''The Narrative Corpse'' is a chain story, or comic jam, by 69 all-star cartoonists based on ''Le Cadavre Exquis'' (see Exquisite corpse), a popular game played by

André Breton André Robert Breton (; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') o ...

and his surrealist friends to break free from the constraints of rational thought. Edited by Art Spiegelman and

Robert Sikoryak Robert Sikoryak (born 1964) is an American artist whose work is usually signed R. Sikoryak. He specializes in making comic adaptations of literature classics. Under the series title ''Masterpiece Comics'', these include ''Crime and Punishment'' re ...

, ''The Narrative Corpse'' features contributions from some of the most notable cartoonists of its time from the worlds of underground comix, alternative comics, and European comics (as well as Will Eisner and Mort Walker). The ''Narrative Corpse'' graphic novel, co-published by Gates of Heck and

Raw Books Raw Books & Graphics is a publishing company specializing in comics and graphic novels. Operating since 1978, it is owned and operated by Françoise Mouly. The company first came to prominence publishing ''Raw (magazine), Raw'' magazine, co-edited ...

, had a limited run in 1995 of 9,500 copies. It was the winner of the 1996 Firecracker Alternative Book Award for Best Graphic Novel.

Story structure

The creative process was designed as follows: a cartoonist would begin the story with three black-and-white comic-book panels, starring an innocent stick figure named "Sticky". This cartoonist passes his or her three panels on to the next cartoonist, who continues the story in any manner he or she wants with three more panels. The next cartoonist receives only the previous cartoonists's part of the story, and so on. Although the "story" oscillates without beginning or end, it can be said to start (after some creative editing by Spiegelman and Sikoryak) with the panels done by Drew Friedman, and end with the ones done by Richard McGuire. Some contributors featured cameos by their own well-established characters (for example Mort Walker's Sarge,

S. Clay Wilson Steve Clay Wilson (July 25, 1941 – February 7, 2021) was an American underground cartoonist and central figure in the underground comix movement. Wilson attracted attention from readers with aggressively violent and sexually explicit panoramas ...

's the Checkered Demon, Will Eisner's Spirit, Matt Groening's

Akbar & Jeff ''Life in Hell'' is a comic strip by Matt Groening, creator of ''The Simpsons'', ''Futurama'', and ''Disenchantment'', which was published weekly from 1977 to 2012. The strip features anthropomorphic rabbits and a gay couple. The comic covers a w ...

, and Bill Griffith's Zippy the Pinhead). It is also of interest that background or guest characters seldom last more than three contributions in a row.

Publication history

The idea was first conceived of in May 1990, as a project for '' Raw'' magazine. To expedite the project, two strands were started simultaneously, one in New York City by project co-editor R. Sikoryak, the second in London by Savage Pencil. Nevertheless, the project kept growing (outliving ''RAW'' itself, which ceased publication in 1991) until it was forcibly brought to an end five years after its inception. In order to bridge the two strands, R. Sikoryak's original opening panels were cut, although he later drew the oddly-shaped "splash panel" that now begins the narrative. Spiegelman himself drew the three panels that link Strand 1 to Strand 2 (bridging the contributions of Joe Sacco and Savage Pencil), while Richard McGuire was brought in to link Strand 2 back to Strand 1 (bridging the contributions of Carol Swain and Drew Friedman).Introduction, ''The Narrative Corpse'' (Raw Books/Gates of Heck, 1995).

Contributors

The following is a list of contributors in the order their work appears in ''The Narrative Corpse'':
R. Sikoryak > Mark Beyer > Gilbert Hernandez > Mary Fleener >

M. K. Brown M. K. Brown is an American cartoonist and painter whose work has appeared in many publications, including '' National Lampoon'' (1972-1981), ''Mother Jones'', ''Wimmen's Comix'', ''The New Yorker'', ''Playboy, among others.'' She has written seve ...

> David Mazzucchelli > Mort Walker >

> Chester Brown >

Debbie Dreschler Debbie Drechsler (born 1953) is an American illustrator and comic book creator. Her semi-autobiographical graphic novel about incest, '' Daddy's Girl'' (1996), was nominated for an Ignatz Award. Biography Drechsler was born in Champaign, ...

