View source for Here (comics)

{{short description|6-page comic by Richard McGuire, later expanded into a full-length graphic novel}}
{{Infobox graphic novel
| title          = Here
| title_orig    =
| translator    =
| image         = Here-graphic-novel-cover.png
| caption       = ''Here'' graphic novel cover
| creator        = [[Richard McGuire]]
| cover_artist  =
| language      =
| series        =
| subject       = 
| publisher     = [[Pantheon Books]]
| origdate = 1989
| origpublication =  ''[[Raw (comics magazine)|Raw]]'' volume 2, #1
| date  = Dec 2014
| english_release_date =
| format    = Print, [[hardcover]]
| pages         = 304
| isbn          = 978-0375406508
| oclc=
| preceded_by   =
| followed_by   =
}}
"'''Here'''" is a 6-page [[comics|comic]] story by [[Richard McGuire]] published in 1989, and expanded into a 304-page [[graphic novel]] in 2014. The concept of "Here" (in both versions) is to show the same location in space at different points in time, ranging from the primordial past to thousands of years in the future. "Here" has been recognized as a groundbreaking experiment with the formal properties of comics. The graphic novel was adapted into a [[Here (2024 film)|film of the same name]], directed by [[Robert Zemeckis]], released in 2024.

==Overview==
=== Original story ===
[[File:HereComic.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|The sixth panel of the 1989 version of "Here".]]
The first panel of "Here" shows an unadorned corner of a room in a house. The 35 panels that follow all show the location in [[space]] depicted in the first panel at different points in [[time]], ranging from the year 500,957,406,073 BC to the year 2033 AD. The panels are not ordered [[chronological]]ly, and most of the panels are subdivided into multiple inset panels to show different points in time within the same panel. 

Various people, [[animal]]s, and [[furnishing]]s are shown passing through the space, including several recurring characters, such as a woman shown cleaning the room in 1973, 1983, 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1996. The reader also does "get to see the whole life of a character named William, born in 1957, dead in 2027."<ref name=Konstantinou>{{cite web|url=https://theaccountmagazine.com/article/a-theory-of-here/ |first=Lee |last=Konstantinou|date=2022|work=The Account Magazine|title=A Theory of 'Here'}}</ref> The corner of the room itself is the most enduring presence in the story; panels show the house being constructed in 1902 and sheltering several generations of occupants before burning in a fire in 2029 and being demolished in 2030. The space is shown to be a [[barnyard]] in the 19th century before the house is built, and the site of open-air band concerts after the house has been razed.

=== Graphic novel===
The graphic novel version expanded the concept to 304 pages in color, featuring 152 [[Book design#Page spread|spreads]], with "the corner of the eponymous room in the bound gutter of the open book."<ref name=ware /> It shows views of the same place from 3,000,500,000 B.C. to A.D. 22,175, "encompassing the lives of [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] and [[Colonial history of the United States|colonialists]] and moving from pre-human epochs to projected futures and species"<ref name="ware">{{cite news|last1=Ware|first1=Chris|title=Chris Ware on Here by Richard McGuire – a game-changing graphic novel|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/dec/17/chris-ware-here-richard-mcguire-review-graphic-novel|accessdate=2024-10-23|work=The Guardian|date=2014-12-07}}</ref> — though most of the action is in the 20th and 21st centuries when this view covers the living room of a house built in 1907.<ref name="sante" /> The graphic novel establishes that the setting of the story eventually becomes part of the grounds of the [[Proprietary House]], in [[Perth Amboy, New Jersey]], primarily in a family home built on one of the land lots sold in 1904. A flashback sequence briefly depicts the political conflict between [[Benjamin Franklin]] and his son [[William Franklin|William]].<ref name="sante" />

== Concept and publication history ==
=== "Here" ===
McGuire discussed his vision of the story in a profile published in ''[[The Atlantic]]'': 
{{blockquote|"If you stop to think about this, the 'now' becomes heightened," he says. “We are so rarely 'in the moment,' we spend most of our time thinking of the past or worrying about the future. The 'now' is the only thing that really exists."<ref name=Heller>{{cite web|last1=Heller|first1=Steven|title=The One-Room Time Machine|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/09/richard-mcguires-time-machine-with-a-view/380736/|accessdate=November 11, 2014|publisher=The Atlantic|date=September 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112074120/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/09/richard-mcguires-time-machine-with-a-view/380736/|archive-date=Nov 12, 2014}}</ref>}}

According to writer [[Lee Konstantinou]], one influence on McGuire's concept of "Here" "was the [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]]-based [[Graphical user interface|GUI]] popularized by [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] and then by [[Microsoft]], which was in turn inspired by... [[PARC (company)|Xerox PARC]]'s groundbreaking [[Xerox Alto]], the first computer to use a desktop metaphor to govern user interactions."<ref name=Konstantinou />

