic ...

, another comics artist, elaborated the explanation further, in his books ''

Understanding Comics ''Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art'' is a 1993 non-fiction work of comics by American cartoonist Scott McCloud. It explores formal aspects of comics, the historical development of the medium, its fundamental vocabulary, and various ways in ...

'' (1993) and '' Reinventing Comics'' (2000). In ''Understanding Comics'', he notes that the movie roll, before it is being projected, arguably could be seen as a very slow comic. Eadweard Muybridge - Athletes

Related terms include:

visual narrative A visual narrative (also visual storytelling) is a story told primarily through the use of visual media. This can be images in the mind, digital, and traditional media. The story may be told using still photography, illustration, or video, and can ...

, graphic narrative, pictorial narrative, picto-narrative, sequential narrative, sequential pictorial narrative,Aaron Meskin and Roy T. Cook (eds.), ''The Art of Comics: A Philosophical Approach'', Wiley-Blackwell, 2012, p. xxx. sequential storytelling,Carole Ann Moleti
"Graphic Literature: A Blend of Genre, Medium, and Form: An International Survey of Graphic Literature"
''The Internet Review of Science Fiction'', June 2008. graphic fiction, graphic literature, pictorial literature, sequential literature, and narrative illustration. The related term sequential sculpture has also been used.Cf. Elaine H. Kim and Chungmoo Choi (eds.), ''Dangerous Women: Gender and Korean Nationalism'', Routledge, 2012, p. 6: " ong SoonMin's ... visual essay, "Mother Load", features the ''

bojagi A bojagi (, sometimes shortened to ) is a traditional Korean wrapping cloth. Bojagi are typically square and can be made from a variety of materials, though silk or ramie are common. Embroidered bojagi are known as subo, while patchwork or scrap ...

'' wrapping cloth... The first two parts of this sequential sculpture refer to the past and present of ... Korea."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sequential Art Comics terminology Visual arts