> Mark Landman > Jay Lynch > Gary Leib > Willem > Carol Lay > Jason Lutes > Max Andersson > J. Pirinen > Peter Bagge > G. Wasco > Spain > Carol Swain > Richard McGuire > Drew Friedman > David Sandlin > Ever Meulen >

Mariscal Mariscal is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alberto Mariscal (1926–2010), American-born Mexican actor and film director * Ana Mariscal (1923–1995), Spanish film actress, director, screenwriter and film producer * Ángel ...

> Joost Swarte > Pascal Doury > Georgeanne Deen > Chris Ware > Charles Burns > Lorenzo Mattotti > Justin Green > Julie Doucet > Kaz > Gary Panter > Daniel Clowes > Jonathon Rosen >

Krystine Kryttre Krystine Kryttre (born 1958) is an American alternative comics artist, painter, animator, writer, and performer from San Francisco. currently based in Los Angeles. Her work is dark, often explicit, and visually distinctive." Her work has been ex ...

> Jaime Hernandez > Scott Gillis > Jim Woodring > Paul Corio > Will Eisner > Carol Tyler > Max Cabanes > Gilbert Shelton > Scott McCloud > Typex > José Muñoz > Matt Groening > Joe Sacco > Art Spiegelman > Savage Pencil > Jaques Loustal > Robert Crumb > Aline Kominsky-Crumb > Kamagurka & Herr Seele > Thomas Ott > Bruno Richard > Kim Deitch > Ben Katchor > Lynda Barry > Mark Zingarelli > Richard Sala > Bill Griffith > Jayr Pulga

Contributors by genre

Alternative comics

* Peter Bagge * Lynda Barry * Mark Beyer * Chester Brown * Charles Burns * Daniel Clowes * Paul Corio * Julie Doucet *

Debbie Drechsler Debbie Drechsler (born 1953) is an American illustrator and comic book creator. Her semi-autobiographical graphic novel about incest, ''Daddy's Girl'' (1996), was nominated for an Ignatz Award. Biography Drechsler was born in Champaign, Illi ...

* Mary Fleener * Drew Friedman * Scott Gillis * Matt Groening *

Los Bros Hernandez The Hernandez brothers, also known as Los Bros Hernandez, are the three American cartoonist brothers Mario (b. 1953), Gilbert (b. 1957), and Jaime Hernandez (b. 1959). The three were born in a Mexican-American family and grew up in ...

* Ben Katchor * Kaz *

* Mark Landman * Carol Lay * Gary Leib * Jason Lutes * David Mazzucchelli * Scott McCloud * Richard McGuire * Gary Panter * Savage Pencil * Jonathon Rosen * Joe Sacco * Richard Sala * David Sandlin * R. Sikoryak * Carol Swain * Carol Tyler * Chris Ware * Jim Woodring * Mark Zingarelli

Underground comix

* Robert Crumb * Georganne Deen * Kim Deitch * Justin Green * Bill Griffith * Aline Kominsky-Crumb * Jay Lynch * Gilbert Shelton * Spain * Art Spiegelman *

European cartoonists

* Max Andersson * Max Cabanes * Pascal Doury * Kamagurka & Herr Seele * Jacques Loustal *

* Lorenzo Mattotti * Ever Meulen *

José Antonio Muñoz José Antonio Muñoz or simply Muñoz (born July 10, 1942) is an Argentine artist. He is most notable for his influential black-and-white artwork. His hardboiled graphic novels series ''Alack Sinner'' (with writer Carlos Sampayo) is a noted sour ...

* Thomas Ott * J. Pirinen * Jayr Pulga * Bruno Richard * Joost Swarte * Typex * G. Wasco * Willem

Other

* Will Eisner * Mort Walker

References

External links

Gates of Heck

''The Infinite Corpse''
an online collaborative comic inspired by ''The Narrative Corpse''
Discussion of ''The Narrative Corpse'' and ''The Infinite Corpse''
at the Center for Cartoon Studies' Schulz Library Blog {{DEFAULTSORT:Narrative Corpse Artists' books 1995 graphic novels Comics anthologies Collaborative fiction