EUROPEAN COMICS 185
Mines), and Dr. Henry Jekyll. Th ey would take on antagonists such as Moriarty or Fu
Manchu.
As the comics transitioned into the new millennium, other established spy themed
characters developed, taking on more covert sexual and violent themes. Th e Black
Widow adventures of 1999 became more complex and featured adult-oriented themes
published under the “Marvel Knights” or “MAX” imprints. Th e modern Black Widow
stories would also break away from the Cold War binary and bring more complexity
to the adventure/espionage world of Marvel Comics. Yelena Belova was introduced
as the new Black Widow. A covert assassin rather than a secret agent, Belova served
as an antagonist to Romanova as the two vied for recognition of the “Black Widow”
title, now appointed by the Russian Federation (in a similar way that the United States
owns Captain America). Th e Romanova Black Widow presently takes on the role of
adventurer/hero more than espionage agent.
Other espionage-related successes of the 2000s include Queen & Country from Oni
Press. Th e fi rst installment lasted from 2001 to 2004, while other series continue to
be published from 2006 onward. Written mainly by Greg Rucka (also the writer of
Checkmate), Queen & Country follows exploits of member of MI6, the British Secret
Intelligence Service (SIS). An ongoing narrative was developed around protagonists
operative Tara Chace. Th e series is also heavy on character development, the inner
workings and bureaucracy of the organization, and as the expected espionage genre
adventure and intrigue.
D. R. Hammontree
EUROPEAN COMICS. Visual storytelling by means of static images is an age-long tradi-
tion in Europe, dating back to the appearance of such images on such media as stone
(Trajan’s Column), cloth (the Bayeux Tapestry), wood (narrative paintings), plaster
(frescoes in churches), or parchment (illuminated manuscripts). Th e arrival of the new
Gutenberg printing press made the multiplication of visual sequences (through pop-
ular prints, broadsheets, chapbooks) considerably easier, but on the other hand text
and images got separated because each needed to be printed with a diff erent technique.
It was only thanks to the new printing techniques of the 19th century that artists and
printers no longer had to cope with such resistant materials as wood or metal, or with
the mirroring of their images: they could now draw and write directly on paper and
obtain good reproductions. Th is technical freedom would foster (in the long run) looser
linework and the incorporation of text within the drawings. Also, the number of prints
that could be produced increased to meet the growing demand for news, education,
and entertainment, as the masses became literate. Th e comic strips of that age explored
humor, adventure, and fantasy, and were primarily distributed as popular prints or in-
corporated in the new illustrated magazines (e.g., Le Chat Noir, Blanco y Negro, Comic
Cuts, Illustrated Chips). Book publications of comics (e.g., by Rodolphe Töpff er, from
1833) were still relatively scarce. Itinerant vendors sold millions of popular prints from
such big production centers as Épinal in France (6,800 titles) or Neuruppin in Germany