The original six-page black-and-white story was published in ''[[Raw (comics magazine)|Raw]]'' magazine volume 2, #1, in 1989. McGuire described the art style he used for it as "generic," saying, "It had to be as easy to read as an [[instruction manual]], so the reader could follow what was happening very clearly when the interlaced time panels start being introduced."<ref name=Heller />

=== ''Here'' ===
In 2010,{{cn|date=November 2024}} McGuire announced a [[graphic novel]] version of ''Here'' expanded to 300 pages, in full-color. As McGuire describes it,

{{cquote|"The book starts with the question, 'Why did I come in here again?' Which is what I was asking myself when I started this project. It took me a long time to figure out how exactly to make this book.... Going back into the project again was tricky. I felt it had to be similar to the original version but in a new way. I didn’t want to mimic that first approach, I never thought I would merely be adding pages to the original. This was to be a re-invention.... The book ends with a moment of recognition of the 'now.' The person finds the book they are looking for. Which is also my answer, I came back to this idea to make it into a book."<ref name=Heller />}}

The McGuire profile in ''The Atlantic'' explains how the story grew, in fits and starts, into the graphic novel:

{{blockquote|"My parents were still living in the house where I grew up, which is kind of the center of ''Here''," he says. Then a few years after they had both passed away, McGuire was awarded The [[Dorothy Cullman#Philanthropy|Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman]] Center for Scholars and Writers fellowship at the [[New York Public Library]], which gave him the time and resources to get focused on the project again.<ref name=Heller />}}

The graphic novel, evoking "the feeling of a [[Scrapbooking|scrapbook]] or [[photo album]],"<ref name=Heller /> was done in tight [[vector art]] augmented by watercolors.<ref name=Heller />

''Here'' was published by [[Pantheon Books]] in December 2014.<ref name="sante">{{cite news|last1=Sante|first1=Luc|title=Richard McGuire's 'Here'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/books/review/richard-mcguires-here.html|accessdate=2024-10-23|work=The New York Times|date=2015-10-12}}</ref>

==== Interactive edition ====
An [[Ebook]] edition of ''Here'' was released on the [[IOS]] platform in conjunction with the publication of the graphic novel. ''Here''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s non-linear structure made it particularly well-suited for adaptation into new media: the Ebook format deconstructs the traditional book experience, allowing readers to swipe through pages as in the book or explore the narrative more freely; the backgrounds and panels are liberated from their original layouts, enabling unique recombinations and fresh connections. The complete version features subtly timed animated [[GIFs]], such as a curtain moving gently in a breeze, a petal falling, or a reader turning a page, offering unexpected, nuanced movement. To set it apart from film or video, the Ebook version omits sound effects and music to preserve a reading-focused experience.<ref name=Heller /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://screendiver.com/directory/here-by-richard-mcguire/|title=Here|work=Screendiver|access-date=Nov 1, 2024}}</ref>

== Reception ==
The 1989 original story has been recognized as a groundbreaking experiment with the formal properties of comics. [[Douglas Wolk]] wrote that its "influence has echoed through art comics for decades."<ref>{{cite book|last=Wolk |first=Douglas |title=Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean |location=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Da Capo Press |date= 2007|page= 84}}</ref> Its influence is particularly notable in the work of [[Chris Ware]], who wrote a lengthy essay on it in the magazine ''[[Comic Art]]'' #8.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Comic Art |number=8 |date=2006 |publisher=[[Buenaventura Press]] |location=Oakland, CA |isbn=978-1-58423-257-5|editor-first=Todd |editor-last=Hignite |first=Chris |last=Ware |title=Richard McGuire and 'Here'—a Grateful Appreciation|pages=5–7}}</ref> The original story was reprinted for the first time in that issue. It has been frequently anthologized since its original publication.

Writer Konstantinou's analysis of the 2014 version of the story came to the conclusion, "More so than the original ''Raw'' six-pager, the book version of ''Here'' dwells on the radical (because intrinsic) destructibility of life....  Though we get a glimpse of what might be some sort of utopian future, ''Here''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s human story ultimately stands against a stark background largely devoid of human presence. That is, a yawning cosmic indifference bookends the life of McGuire's little house."<ref name=Konstantinou />

