Sequential Art

Sequential art (also visual narrative,graphic narrative,pictorial narrative,sequential narrative,sequential pictorial narrative,sequential storytelling,graphic literature, or narrative illustration) is an art form that uses images deployed in sequence for graphic storytelling or to convey information. The best-known example of sequential art is comics, especially comic books and comic strips, which are a printed arrangement of art and speech balloons.

The term is also applied to other media, such as film, animation or storyboards. Scott McCloud notes in Understanding Comics that the movie roll, before it is being projected, arguably could be seen as a very slow comic.

The term "sequential art" was coined in 1985 by comics artist Will Eisner in his book Comics and Sequential Art. Eisner analyzed this form into four elements: design, drawing, caricature, and writing. Scott McCloud, another comics artist, elaborated the explanation further, in his books Understanding Comics and Reinventing Comics.

Sequential art predates comics by millennia. Some of the earliest examples are the cave paintings, Egyptian hieroglyphics and paintings and pre-Columbian American picture manuscripts, which were recurrent media of artistic expression.

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