Peterson’s History of Graphic Narratives Published in Persian

‘Comics, Manga, and Graphic Novels: A History of Graphic Narratives,’ an exploratory book on the origins of comics and graphic novels, has been translated into Persian by Mehrdad Garousi.

The Persian translation is published by the Scientific and Cultural Publications, based in Tehran, and funded by animation producer Seyyed Masoud Safavi, 43, who has produced the Shekarestan animation series which are among his notable projects.

The newly published work was unveiled in Tehran on Monday, (Dec. 19) in the presence of both the translator and the producer, Mehr News Agency reported.

The book was written by Robert S. Peterson, associate professor of Art History at Eastern Illinois University in the US and first published in November 2010. An introduction to the book says, “Too often the popularity and subject matter of ‘comic books’ is perceived as a purely modern American phenomenon that only arrived in the 20th century and is virtually nonexistent outside the US. This is certainly untrue; in fact, the world’s first costumed superhero ‘Golden Bat’ appeared in Japan in 1931, seven years before Superman was created.”

Graphic narrative art emerged centuries ago with the expansion of literacy and the publication industry. The earliest example of a repeating comic character dates back to the late 1700s.

By following the growth of print technology in Europe and Asia, it is possible to understand how and why artists across cultures developed different strategies for telling stories with pictures.

The book includes works of English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic, and editorial cartoonist William Hogarth (1697-1764) who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. It also features a chapter on the latest developments in digital comics.

Peterson’s published works include essays on the role of sound in Japanese manga (a style of comic books and graphic novels), traditional dramatic art of Java and India, and the evolution of the speech bubble in British satirical prints from the 16th to the 17th century.