What do you think?
Rate this book
Comics Unmasked: Art and Anarchy in the UK
It’s simple―comics are fun. Whether fifteen or fifty, we love sitting down with a comic book, losing ourselves in a universe filled with wonder and excitement. But comics offer much more than meets the eye, and in Comics Unmasked , Paul Gravett and John Harris Dunning look beyond the notion of comics as pleasure reading to focus on their inherently anarchic nature.
Gravett and Dunning have combed the British Library’s extensive comic collection not only to explore the full potential of the medium but also to single out the critical points in history in which the art form challenged the status quo. Featuring newly discovered Victorian comics alongside some of the biggest names in comics today, including Alan Moore ( Watchmen , V for Vendetta ), Neil Gaiman ( Sandman ), Mark Millar ( Kick-Ass ), and Grant Morrison ( Arkham Asylum ), Comics Unmasked explores the political and social issues raised by British comics and their creators over the last century, from violence and drugs to class and sexuality.
Published to accompany a British Library exhibition that will be the United Kingdom’s largest exhibit of British comics to date, Comics Unmasked will delight comics enthusiasts around the world, offering them the chance to discover a different―perhaps darker side―of the medium.
Gravett and Dunning have combed the British Library’s extensive comic collection not only to explore the full potential of the medium but also to single out the critical points in history in which the art form challenged the status quo. Featuring newly discovered Victorian comics alongside some of the biggest names in comics today, including Alan Moore ( Watchmen , V for Vendetta ), Neil Gaiman ( Sandman ), Mark Millar ( Kick-Ass ), and Grant Morrison ( Arkham Asylum ), Comics Unmasked explores the political and social issues raised by British comics and their creators over the last century, from violence and drugs to class and sexuality.
Published to accompany a British Library exhibition that will be the United Kingdom’s largest exhibit of British comics to date, Comics Unmasked will delight comics enthusiasts around the world, offering them the chance to discover a different―perhaps darker side―of the medium.
- GenresComicsGraphic NovelsArt
192 pages, Hardcover
First published August 15, 2014
5 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
About the author
John Harris Dunning
17 books12 followersAs an artist
Born in South Africa in 1974, John Dunning has lived in London for the last decade. He has written for The Guardian and Metro newspapers, and has contributed to magazines like Esquire, Arena, iD and Dazed & Confused, to name a few. He also acted as film editor at Sleazenation magazine. Writing comics is Dunning’s main passion. His work appeared at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts as a part of the Comica Festival in 2003, and he has published the ongoing series ‘Salem Brownstone’ with artist Nikhil Singh in award-winning UK anthology Sturgeon White Moss alongside work by Charles Burns, Daniel Johnston and Jason. 2005 saw Dunning collaborating with artist Sacha Mardou on ‘Lolajean Riddle’. Extracts of ‘Salem Brownstone’ were included in the book ‘Pictures and Words’ that also featured work by Marjane Satrapi, Joe Sacco, David Shrigley, Jason and Jim Woodring. Dunning is currently working on comic projects and completing his novel ‘Tales of Hushlawn Creek’.
Born in South Africa in 1974, John Dunning has lived in London for the last decade. He has written for The Guardian and Metro newspapers, and has contributed to magazines like Esquire, Arena, iD and Dazed & Confused, to name a few. He also acted as film editor at Sleazenation magazine. Writing comics is Dunning’s main passion. His work appeared at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts as a part of the Comica Festival in 2003, and he has published the ongoing series ‘Salem Brownstone’ with artist Nikhil Singh in award-winning UK anthology Sturgeon White Moss alongside work by Charles Burns, Daniel Johnston and Jason. 2005 saw Dunning collaborating with artist Sacha Mardou on ‘Lolajean Riddle’. Extracts of ‘Salem Brownstone’ were included in the book ‘Pictures and Words’ that also featured work by Marjane Satrapi, Joe Sacco, David Shrigley, Jason and Jim Woodring. Dunning is currently working on comic projects and completing his novel ‘Tales of Hushlawn Creek’.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 19, 2016
This book is designed as a companion to the British Library exhibition of the same name which sadly has long since been closed. It was one of my great disappointments that I was unable to see it first hand and after reading this book - my regret is even more so
The book however is not a guide but is a true companion - taking subjects discussed in the exhibit and expanding on them, giving a depth and gravity to the subject which i think could be so easily missed. After all the whole thrust of the book is Anarchy in print - in the case here, in the form comics and graphical stories. So like the introduction explains it does not dismiss the American superhero stories just that they are more often than not sanitised and commercialised. Not that such a thing is bad but in this context it has lost its power and its focus.
