Comics Journalism and Fine Art: War, Massacre, and The Individual, in works of Pieter Bruegel, Joe Sacco and Otto Dix

As a pioneer of Comics Journalism, Joe Sacco’s works have been linked to conflict studies, migration, education, and so on. But despite references that Sacco makes to 16th Century master painter, Pieter Bruegel, and 20th century New Objectivity painter Otto Dix in his interviews, there have been few studies on the potential link between comics of Sacco and works of these masters of fine art. In this study I explore this connection by examining the questions of war, individuality and portrayal of massacre in paintings of Bruegel and Dix and journalistic comics of Sacco. My greater aim is to demonstrate the potential of further comparative studies between arts and comics journalism, especially between Renaissance and modern artists.