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Did Scotland Invent The Comic Book?

Published Sun, 20 Feb 2011 07:24:45 -0600

Last updated Mon, 16 Jun 2025 06:15:36 -0500

An upcoming BBC Scotland documentary, Scotland's Amazing Comic Book Heroes by AKA Comics shop owner John McShane, makes the claim regarding the publication of The Glasgow Looking Glass, published in that Scottish city in 1825, running fortnightly for a year. And the reason?

Not only did the The Looking Glass, founded by John Watson, pioneer the use of "To Be Continued" – the sign of a comic strip according to experts – it also introduced "word balloons" to the literary canon.

While the likes of Our House In Town (below) is multi-panel, it couldn't take the mental link to continue a story panel, to panel, instead it portrays a house over a number of panels. A trick which the likes of Will Eisner, Alan Moore and Rick Veitch would revisit, but it doesn't take the jump to realise that a different panel could show the same space at a different time. Taking that mental step would be what was necessary to create the first comic narrative. This, however, was bloody close.

Did Scotland Invent The Comic Book? — Our House In Town, The Glasgow Looking Glass

It's frustrating that this publication had all the elements necessary to make a comic book narrative, all in place for the first time, but separately, never quite used together. It's more the Missing Link rather than the Origin Of Comics itself.

But with Scotand so influential in the comics form, from the likes of Oor Wullie, The Broons, The Beano, Dennis The Menace, Dandy and the likes of Alan Grant, John Wagner, Mark Millar, Grant Morrison, Gary Erskine and Frank Quitely, it's good to know there's something in the blood.

(Via The Scotsman)

Scotland's Amazing Comic Book Heroes airs on BBC Two, 11th of July, 2011
Scottish writers Mark Millar, Grant Morrison and Alan Grant are three of the biggest names in the world of comics. Between them they have created adventures for Batman, Superman, Judge Dredd and The X Men, and the plots of films such as Wanted and Kick Ass. ArtWorks Scotland tells the story of how Scots took over these American icons and also uncovers the world's first comic strip in Glasgow's Mitchell Library.

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