Comics 1964 - 2024 edited by Thierry Groensteen, Lucas Hureau, Ann Lemonnier, and Emmanuèle Payen. Thames & Hudson, 2024. 9780500028407. 288pp.
I didn't get to see the exhibit at the Centre Pompidou this book is based on -- it closed in November 2024 -- and I was about to order myself a copy of the French edition for my birthday when this arrived in the mail from the publisher. All by way of saying: I was overly inclined to love this book when it arrived, and I did. You should get a copy for your public library shelves, too, especially if you have a decent graphic novel collection for adults.
Worth noting: There's more than a little adult content in the original art featured in the book. Most are in English, French, or Japanese. While a working knowledge of these languages might help in appreciating the work a bit more, it's not necessary -- the book is spectacular in terms of visuals alone.
I didn't read much of the essays; they seem like a great introduction to comics from the period, but mostly they let the art do the talking. The book opens with chapters about comics as art and the exhibition, and cover the rise and evolution of comics. "An Evolving Artform" contains original art from Windsor McCay, Clair Bretécher, Fred, Chris Ware, Bill Waterson, and Brecht Evans. "Counterculture" has art by Gilbert Shelton, Kuniko Tsurita, Susumu Katsumata, Shin'ichi Abe, Nicholas Devil, Robert Gigi, Jean-Claude Forest, Georges Pichard, Nicholas Devil, Guido Crepax, Caza, Georges Wolinski, Jean-Marc Reiser, Fred, Gébé, Willem, Robert Crumb, S. Clay Wilson, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Jay Lynch, Kiki Picasso, Loulou Picasso, and Olivia Clavel. (If at this point you're wondering if superheroes figure into the exhibit at all, there is some art from superhero comics in the "Science Fiction" chapter, along with spectacular illustrations by Moebius, including the art used on the book's cover.)
I had never heard of some of the creators in the book, and I don't love everything in it. There's a huge amount that wowed me, and enough that's new to me that I find myself looking through the book over and over. The first book on my list that I need to read after seeing the art in here: Forest's original Barbarella comics.
The List of Exhibited Works at the end of the book is organized by chapter , and then by creator or publication within each chapter. (I believe this mirrors the organization of the exhibit itself. I've included an image of the Table of Contents with the review if you're curious about it.) When a creator's work is in the book, a page number is listed. Dates, materials, where a work was originally published, and other information is included about most of the art. It gives a sense of how amazing the exhibit itself was, and the lengths the curators went to to organize it.
Also: If you're now wishing you'd made it to the exhibition, too, there's a short tour at www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEcyXFSWDzY
