God's Man: An Early American Graphic Novel

Important in the history of sequential art (a.k.a. comic books) is this graphic novel by the artist Lynd Ward.  His 1929 book Gods’ Man, A Novel In Woodcuts, is, as the subtitle implies, silent. Save for the titles of each chapter of the book, there are no words. Each page features one illustration that progresses the narrative. It was the first book of its kind published in America, the format had already achieved notoriety in Europe.  

In Gods’ Man, an artist makes a Faustian bargain in order to achieve fame and success with his painting. Ultimately he finds true happiness with a family, but finally the other end of the bargain catches up to him in a rather pessimistic coda in line with the dark tone of the novel. Instead of the protagonist being victorious at the end, he is instead punished for his naivete.

The wordless novel eschewed text in favor of the reader’s subjective interpretation of the story. At the time, comics were nothing new, however they were full of text. The most comparable art form to comics, cinema, was silent then (though on the cusp of sound), and often made pervasive use of title cards to convey dialogue and the story. Several silent films, such as short comedies, or notably, F. W. Murnau’s The Last Laugh (1924) made little to no use of intertitles, and so, for American readers, the precedent of purely visual storytelling was not out of the blue. Yet in a printed medium, this seemed like an oddity to extend for the length of an entire book.      

That sentiment is evident in a clipping from the December 8th, 1929 edition of the New York Times. The author of the article asks more questions than provides answers. Not willing to dismiss it entirely they say: “We need a few more woodcut novels before we decide to throw them out of court as little more than a new toy.”

There is some doubt whether the purely visual approach can communicate the drama of the story successfully. But communicate it does. Ward made five other woodcut novels which are now seen as predecessors to the modern graphic novel by those in the field. For example, the impact of Gods’ Man has been acknowledged by independent comic artists like Art Spiegelman (Maus) and Jim Woodring (Frank). 

The copy of Gods’ Man in the Hagley Library Rare Books Collection (D* NE 1215.W3A4) is a hardcover edition from the sixth printing made in September of 1933, and there are a few details of interest involving this copy.

Within the box containing the book is a photocopy of the aforementioned New York Times article. The clipping had been inscribed with the date of the article as well as a note inquiring whether the book would be of interest to Pierre S. du Pont. It was then clearly purchased for the latter’s personal library as evidenced by the bookplate.  Finally, on the first page with the title there is another inscription which reads: 

Frank A. McHugh was a major in the U.S. Army Air Force, and was the private financial secretary to Pierre S. Du Pont. It would seem that the novel was of interest to both of them, due, possibly, to its unique manner of storytelling and visuals.