George Walker

Seth

Lynd Ward

Frans Masereel

Laurence Hyde

Giacomo Patri

Erich Glas

"If you care about graphic novels, you need this book." -- New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman Graphic Witness features rare wordless novels by five great twentieth century woodcut artists from Europe and North America. The stories they tell reflect the political and social issues of their times as well as the broader issues that are still relevant today. Frans Masereel (1899-1972) was born in Belgium and is considered the father of the wordless graphic novel. Graphic Witness includes the first reprint of his classic work The Passion of a Man since its 1918 publication in Munich. American Lynd Ward (1905-85), author of the provocative Wild Pilgrimage, is considered among the most important of wordless novelists. Giacomo Patri (1898-1978) was born in Italy and lived in the United States. His White Collar featured an introduction by Rockwell Kent and was used a promotional piece by the labor movement. Erich Glas's (1897-1973) haunting wordless novel Leilot, created in 1942, foreshadows the Holocaust, which was not widely known about at the time. Southern Cross by Canadian Laurence Hyde (1914-87) was controversial for its criticism of U.S. H-bomb testing in the South Pacific. Author George A. Walker draws on his expertise as a woodcut artist to provide insight into the tools and techniques used to create these works of art. As well, he examines the importance of the role of artists as witnesses and critics of their times, and the influence of the genre on the emergence of comics and the modern graphic novel. This newly expanded edition of Graphic Witness, which features an afterword by cartoonist Seth, will appeal to readers interested in social issues, printmaking, art history and contemporary culture.

Five Wordless Graphic Novels by Frans Masereel, Lynd Ward, Giacomo Patri, Erich Glas and Laurence Hyde

Graphic Witness

Southern Cross: A Novel of the South Seas is a stunning wordless novel told in 118 wood engravings about the atomic bomb testing performed by the United States in the South Pacific following World War II. This new hardcover edition is a facsimile of the original edition, published in 1951. Laurence Hyde was infuriated with the United States' continued testing in the Bikini Atoll, following the mass destruction and unthinkable horrors resulting from the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Hyde's graphic novel involves a Polynesian island and the islanders' idyllic and secure life that is forever lost after American sailors arrive and evacuate the islanders from their homes. During the evacuation, a fisherman kills a sailor who attempts to rape his wife. The couple flees with their child into the jungle to avoid capture. After the other islanders have evacuated, the Americans detonate an atom bomb on the ocean floor. The island receives the brunt of the bomb's destructive force, which annihilates all flora and fauna. The fisherman and his family are subjected to horrific suffering and pain before dying from the resulting blast and radiation. Southern Cross includes the original introduction by Rockwell Kent and two essays by Hyde in which he provides the idea for his book, a detailed description of the process of wood engraving, and a short history of the woodcut novel. A new introduction is provided by the woodcut novel historian David A. Beronä.

A Novel of the South Seas

Southern Cross

Laurence Hyde

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