Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels is the first ever fully documented study to explore the graphic qualities of the comic book, and the development of the genre into a sophisticated and culturally revealing popular art form.

This book traces the history of the comic from early cartoon-like woodcuts through to the graphic strips of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Organized thematically it explores the various genres of the comic book - including humour, adventure, girls' comics, underground and alternative.

The fascinating careers of the creators of the best-known characters - from Superman and Tintin to Tank Girl - are revealed in depth, as are the stories behind the much-loved comics such as Beano and The Incredible Hulk. The most recent artists are also illustrated and discussed, including Harvey Kurtzman (Mad), Chris Donald (Viz), Art Spiegelman (Maus) and Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira).