JB

Punk poet. Noisemaker. Grandpa.

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A History of Poetry Comics

Summer Reading Book Reviews

Poetry comics continue to be a way of illuminating thoughts, adding context to text (if that isn’t redundant), and helping the reader make that leap from what is said to what is possible. Here are three poet-artists I read this summer that continue to make things new.

Cover of Puddles by Tomas Cisternas (Bored Wolves, 2024) Puddles by Tomas Cisternas (Bored Wolves, 2024). Translated from the original Spanish, these comics by Tomas Cisternas perfectly illuminate his often spare text that focuses on nature, solitude and solace, and being human in the natural world. The work is black-and-white with a simplicity of line that matches the sentiment of the work (totally my sensibility).  If you don’t want to call them poetry comics then call them poetic comics.

Along with diary comics of walks, which are often multi-page, the single page comics are particularly poetic. In one panel he writes: “Throughout my life I have wasted time magnificently.” Indeed

Here’s one of my favorite comics from this collection (it was hard to pick just one) that speaks to the poetry in Cisternas’s work. He adeptly uses the last frame as a “silent” panel (i.e. a picture that doesn’t need words) that puncuates the poem perfectly.

From Puddles by Tomas Cisternas (Bored Wolves, 2024)

Shout out to Bored Wolves for the translation and making Cisternas work available in English. It’s a beautiful production. Check out the other works the Krakow-based press offers, many of which combine words and pictures.

Cover to Metamorphic Door by Carolyn Supinka (Buckman Publishing, 2024) Metamorphic Door by Carolyn Supinka (Buckman Publishing, 2024) Wild poetry comics are sandwiched between equally wild poems (some illuminated) in Metamorphic Door by Portland poet-artist Carolyn Supinka. In one poetry comic, she writes: “The question / of / who am I / if I’m not / constantly / creating / something.” It’s a question she keeps answering throughout the collection with both words and pictures.

The six poetry comics included here span from two to 10 pages of one-panel or two-panels each. Each panel is multi-layered, drawings of objects that morph intertwined and interrelated, and can disappear totally at times. The text too can’t be contained by the panel. Instead it hovers above, intertwines, and fills empty spaces as it spills down the page. (See AHOPC #12 to compare how bpNichol exploded the frame of the panel in his poetry comics.)

Here’s a representative page from Supinka’s “Earth Tide” that illustrates her style: 

Panel from poetry comic "Earth Tide" by Carolyn Supinka
From “Earth Tide” in Metamorphic Door by Carolyn Supinka (Buckman Publishing, 2024)

Her poetry is more experimental than it may first appear, which perfectly matches her illustrations/illuminations. There are poems that ignore the gutter and spill across the spread; and poems that are literary photo-negatives of each other. The Index is a work of art as well!

BTW I came across Supinka’s collection while browsing the poetry stacks at Powell’s City of Books on Burnside in downtown Portland. Browsing at Powell’s is one of my favorite things to do!

Cover of THE TEST #50 by Blaise Moritz (Urban Farm Print and Sound, 2023) THE TEST #50: In Prasie of Shogun Warriors by Blaise Moritz (Urban Farm Print and Sound, 2023)

East Toronto artist Blaise Moritz creates poetry comics that are engaging, explosive, and original. He has published two books of poetry (without pictures) in addition to his monthly comic book, THE TEST, and graphic novels, including his latest Bar Delicious (Conundrum Press, 2023). Call Moritz a poet-artist or an artist-poet — either way he smartly uses words and pictures to illuminate and expand context.

His piece “In Praise of Shogun Warriors” in THE TEST #50 (Urban Farm Print and Sound, 2023) features linked haiku stanzas (from 2015) that Moritz illustrated in 2023 with Gundam-inspired robots remembered from his childhood (including Shogun Warriors fan art he made when he was 8 or 9 years old). Japanese haiku (three lines of 5-7-5 syllables) aptly fit this subject matter; it’s perfectly played. Here’s a sample from the 16-page poetry comic:

Other examples of his poetry comics can be found online by following Moritz on Instagram. Some of his single-panel poetry comics are reminiscent of Kenneth Patchen’s picture poems. He also makes music as The New Birds of America (underscoring the poet-artist drive to build additional context for when we’re asked, “What does it mean?”)

Thanks to David Lasky for recommending Blaise and sharing his THE TEST comics with me.

Timeline: Current

Warning: This incomplete history maps my journey as a poet learning about comics and doesn’t follow a strict chronological order. 

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A History of Poetry Comics

Rise in comics paralleled experimental poetry

It’s notable that concurrent with the rise in popularity and proliferation of comics in the years between about 1870 and 1920 poetry was becoming more experiemental. Possibilities for poetry were opening up, starting with how the page and text could be used to add context and illuminate meaning.

Two early (perhaps the first modern?) examples of poets experimenting with page and type are both French: Stephane Mallarme (1842-1892) and Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918).

Mallarme created poems that broke the constraints of the line and the page. His late poems would run down the page, across the gutter, and even page to page. Considered a Symbolist master in France in the 1890s, Mallarme created poems toward the end of his life that were concerned with meaning and how text placement, type face, and font size could convey meaning — or at least provide graphical clues to meaning.

Here’s a two-page spread from Mallarme’s “Throw of the Dice” (1897) that illustrates the poet’s breaking with expected norms of poetry and creating what he said had “the look of a constellation.”

From “A Throw of the Dice” by Mallarme as reproduced in Speaking Pictures (Harmony Books, 1975)

Apollinaire, who was influenced by the Symbolist and the more ancient pattern poetry, created poems that built on the use of the page as a canvas (as a painter would use). His calligrams left behind the linear (as in lines) of poetry, opting instead for creating meaning through graphic display of the text. He also created poems in own handwriting, which are closest to poetry comics.

Here’s an example from Apollinaire’s Calligrammes:

“It’s Raining” by Apollinaire; translated by Anne Hyde Greet in Calligrammes (University of California Press, 1980)

As a footnote, experimental poetry based on text and space became fertile ground first for concrete poetry which in turn was a forerunner of visual poetry (vispo) which continues today. See A History of Poetry Comics #10 https://punkpoet.net/2023/02/17/a-history-of-poetry-comics-10/

And BTW, in 1958 artist-poet Brion Gysin who added cut-up and collage to the poet’s toolkit, said “Writing is 50 years behind painting.” Perhaps.

Timeline: Pre-history (1897 & 1912-1913)

Warning: This incomplete history maps my journey as a poet learning about comics and doesn’t follow a strict chronological order.

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A History of Poetry Comics

More Book Reviews

The more I look, the more I find! Here are some books of poetry comics worth checking out. (They’re in descending order of publishing date.)


Poetry Comics by Grant Snider (Chronicle Books, 2024). Fun introduction to poetry comics for a YA audience, Grant’s colorful comics provide both inspiration (e.g., “Becoming” and “A Moment”) and instruction (e.g., “How to Write a Poem” series) for budding poets and their teachers. Organized by season, the shorter poems especially feel like haiku, and in fact there are haiku comics included. More of his work can be seen on Instagram @grantdraws.


Lucky 13 + Summer Haiku by David Lasky (DIY, 2023). My teacher and friend David Lasky continues to be an inventive creator of poetry comics and haiku comics. As he says in his “Mix Tape” comic in “Lucky 13:” Every good teacher is also a student. Indeed. His 2023 DIY zines are both filled with poetic moments seamlessly integrated into his accompanying art. His collection of 12 haiku comics in “Summer Haiku” shows his increasingly deep (deep in the sincereset sense) understanding of haiku. He’s an artist-poet who’s fast becoming a poet-artist! Check his Etsy site for availability–his zines always go fast!


Cloud on a Mountain – Comics Poems from Greylock by Franklin Einspruch (New Modern Press, 2018). Franklin Einspruch has a painterly approach to poetry comics. His art is dense and deeply colored. The haiku-like poems are hand-lettered and often fully incorporated into the artwork. The poems in “Cloud on a Mountain” (currently out of print, with the promise of a second edition) each spill across two panels, creating space and giving time for the meaning to form and land. See his art and poetry at https://franklin.art.


unfinished … 3 poems by Tom Neely (DIY, 2017). Man, these are heart-wrenching poetry comics about the loss of a friend. Tom Neely brings his comic artistry, a very punk, comix-influenced style, to tackle this painful experence — taking three years to complete and another four years before publishing it. Each page is a single panel, with the last poem fading over several pages to an empty panel that becomes a poignant eulogy to “an unfinished life…” See more of Tom’s work on Instagram @iwilldestroytom


The Door Opens and Out Comes In by Sutter Marin (Underlying Press, 1979). Not sure these qualify as poetry comics, perhaps definitely in kindred spirit with picture poems. Many of the 113 poems by Sutter Marin in this collection are illustrated with diagrams, simple figures – human and otherwise – and/or animated everyday objects. Humor abounds. Sutter was an atist (he died in 1985) associated with the North Beach Beats and notably illuminated poetry by Beat poet ruth weiss.

Happy Poetry Month!

Timeline: 1979-2024 (but new to me!)

Warning: This incomplete history maps my journey as a poet learning about comics and doesn’t follow a strict chronological order.

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Curated by David Lasky and J.B., this exhibition features 22 poet-artists with 69 haiku comics.

Artist statement

“A Whistling Kettle: An Exhibition of Haiku Comics,” that I co-curated with David Lasky, provokes a mixed bag of feelings. It’s like when I heard the punk band Ramones broadcast on radio for the first time. And when I saw 1970s street art and graffiti were taken inside to be exhibited and sold in art galleries (RIP Keith Haring). And when I discovered I wasn’t the only angst-riddled teenager that read MAD magazine (thanks to my dentist’s office).

It’s feelings of disbelief that the things I identified with were now being mass marketed. Disappointment at losing another counter-culture fixture to the mainstream. But also pride that things I admire and worship were deemed worthy and valuable. In the end, this validation increased my hip credentials — I knew about an art movement, a music scene, a zine before a lot of others caught on.

We are all students and explorers. The haiku comics here are the direct result of classes taught by Lasky, a comics artist learning about haiku. I’m seeing first-hand, as a poet learning about comics (and trying some myself), the transformative power that pictures and words have together. (See the note on “Illumination” in A History of Poetry Comics #05, part of my attempt to define poetry comics.) I believe the best poetry comics create a third meaning that words or pictures can’t do on their own.

This show collects works that transcend what’s hung on the gallery wall. There are underscores and counterpoints. There are kireji (the “cut” in Japanese haiku) and kigo (the season word in Japanese haiku). There’s context, witnessing, confessions. There’s complexity and simplicity sometimes in the same work. And there’s illumination — that “third meaning” that happens when your mind jumps beyond the words and pictures.

For me, this show is validation of the exploration we poet-artists have been doing on the fringes of both comics and poetry. It expands the audience for our work. And it makes us feel (perhaps) a little less like outsiders.

Enjoy the hip credentials!

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A History of Poetry Comics

here’s the first use of term ‘poetry comics’

The first use of the term “poetry comics” was quite literal. In 1979 poet Dave Morice created “Poetry Comics,” a 22-page comic book of comic-ized poems from the (then) English canon. He drew comics that illustrated poems by Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath, Walt Whitman, Allen Ginsberg and others we elders know from high school English class. Each poem got a different treatment, covering many comics styles, that uniquely illuminated that particular poem.

Morice created 17 comic books of poetry comics between 1979 and 1982, which he photocopied and mailed to other poets. His poetry comics werre collected in “Poetry Comics: A Cartooniverse of Poems” (Simon and Schuster, 1985). The same year, he published “How to Make Poetry Comics (Teachers & Writers, 1985), a guide for teachers.

At the time, a review by Bruce Brooks professed: “By the time Ebenezer Cooke was snapping off wry hudibrastics in the early 1700s, the Greek had been chuckling over Aristophanes for twenty-one centuries. But now America has initiated another tradition equally amusing, if not equally honorabler: poetry comics.”

In an essay “Poetry Comics: Taking Poems Out of Church” for Teachers and Writers magazine in 2008, Morice tells about the birth of his poetry comics:

One autumn night in 1977, I went over to the apartment of a friend who was in the Iowa Writers Workshop. She had hundreds of poems stuffed into twelve black binders on her writing desk and I had about as many of those same binders filled with poetry at home, so what else could we begin the evening with but a discussion of poetry? At one point she said in a serious tone, “Great poems should paint pictures in the mind.” And I said, partly to tease her, “Great poems would make great cartoons.” After a short pause, she smiled and said, “Hey, you know you’re right. You should draw some.”

Here’s one example of Morice’s poetry comics:

from Poetry Comics: A Cartooniverse of Poems by Dave Morice (Simon and Schuster, 1985)

Timeline: 1979 – so far, first documented use of the term “poetry comics”

Warning: This incomplete history maps my journey as a poet learning about comics and doesn’t follow a strict chronological order.

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A History of Poetry Comics

first-known, published haiku comic!

Among the many genres of poetry, haiku (the short poem that originated in Japan) is well suited to comics. Generally (and perhaps stereotypically), haiku speak to one moment, use just a few words to communicate an idea, and often make a (meta) leap between lines (or after grammatical marker). These traits lend themselves to techniques often used in comics — short dialogue (often contained in speech bubbles), a shift between panels (a different perspective or point of view, for example), and the punchline (prevalent in daily comic strips).

Definitely one of the earliest haiku comics was by Seth, the Canadian cartoonist known for his series Palookaville. He used a well-known comic strip character to recite a haiku by the Japanese master Bashō, expressing it in the popular four-panel strip format:

by Seth, published in Drawn and Quarterly, Vol. 2, Issue 4 (1995)

Comics artist and poet David Lasky, who creates and teaches haiku comics as part of his repertoire, suggests this is probably the first haiku comic, writing:

My first experience of a haiku comic was probably Seth’s short comic of Linus, from ‘Peanuts,’ illegally but respectfully reciting a poem by Bashō in four panels. The poem appeared as a ‘topper’ above Seth’s one-page comic, ‘Good Grief,’ in the Drawn and Quarterly anthology, Volume 2, Issue 4, in 1995. When I first saw that tiny, fake ‘Peanuts’ strip, a small electrical charge went off in my brain and I knew I needed to learn who this Bashō person was.

Source: David Lasky in his Introduction to Less Desolate by Shin Yu Pai and Justin Rueff

In a 2006 interview with Marc Ngui in Carousel 19, Seth says :

“I have felt, for some time, a connection between comics and poetry. It’s an obvious connection to anyone who has ever sat down and tried to write a comic strip. I think the idea first occurred to me way back in the late 80’s when I was studying Charles Schulz’s Peanuts strips. It seemed so clear that his four-panel setup was just like reading a haiku; it had a specific rhythm to how he set up the panels and the dialogue. Three beats: doot doot doot— followed by an infinitesimal pause, and then the final beat: doot. Anyone can recognize this when reading a Peanuts strip. These strips have that sameness of rhythm that haikus have— the haikus mostly ending with a nature reference separated off in the final line.

Source:  “Poetry, Design and Comics: An Interview with Seth” by Marc Ngui in Carousel 19 (Spring-Summer 2006) [archived PDF]

Accompanying that interview was this example by Seth:

*Full disclosure: My teacher and friend David Lasky continues to be instrumental in shaping this “A History of Poetry Comics” blog with tips, insights, and suggestions. In this case, his research has led to Seth as the creator of the first haiku comic. This poet hasn’t found any earler examples of haiku comics. So be it.

Timeline: 1995 (the first haiku comic)

Warning: This incomplete history maps my journey as a poet learning about comics and doesn’t follow a strict chronological order.

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A History of Poetry Comics

book reviewS – recent collaborations

Collaboration has a long history in American comics. Until the underground comix movement in the 1960s and 1970s, a team of writers and illustrators was the norm (the team also often included support from an editor, penciler, inker, colorist, and letterer). Perhaps the most (in)famous duo is Stan Lee (writer/editor) and Jack Kirby (comics artist) and their work at Marvel Comics. The tradition continues today but with a more equitable and transparent sharing of credit.

Collaborations between poets and artists have shown up in poetry comics since at least the early 1960s. Just three examples: Poet/artist Joe Brainard creating comics collaborations (often featuring Nancy) with poets Ted Berrigan and Ron Padgett (see History of Poetry Comics #08). KAPOW! zine pairing spokenword poets with cartoonist in the late 1990s (see History of Poetry Comics #16.) And poetry comics creator Bianca Stone illustrating Anne Carson’s translation of Antigonick by Sophokles in 2012 (see History of Poetry Comics #04.)

Here are two recent noteworthy collaborations between poet and comics artist.

THE STONEWARE JUG

The Stoneware Jug by Stefan Lorenzutti (words) and John Porcellino (pictures) (Nieves, Bored Wolves, and Spit and a Half, 2022). In this collection of poems illustrated with 1- to 6-panel, 1-page comics, Stefan Lorenzutti provides simple, direct poems about being cold, the end of winter, and memories of (seemingly) empty places. Titles include “The Iceberg,” “When I Lived in Krakow,” and “On a Night of Cruel Frost.” The 13 poems in the collection are perfectly illuminated by John Porcellino in the simple, direct line drawings that he’s known for. Here’s the title poem from the collection:

from The Stoneware Jug by Stefan Lorenzutti and John Porcellino.

