Editing Sequential art

{{Short description|Sequence of images used for storytelling}}
In [[comics studies]], '''sequential art''' is a term proposed by [[comics artist]] [[Will Eisner]]<ref name=Eis85>[[Will Eisner]], ''[[Comics and Sequential Art]]'', Poorhouse Press, 1990 (1st ed.: 1985), p. 5.</ref> to describe [[art]] forms that use [[image]]s deployed in a specific order for the purpose of '''graphic storytelling'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--><ref name=Eis96>Will Eisner, ''[[Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative]]'', W. W. Norton, 2008 (1st. ed.: Poorhouse Press, 1996), "Introduction: Comics as a Medium".</ref> (i.e., [[narration]] of graphic stories)<ref>The term "graphic stories" is variously used as a synonym for either works of graphic literature (cf. [[Robert C. Harvey]], ''The Art of the Comic Book: An Aesthetic History'', [[University Press of Mississippi]], 1996, p. 109; Robert G. Weiner (ed.), ''Graphic Novels and Comics in Libraries and Archives: Essays on Readers, Research, History and Cataloging'', McFarland, 2010, p. 177) or [[graphic novels]] (cf. Robert S. Petersen, ''Comics, Manga, and Graphic Novels: A History of Graphic Narratives'', ABC-CLIO, 2011, p. 222); here the former meaning is intended.</ref> or conveying information.<ref name=Eis96/> The best-known example of sequential art is [[comics]].<ref>[[Scott McCloud]], ''[[Understanding Comics]]'', Harper Perennial, 1993, p. 5.</ref>[[File:Comic-sketch.jpg|alt=A hand pencils details on a page already largely filled with panels of a comic|thumb|Although separated spatially on the page, the frames of this comic represent (among other transitions) the passage of time.]]

==Etymology==
The term "sequential art" was coined in 1985 by comics artist Will Eisner in his book ''[[Comics and Sequential Art]]''.<ref name=Eis85/> Eisner analyzed this form into four elements: design, drawing, caricature, and writing.<ref name=Eis85/>

[[Scott McCloud]], another comics artist, elaborated the explanation further, in his books ''[[Understanding Comics]]'' (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.<ref>"You might say that ''before'' it's projected, film is just a very very very very ''slow'' comic!"—Scott McCloud as quoted in Michael Cadden, ''Telling Children's Stories: Narrative Theory and Children's Literature'', [[University of Nebraska Press]], 2010, p. 149.</ref>

[[File:Eadweard Muybridge - Athletes. Walking High Leap.jpg|alt=A series of pictures shows various stages in the process of an athlete jumping over a hurdle|thumb|[[Eadweard Muybridge]] was interested in what closely-spaced sequential photography could show about motion; his works blur the line between science and art, although they are not proper comics.]]

Related terms include: '''[[visual narrative]]''',<ref>Will Eisner, ''[[Comics and Sequential Art]]'', Poorhouse Press, 1990, p. 26.</ref> '''graphic narrative''',<ref>Lan Dong (ed.), ''Teaching Comics and Graphic Narratives: Essays on Theory, Strategy and Practice'', McFarland, 2012, p. v.</ref> '''pictorial narrative''',<ref>Neil Cohn (ed.), ''The Visual Narrative Reader'', Bloomsbury, 2016, p. 26.</ref> '''picto-narrative''',<ref>Chris Mautner, "[https://www.tcj.com/our-goal-was-to-create-an-audience-that-wasnt-there-yet-an-interview-with-jessica-abel-and-matt-madden/ An Interview with Jessica Abel and Matt Madden]", ''[[The Comics Journal]]'', July 26, 2012.</ref> '''sequential narrative''',<ref>Hannah Miodrag, ''Comics and Language: Reimagining Critical Discourse on the Form'', University Press of Mississippi, 2013, p. 143.</ref> '''sequential pictorial narrative''',<ref name="AC xxx">Aaron Meskin and Roy T. Cook (eds.), ''The Art of Comics: A Philosophical Approach'', Wiley-Blackwell, 2012, p. xxx.</ref> '''sequential storytelling''',<ref name="Moleti">Carole Ann Moleti, [http://www.irosf.com/q/zine/article/10423 "Graphic Literature: A Blend of Genre, Medium, and Form: An International Survey of Graphic Literature"], ''The Internet Review of Science Fiction'', June 2008.</ref><ref>Durwin S. Talon, ''Panel Discussions: Design in Sequential Art Storytelling'', TwoMorrows Publishing, 2007, p. 102.</ref> '''graphic fiction''',<ref>Ivan Brunetti, ''An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, & True Stories'', Vol. 1, Yale University Press, 2006.</ref> '''graphic literature''',<ref>A term first coined in Italian by [[Hugo Pratt]] as ''{{lang|it|letteratura disegnata}}'' (see Gianni Brunoro, ''Corto come un romanzo nuovo. Illazioni su Corto Maltese ultimo eroe romantico'', 2nd ed., Milan: Lizard, 2008, p. 225).</ref><ref name="Moleti"/><ref>Andrew D. Arnold, [http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,547796,00.html "A Graphic Literature Library"], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', Nov. 21, 2003.</ref><ref>J. J. Llorence, [http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1305&context=mcnair "Exploring Graphic Literature as a Genre and its Place in Academic Curricula"], ''McNair Scholars Journal'' '''15'''(1), 2011.</ref> '''pictorial literature''',<ref>Paul Young, ''Frank Miller's Daredevil and the Ends of Heroism'', Rutgers University Press, 2016, p. 253 n. 7.</ref> '''sequential literature''',<ref>Keith Dallas, ''American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1980s'', TwoMorrows Publishing, 2013, p. 117.</ref> and '''narrative illustration'''.<ref>Shane McCausland and Yin Hwang (eds.), ''On Telling Images of China: Essays in Narrative Painting and Visual Culture'', [[Hong Kong University Press]], 2013, p. 23 n. 12.</ref> The related term '''sequential sculpture''' has also been used.<ref>Cf. Elaine H. Kim and Chungmoo Choi (eds.), ''Dangerous Women: Gender and Korean Nationalism'', Routledge, 2012, p. 6: "[Yong Soon] Min's ... visual essay, "Mother Load", features the ''[[bojagi]]'' wrapping cloth... The first two parts of this sequential sculpture refer to the past and present of ... Korea."</ref>

==See also==
* [[Bayeux Tapestry]]
* ''[[Biblia pauperum]]''
* [[Glossary of comics terminology]]
* [[Multiliteracy]]
* [[Photo comics]] and [[photo-romance]]
* [[Sequart Organization]]
* [[Sequence (filmmaking)]]
* [[Trajan's Column]]
* [[Visual literacy]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sequential Art}}
[[Category:Comics terminology]]
[[Category:Visual arts]]