Comic Book History of Animation 3 Featured Columns 

Don’t Miss This: “The Comic Book History of Animation” by Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey

By | February 10th, 2021
Posted in Columns | % Comments

There are a lot of comics out there, but some just stand out head and shoulders above the pack. With “Don’t Miss This” we want to spotlight those series we think need to be on your pull list. This week, we look at the blood, sweat, and tears that took animation from gag to multi-billion dollar industry in “The Comic Book History of Animation” from IDW Publishing.

Who Is This By?

“The Comic Book History of Animation” is exhaustively researched and written by Fred Van Lente, illustrated and lettered by Ryan Dunlavey, and colored by Adam Guzowski. For a book this information dense, it is equally important to credit its editor Riley Farmer, supervising editor Tom Waltz, and design assistant Amauri Osorio.

What’s It All About?

Van Lente and Dunlavey have carved out a niche for themselves in comics, taking history and turning it into surprisingly enjoyable comics. This is not a knock on non-fiction comics, but the work that Dunlavey and Van Lente do transcends some of the drier attempts to tell similar stories. Their “Action Philosophers,” “Action Presidents,” “Action Activists,” and (the absolutely invaluable to anyone reading this website) “The Comic Book History of Comics” are all fantastic reference books that don’t scrimp on the information, but present it in ways that encourage a reading experience more akin to a standard comic than an encyclopedia.

Specifically, “The Comic Book History of Animation” takes a look at the people and processes behind animation, from ‘chalk-talking’ gag films from Thomas Edison’s studio through modern day. Each of the three already released issues focus on a different era of animation, from its earliest days in the first issue, the rise of Walt Disney in the second, and the opening up of animation styles in the third. These issues don’t always focus solely on the work, but the people as well, so you get a lot of insight into who the folks behind these works are as well. They also highlight ‘animation’ innovations that may not immediately register as animation at all, like the ‘follow the bouncing ball’ singalong tool.

What Makes It So Great?

The sheer amount of information that Van Lente and Dunlavey pack into each page is staggering. Dunlavey is one of the great mimics of all time, copping Felix the Cat or Bugs Bunny in ways that it would be impossible not to recognize, but never losing his own style at the heart of it. Animation is, my design, a fluid medium, and Dunlavey manages to keep the illusion of movement in his static work, giving the reader a real sense of the innovations afforded animators without having many of those luxuries himself. Dunlavey often gives people the traits of their creations, such as portraying Walt Disney in Mickey attire, or making the Fleischer brothers horned up wolves like the creatures that would pursue Betty Boop. These little touches both lighten the mood of the book and also makes it feel less like a textbook.

Van Lente’s scripts are just as dense, but never come off like tomes or preachy lessons. Van Lente is able to take a long enough view of this that he is able to present people honestly, without taking a side or deifying or demonizing any one person. Sure, Walt Disney is exposed as, among other things, a paranoid, vindictive, self-interested ass, but he’s also shown doing amazing work and innovating at an astounding rate. Almost no one, save maybe Ub Iwerks, comes out of this smelling like roses. Van Lente’s touch is so light that it is rare to see his bias bleeding through on the page, though there are certainly good guys and bad guys present; they are just less clear cut than you’d see in a Disney film.

There is also a fair amount of politics involved in this story. Not in terms of stumping for particular current ideologies, but in the form of labor vs management issues, the exploitation of cheap labor, and the House Committee on Un-American Activities hearings. It’s a great reminder that, even as people make entertainment that broadcasts messages of inclusion and unity, business is a dirty thing and often compromises great ideas into dollars and cents.

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Animation is something that is so pervasive in our society that it can be easily forgotten just how magical it really is. Commercials and children’s television are often full of cartoons, and so you still see many people dismiss animation as ‘less serious’ of an art form than live action films. And while, yes, due to the unrestricted reality of animation, you can do things that make children’s entertainment easier/cheaper than special effects, it should come as no surprise that animation is capable of everything live action is, from an emotional place. Van Lente and Dunlavey don’t dumb anything down or imply for a second that what these animators were doing is anything short of high art, and their love for the medium bleeds through on every page.

How Can You Read It?

The first three, of five, issues are already available, via your local comic shop or comiXology. Issue four is due on March 3, with the final issue on March 31, from IDW Publishing. You can find more of Van Lente and Dunlavey’s comics on their respective websites.


//TAGS | Don't Miss This

Brian Salvatore

Brian Salvatore is an editor, podcaster, reviewer, writer at large, and general task master at Multiversity. When not writing, he can be found playing music, hanging out with his kids, or playing music with his kids. He also has a dog named Lola, a rowboat, and once met Jimmy Carter. Feel free to email him about good beer, the New York Mets, or the best way to make Chicken Parmagiana (add a thin slice of prosciutto under the cheese).

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