LESS DESOLATE

Less Desolate by Shin Yu Pai (haiku) and Justin Rueff (illustrator) (Blue Cactus Press, 2023). Poet/artist/podcaster Shin Yu Pai collects haiku she wrote during the pandemic, including the concurrent social unrest and her personal search for being present. Her haiku flow from rituals to yoga, from social distancing to social justice, and from being at home to being part of a wider community and world. The haiku are minimal yet pack a lot of meaning in a few words (12 words or fewer in most cases). Justin Rueff provides comics-inspired illustrations ranging fron 1 to 4 frames for the 1-page haiku comics, giving us just the right amount of context — and occasionally a touch of color. Here’s the title haiku comic from the collection:

from Less Desolate by Shin Yu Pai and Justin Rueff

Timeline: Current (2022-2023)

Warning: This incomplete history maps my journey as a poet learning about comics and doesn’t follow a strict chronological order.

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A History of Poetry Comics

the haiku comics of matt madden

Comics artist Matt Madden, known for his  99 Ways to Tell a Story (Penguin, 2005), has created haiku comics that capture the simplicity of both pictures and words.

His use of color perfectly underscores the haiku and illuminates it in a way that adds to its meaning. He mostly uses thirds for his layout which aligns with the 3-linw break of what’s become English-language haiku style. While the image may follow the three-lines “rule” his text breaks into smaller lines (while maintaning the 5-7-5 syllable count across the lines).

In the examples below, he foregoes frames, using white space and color to beautifully define the haiku count.

There’s so much to admire about these – their simplicity foremost. Also, they’re unique in their approach. (For compare/contrast, see the haiku comics of Susanne Reece, featured in AHOPC #11.) The implied panels as the haiku moves down the page work really well. They’re humorous and current. And they’re a direct reflection of the poet’s mind. For me, they’re the perfect examples of what poetry comics can and should do.

Timeline: Current  

Warning: This incomplete history maps my journey as a poet learning about comics and doesn’t follow a strict chronological order.

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A History of Poetry Comics

musings on words + pictures by R.H. Blyth

Here’s some found text that provides additional thoughts on words and pictures from R.H. Blyth in the classic Haiku Vol. 1 Eastern Culture published in 1949.

Although Blyth is discussing painting and poetry in context in terms of Japanese haiga – brush paintings that illuminate a poem, often times a haiku (first discussed in AHOPC #03) – I think it’s relevant to poetry comics. His comments support my belief that drawing and writing together can illuminate and transcend what they can’t always accomplish singularly. (See also “What are poetry comics” in AHOPC #05.)

Haiku Volume 1 Eastern Culture by R.H. Blyth (Hokuseido, 1959)

The qualities of haiga are rather vague and negative. The lines and masses are reduced to a minimum. The subjects are usually small things, or large things seen in a small way. The simplicity of the mind of the artist is perceived in the simplicity of the object. Technical skill is rather avoided, and the picture gives an impression of a certain awkwardness of treatment that reveals the inner meaning of the thing painted.

pp. 89-90

Applied to poetry comics: The simplicity and directness of comics and line drawings are perfectly aligned with poetry, even more so with the “small” haiku. Comics – underground comics especially – often celebrate the honest, the real, the creative over the technical skills of the artist/poet. Words and drawing together can transcend inherent limitations of each.

The combination of haiku and haiga is perhaps the most important practical question. One may spoil the other; but in the case of a complete success, how does one help the other? There seem to be two main ways of doing this. The haiga may be an illustration of the haiku, and say the same thing in line and form; or it may have a more independent existence, and yet an even deeper connection with the poem.

p. 90

Applied to poetry comics: This aligns with what Scott McCloud lists in his classic Understanding Comics (William Morrow, 1993) as categories for “the different ways in which words and pictures can combine in comics:” Word specific (illustrative); picture specific (words add a soundtrack); duo specific (words and pictures say the same thing); additive; parallel (words and pictures follow very different courses); montage; and interdependent (“words and pictures go hand-in-hand to convey an idea that neither could convey alone”). (See pp. 152-155.) The last three are closest to what Blyth calls independent existence and can express something neither could do on their own.

Art comes down to earth; we are not transported into some fairy, unreal world of pure aesthetic please. The roughness gives it that peculiar quality of sabi without age; unfinished pictures, half-built houses, broken statuary tell the same story. It corresponds in poetry to the fact that what we wish to say is just that which escapes the words. Haiku and haiga therefore do not try to express it, and succeed in doing what they have not attempted.

p. 104

Applied to poetry comics: Comics are down-to-earth and can make even the most difficult topics accessible. Comics span decades and can still hold an audience (e.g., Peanuts). Poetry can convey difficult or sublime concepts in just a few words. Poetry too can move through generations. Words and pictures together, as in poetry comics, open up the possibility for “yet an even deeper connection.”

Timeline: Prehistory

Warning: This incomplete history maps my journey as a poet learning about comics and doesn’t follow a strict chronological order.