The Bottle

In 1847, British artist and satirist George Cruikshank launched The Bottle, a stark, single-issue cautionary tale published by Tilt and Bogue. Through eight sequential plates, Cruikshank both wrote and illustrated a grim narrative on the perils of alcohol, creating one of the earliest and most influential graphic novels in the Western tradition. Its unflinching social commentary and pioneering use of sequential art mark it as a landmark work in the history of comics.