Rodolphe Töpffer ( / ˈ t ɒ p f ər / TOP -fər ; French: [ʁɔdɔlf tœpfɛʁ] ; 31 January 1799 – 8 June 1846) was a Swiss teacher, writer, painter, cartoonist, and artist who created funny drawings. He is most famous for his illustrated books, called "graphic literature," which may be the earliest European comics. He is known as the "father of comic strips" and has been called the "first comics artist in history."

Töpffer studied in Paris. He worked as a teacher at a boarding school, where he drew funny pictures for students. In 1837, he published a book called Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois (later published in the United States as The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck). Each page of the book had one to six cartoon panels with captions, similar to modern comics. Töpffer wrote several more books like this and also wrote essays explaining how comics work.

Biography

Töpffer was born on January 31, 1799, in Geneva, Léman, France. His father, Wolfgang-Adam Töpffer, was a painter and sometimes created caricatures. His grandfather, Georg-Christoph, was a skilled tailor who moved from Franconia and owned a sock factory in Geneva. Töpffer studied in Paris from 1819 to 1820, then returned to Geneva and became a school teacher. By 1823, he started his own school for boys. In 1832, he was named Professor of Literature at the University of Geneva.

While successful in his teaching career, Töpffer became well-known for his hobbies. He painted local landscapes in a style similar to Romanticism, a popular art movement of the time. He also wrote short stories and drew caricatures for his students. He collected these drawings into books. His first book, Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois (The Story of Mr. Wooden Head), was finished by 1827 but published in 1837. It had 30 pages, each with one to six illustrated panels with captions. The book was translated and republished in the United States in 1842 as The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck. The stories were printed using autography, a type of lithography that let Töpffer draw directly on special paper with a pen. This method produced less strict lines and was faster and more freehand than the common engraving process.

Publications

The humorous stories were not originally meant to be published, but Töpffer kept making more of them in his free time to amuse his friends. One important person was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who convinced Töpffer to publish his stories in 1831. Seven of these stories were later printed in newspapers across Europe, but Goethe did not live to see them published.

• Histoire de Mr. Jabot – created in 1831, first published in 1833. It follows the experiences of a middle-class man who tries to join the upper class.
• Monsieur Crépin – first published in 1837. It tells the story of a father who hires many tutors for his children and faces challenges because of their unusual behavior.
• Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois – created in 1827, first published in 1837. This is the story mentioned above.
• Monsieur Pencil – created in 1831, first published in 1840. It describes a series of events that begin when an artist loses his drawing to the wind and nearly causes a worldwide conflict.
• Histoire d'Albert – first published in 1845. It follows a young man searching for a career who eventually becomes a journalist supporting radical ideas. The story includes scenes of people building barricades and singing La Marseillaise.
• Histoire de Monsieur Cryptogame – first published in 1845. It is about a man who studies butterflies and tries hard to replace his current lover with someone better suited.
• Le Docteur Festus (or Voyages et aventures du Docteur Festus) – created in 1831, first published in 1846. A scientist travels the world offering help, but he does not realize that his actions lead to problems.

All seven stories are seen as funny and critical looks at 19th-century society and were popular when they were published. In 1842, Töpffer released a book called Essais d'autographie.

On September 14, 1842, Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois was first shown to people in the United States as The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck. It was printed as a supplement to that day’s edition of Brother Jonathan, a newspaper in New York City edited by John Neal. This is considered the first American comic book and inspired many 19th-century American graphic novels, according to writings by Robert Beerbohm in Comic Art and the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide.

In 2007, the University Press of Mississippi published an English version of Töpffer’s full stories and some previously unknown works.

Töpffer is sometimes called the father or an important early creator of modern comics. He also influenced younger artists, such as Wilhelm Busch, who created the characters Max and Moritz.

Child art

In 1848, a book titled Reflections et menus propos d'un peintre genevois was published after Töpffer's death. This book includes two chapters about children's art and creativity. Töpffer wrote that children often showed more creativity than trained artists. He also noted that the creativity of trained artists was sometimes less noticeable because their technical skills were more prominent.