The book is incredibly well researched referring back to many historical (and for me at least) unknown examples. Which in my eyes shows that many of the topics and approaches we see in comics today are not really that new at all (after all there were serialised stories of Victorian Murders being printed) which equally sensationalised and scandalised the current affairs of the day.
This is a fascinating read and if anything it just goes to prove that comics and graphic novels are just as mature and powerful a media as conventional text
The book however is not a guide but is a true companion - taking subjects discussed in the exhibit and expanding on them, giving a depth and gravity to the subject which i think could be so easily missed. After all the whole thrust of the book is Anarchy in print - in the case here, in the form comics and graphical stories. So like the introduction explains it does not dismiss the American superhero stories just that they are more often than not sanitised and commercialised. Not that such a thing is bad but in this context it has lost its power and its focus.
The book is incredibly well researched referring back to many historical (and for me at least) unknown examples. Which in my eyes shows that many of the topics and approaches we see in comics today are not really that new at all (after all there were serialised stories of Victorian Murders being printed) which equally sensationalised and scandalised the current affairs of the day.
This is a fascinating read and if anything it just goes to prove that comics and graphic novels are just as mature and powerful a media as conventional text
May 18, 2015
This book, the accompanying publication to the exhibition by the British Library of the same name, is an ambitious and sprawling overview of comics and graphic arts in the UK. THe focus is cllearly on the historical content (much of which is likely to be unknown or vaguely known by young readers) with the majority of the remainder speaking to the comics "revolution" of the 60s/70s. Little is said of the modern era, but I don't think that this weakens the presentation at all. Most readers are well-versed in the modern graphic novel sea already, and the subject has kind of been overdone in recent years with Hollywood's appropriation of the genre. This book serves well as one of few to address in depth the early ages of mail-circulated comics, imported American and French publications (both of the superhero and erotic genres), and the legal battles that were fought over censorship in the UK. It relies heavily on illustrations to keep the reader occupied (though the text isn't too dry, for all its academic slant), which is well-played considering the subject. I only wish that I had been able to see the exhibition at the British Library! I guess the book shall have to do!
August 6, 2014
The perfect companion to an excellent exhibition. It was published to accompany the current exhibition at the British Library (which I reviewed here). It is divided into the same topics as the exhibition, in each case providing the information which was in the show as well as providing more in depth research. It is hugely informative and doesn't just re-print the exhibition texts. It connected the dots and added even more context to the pieces highlighted in the exhibition.
This book is perfect for anyone who has seen the show and wants even more info on the topic or anyone with an interest in the history of British comics. One of it's strengths is how it chronicles comics right up to the present day.
This book is perfect for anyone who has seen the show and wants even more info on the topic or anyone with an interest in the history of British comics. One of it's strengths is how it chronicles comics right up to the present day.
August 13, 2016
Written to coincide with the British Library's Comics Unmasked exhibition http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/... this looks at British comics - or comics by British writers and artists - from way back when up to the present, though focusing mainly on the 20th century. It examines how comics are an ideal medium to reflect and perhaps to some degree influence the society of which they are a part, ending with the thought that we could be on the verge of another great age for comics thanks to their adaptability to digital channels. It includes addresses for a handful of the best web comics, which I am now on my way to explore...
October 11, 2015
La cara más rebelde y contestataria de la historieta británica en una investigación contundente, rescatando títulos y autores que eligieron rehuir la esfera más complaciente para exponer, criticar y satirizar los vicios de una sociedad conformista. Un libro para descubrir e investigar por cuenta propia.
February 3, 2015
An excellent companion piece to the exhibition of the same name. Covers a lot of ground with some good thematic points that comics are not just for kids....
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews