Shrink Wrapped

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The lowly comic strip has its roots all the way back in early Egyptian times, with heiroglyphics, stories told in images and symbols and meant to be read in a certain order. Examples of sequential art can be found throughout history. The epic tales winding their way around ancient stone columns come to mind, There's William Hogarth's The Rake's Progress from the 18th century, and The Tortures of Erasmus from much earlier, around 1460. Well before that the 239 foot long Bayeux Tapestry chronicled the Norman Conquests beginning in 1066. In 1519 Cortes discovered in Mexico a 36 foot long brightly colored pre-Columbian folding screen that told of the exploits of a great military and political hero. Modern comics had their beginning in the mid-19th century, with the light-hearted satirical tales created by Rudolphe Topffer in Germany. It was the first time cartoon images were separated by panel borders and utilized the interdependence of words and pictures. Lest one think I'm attempting to assign lofty significance to my own incursions into the medium, I offer the words of Goethe, who said about Topffer: "If for the future he would choose a less frivolous subject and restrict himself a little, he would produce things beyond all conception."