Drawing Comics The

Comics emerged parallel to, and in several ways intertwined with, the development of modern urban mass societies at the turn of the 20th century. On the one hand, urban topoi, self-portrayals, forms of urban cultural memories, and variant readings of the city (strolling, advertising, architecture, detective stories, mass phenomena, street life, etc.) are all incorporated into comics.

is an award-winning graphic novel and comic series by Christian Gossett set in a sci-fi/fantasy world described by Gossett as "Mythic [Soviet] Russia". As a graphic novel it remains one of the most celebrated of the decade, an epic mythology inspired by the art, folklore and military history of the former Soviet Union. The series is thus an allegory of the former USSR--a post-World War II Soviet Russia mixing technology and sorcery. The 'United Republics of the Red Star', often simply called the 'State' in the comic, are shown to be coterminous with the historical Soviet Union in a map at the beginning of the first issue. The main enemy of the first novels, Al'Istaan, is a stand-in for historical Afghanistan and occupies a similar area on the map. Volume 1 consists of ten comics in a limited series, published by Image Comics from June, 2000 to June 2002. There are actually nine issues with an added Issue #7.5, plus an annual issue. Within the comics world, the books are a hit, and have already amassed an international cult following. For the world of popular art, they represent a very important progression in the way that comic books can be drawn, coloured and produced using a combination of traditional drawing, CG artwork and digital compositing, resulting in a unique, cinematic visual style that many have since tried to emulate but have never equalled. Superior story and incredible artwork.