This collection provides the complete history of the graphic novel, including detailed analyses of its origins, rise and success.

1. Introduction Jan Baetens, Hugo Frey and Stephen E. Tabachnick; Part I: 2. The origins of adult graphic narratives: graphic literature and the novel, from Laurence Sterne to Gustave Doré (1760-1851) Denis Mellier; 3. Long-length serials in the Golden Age of comic strips: production and reception Daniel Stein and Lukas Etter; 4. Long length wordless books: Frans Masereel, Milt Gross, Lynd Ward, and beyond Barbara Postema; 5. The postwar 'drawn novel' Jan Baetens; 6. Harvey Kurtzman and the influence of Mad magazine Dan Byrne-Smith; 7. When realism met romance: the negative zone of Marvel's Silver Age Christopher Pizzino; 8. Beat-era literature and the graphic novel Hugo Frey; 9. Henry Darger, comics and the graphic novel: contexts and appropriations Gavin Parkinson; 10. Underground comix and the invention of autobiography, history and reportage Jean-Paul Gabilliet; 11. Jules Feiffer - creative and intellectual ally of the graphic novel (and of other critical/editorial voices) Paul Williams; Part II: 12. Will Eisner and the making of a contract with God Michael A. Chaney; 13. Art Spiegelman's autobiographical practice from Maus to MetaMaus Erin McGlothlin; 14. Alan Moore: the making of a graphic novelist Christopher Murray; 15. No future: punk and the underground graphic novel Benjamin Noys; 16. European literary and genre fiction: the (À Suivre) magazine and the 'adventure' and 'science fiction' traditions (Pratt, Tardi, Moebius) Fabrice Leroy; 17. 'A word to you feminist women': the parallel legacies of feminism and underground comics Susan Kirtley; 18. The secret origins of LBGTQ graphic novels Justin Hall; 19. US creators of color and the post-underground graphic narrative renaissance Frederick Luis Aldama; 20. The influence of Manga on the graphic novel Simon Grennan; 21. Sandman, the ephemeral, and the permanent Joe Sutliff Sanders; 22. 'To elevate every experience into something artistic and exciting': Daniel Clowes's Ghost World Ken Parille; 23. From an informed fan culture to an academic field Randy Duncan and Matthew J. Smith; Part III. 24. Joe Sacco, graphic novelist as political journalist Ann Miller; 25. The discovery of Marjane Satrapi and the translation of works from and about the Middle East Chris Reyns and Houssem Lazreg; 26. Chris Oliveros, drawn and quarterly, and the expanded definition of the graphic novel Bart Beaty; 27. The Jewish graphic novel Stephen E. Tabachnick; 28. Crime genre fiction in the graphic novel Andrew J. Kunka; 29. Genre fiction in the graphic novel: the case of science fiction Karin Kukkonen; 30. The superhero graphic novel Darren Harris-Fain; 31. Reinvention of the form: Chris Ware and experimentalism after Raw Martha Kuhlman; 32. Convergence cultures: modern and contemporary poetry and the graphic novel Daniel Morris; 33. Cinema's discovery of the graphic novel: mainstream and independent adaptation Matthew P. McAllister and Stephanie Orme; 34. The novel and the graphic novel Brannon Costello; 35. E-graphic novels Benoît Crucifix and Björn-Olav Dozo; 36. World literature David M. Ball; Bibliography; Index.