Historical and theoretical analysis of the “clear line” style in comics and cinema The “clear line”, a term coined in 1977 by Dutch essayist and artist Joost Swarte, has become shorthand in the field of comics studies for the style originally developed by Hergé and the École de Bruxelles. It refers to certain storytelling strategies that generate a deceptively simple, lucid, and hygienic narration: in Philippe Marion’s words, it is a style “made out of light, fluidity and limpid clarity”. By cataloguing and critically analysing clear line comics from historical and theoretical perspectives, this book offers a new outlook on the development of the style in the 20th and 21st centuries, especially focused on the context of the European bande dessinée. In addition, it pioneeringly expands the concept of “clear line” to other artistic domains by introducing and defending its transmedial use, which is particularly relevant for the understanding of the oeuvres of certain filmmakers of the 20th century working in the postwar period, such as Yasujirô Ozu in Japan, Jacques Tati in France and Frank Tashlin in the United States. The Clear Line in Comics and Cinema is therefore a key theoretical work for both bande dessinée enthusiasts and comics scholars, as well as a fundamental contribution to present-day film studies and transmedial narratology. The “clear line”, a term coined in 1977 by Dutch essayist and artist Joost Swarte, has become shorthand in the field of comics studies for the style originally developed by Hergé and the École de Bruxelles. It refers to certain storytelling strategies that generate a deceptively simple, lucid, and hygienic narration: in Philippe Marion’s words, it is a style “made out of light, fluidity and limpid clarity”. By cataloguing and critically analysing clear line comics from historical and theoretical perspectives, this book offers a new outlook on the development of the style in the 20th and 21st centuries, especially focused on the context of the European bande dessinée. In addition, it pioneeringly expands the concept of “clear line” to other artistic domains by introducing and defending its transmedial use, which is particularly relevant for the understanding of the oeuvres of certain filmmakers of the 20th century working in the postwar period, such as Yasujirô Ozu in Japan, Jacques Tati in France and Frank Tashlin in the United States. The Clear Line in Comics and Cinema is therefore a key theoretical work for both bande dessinée enthusiasts and comics scholars, as well as a fundamental contribution to present-day film studies and transmedial narratology. Acknowledgements Introduction Part One: Clear Line Comics Opening remarks Chapter 1: Hergé’s clear line From Totor to Tintin: Trace and narrative as constraints The clear line finds its Oriental history The clear line facing new formats Chapter 2: The clear line of the École de Bruxelles Edgar P. Jacobs’s naturalist clear line Between individuality and standardisation: Jacques Martin, Bob De Moor and Roger Leloup Chapter 3: The clear line after Tintin et les Picaros The postmodernist clear line: From Tante Leny presenteert! to (À Suivre) The neoclassical clear line: From Professor Palmboom to Blake and Mortimer 2.0 Philip, Francis and friends: Contemporary parodies and pastiches of the clear line Closing remarks Part Two: Clear Line Cinema Opening remarks Chapter 4: Cinema as a graphic-verbal medium Film’s media combination: A theoretical perspective Film’s media combination: An analytical perspective Film’s media combination: A stylistic perspective Chapter 5: Clear line cinema “Dire juste”: Density, simplicity and stylisation in cinema A few directions for a history of clear line cinema, from Louis Lumière to Wes Anderson Closing remarks Part Three: Case Studies Opening remarks 153 Chapter 6: Yasujirô Ozu Ozu’s clear line frame composition and storytelling strategies Red teapot, yellow teacup: Clear line colouring in Ozu’s late films Chapter 7: Jacques Tati This fits here, that fits there: The clear line in the Hulot comedies Minimal sounds for maximal effects: Remarks on Tati’s clear line soundscapes Chapter 8: Frank Tashlin Tashlin’s clear line ink: Comics, advertisements and animation The clear line at the service of comedy in Tashlin’s feature films Closing remarks For a transmedial use of the concept of “clear line”: A conclusion Sources Notes