Biggest Ever Uk Comics Retrospective Opens At British Library

Now open at the British Library, Comics Unmasked is the largest exhibition of UK comics to have ever taken place. Subtitled 'Art and Anarchy', the exhibition draws on the Library's vast catalogue of comic books and graphic novels – by law every publisher has to submit one copy of everything they press to the Library – to showcase the evolution of an artform in which British creators have regularly been at the forefront. Including the work of such well known masters of the craft as Alan Moore, Grant Morrison and Neil Gaiman, the show also veers across the whole spectrum of graphic story telling, moving from the chaotic kids action of the Beano, to the shadowy world of underground erotic comics.

According to the library's website, the exhibition features 'works that uncompromisingly address politics, gender, violence, sexuality and altered states. It explores the full anarchic range of the medium with works that challenge categorisation, preconceptions and the status quo, alongside original scripts, preparatory sketches and final artwork that demystify the creative process.'

Watch the show's curators talk through the exhibition below, and book tickets here