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ARCHIVED - History of Comic Books in English Canada In book and
periodical illustration, art enhances what is predominantly a
textual narrative. The comics medium, in contrast, combines
words and pictures (usually in sequential panels) to create a
unique form of storytelling: graphic narrative. The noted
Canadian artist Harold Town, who contributed to comics during
his youth in the 1940s, says that this hybrid art form
represents the "ultimate form of communication."1 Certainly for
most of the 20th century, comics proved to be an immensely
popular medium. In the best comics, text is used with great,
almost poetic, economy. Much of the story is told