Comics Unmasked Art and Anarchy in the UK

It’s simple—comics are fun. Whether fifteen or fifty, we love sitting down with a comic book, losing ourselves in a universe filled with wonder and excitement. But comics offer much more than meets the eye, and in Comics Unmasked, Paul Gravett and John Harris Dunning look beyond the notion of comics as pleasure reading to focus on their inherently anarchic nature. Gravett and Dunning have combed the British Library’s extensive comic collection not only to explore the full potential of the medium but also to single out the critical points in history in which the art form challenged the status quo. Featuring newly discovered Victorian comics alongside some of the biggest names in comics today, including Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta), Neil Gaiman (Sandman), Mark Millar (Kick-Ass), and Grant Morrison (Batman: Arkham Asylum), Comics Unmasked explores the political and social issues raised by British comics and their creators over the last century, from violence and drugs to class and sexuality. Published to accompany a British Library exhibition that will be the United Kingdom’s largest exhibit of British comics to date, Comics Unmasked will delight comics enthusiasts around the world, offering them the chance to discover a different—perhaps darker side—of the medium.