The French edition of the graphic novel, titled ''Ici'' and published by [[Éditions Gallimard]], was given the [[Angoulême International Comics Festival Prize for Best Album]] in 2016. ''Here'' was given a 2nd-place award at the 2017 [[Gaiman Award]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gaiman.jp/archive/2017|title=結果発表｜ガイマン賞|website=gaiman.jp|access-date=2017-12-20|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513094303/https://gaiman.jp/archive/2017.html|archivedate=13 May 2021}}</ref> The Portuguese-language edition, titled ''Aqui'' and published by [[Cia. das Letras]], was given the Silver [[Prêmio Grampo]] in Brazil in 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.revistaogrito.com/premio-grampo-2018-angola-janga-de-marcelo-dsalete-e-o-grande-vencedor/ |title=Prêmio Grampo 2018: Angola Janga, de Marcelo D’Salete, é o grande vencedor |publisher=Revista O Grito |date=February 4, 2018 |language=pt}}</ref>

The opening segment of the 2022 British animated anthology television special ''[[The House (TV special)|The House]]'' was inspired by ''Here''. As animator Marc James Roels relates, his and Emma de Swaef's story segment came from the desire to tell "the story of the house before there was a house.... I had been reading a graphic novel by [[Richard McGuire]] called ''Here'', in which you see a corner of the world and how it changes through millennia. You see it as farmland, and when it was inhabited by Native Americans, and before that when there were dinosaurs. And then suddenly you're in the 1950s and someone's vacuuming the floor. And it kind of sparked off an idea, like what was there before the house?"<ref name="Roels">{{cite web|url=https://www.awn.com/animationworld/surreal-stop-motion-world-house-part-1|title=The Surreal, Stop-Motion World of 'The House,' Part 1|first1=Dan|last1=Sarto|first2=Jon|last2=Hofferman|date=18 January 2022|access-date=8 March 2022|website=[[Animation World Network]]}}</ref>

==Film adaptations==
In 1991, a six-minute [[short film]] adaptation of the original six-page 1989 comic was produced at [[Rochester Institute of Technology|RIT]]'s Department of Film and Video by students Timothy Masick and Bill Trainor for their senior thesis project.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57hR44mB5u0 |title=Here (1991) |language=en |access-date=2024-04-29 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref>

An [[Immersion (virtual reality)|immersive VR]] film based on the 2014 graphic novel version was conceived and created by British design and production company [[59 Productions]] under the direction of Lysander Ashton with original music by [[Anna Meredith]], which opened at the 2020 [[Venice Film Festival]]. The performances were filmed at [[Intel]] Studios in Los Angeles using [[volumetric capture]] technology.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Here VR |url=https://59productions.co.uk/project/here/ |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=59 Productions |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-28 |title=Here VR Uses Volumetric Capture To Build A Home Unlike Any Other |url=https://www.uploadvr.com/here-vr/ |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=UploadVR |language=en}}</ref>

A [[Here (2024 film)|film adaptation]] began development in 2022 with [[Robert Zemeckis]] directing and co-writing with [[Eric Roth]], and [[Tom Hanks]] starring; [[Robin Wright]] joined the cast reuniting the four for the first time in thirty years after ''[[Forrest Gump]]'' in 1994. Zemeckis and Hanks' studios [[ImageMovers]] and [[Playtone]] produced the film.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://deadline.com/2022/02/forrest-gump-trio-tom-hanks-robert-zemeckis-eric-roth-team-on-here-graphic-novel-adaptation-1234956407/|title= Hot Package: 'Forrest Gump' Trio Tom Hanks, Robert Zemeckis, Eric Roth Team For Graphic Novel Adaptation 'Here'|date= February 17, 2022|access-date= February 17, 2022|first= Mike Jr.|last= Fleming|work= Deadline}}</ref> [[Miramax]] came on board as financier and international sales agent, and [[Sony Pictures]] acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film before the [[Marché du Film|Cannes Film Market]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Sony Pictures Lands U.S. Rights To Miramax's 'Here'; Robin Wright Joins Tom Hanks, Robert Zemeckis, Eric Roth In 'Forrest Gump' Reteam — Cannes Market|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|first=Mike Jr.|last=Fleming|date=11 May 2022|access-date=13 May 2022|url=https://deadline.com/2022/05/robin-wright-tom-hanks-robert-zemeckis-eric-roth-forest-gump-reteam-sony-pictures-miramax-1235021582/}}</ref> The film was released on November 1, 2024.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sony Sets Wide November Release For Robert Zemeckis' 'Here'|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|first=Matt|last=Grobar|date=21 June 2024|access-date=22 June 2024|url=https://deadline.com/2024/08/robert-zemeckis-here-sets-wide-november-release-sony-1235980699/}}</ref>

== Museum exhibition ==
In [[2014 in comics|2014]], in commemoration of the publication of the graphic novel, the [[Morgan Library & Museum]] (collaborating with the [[New York Public Library]]) launched the exhibition "''From Here to Here: Richard McGuire Makes a Book''," which tracked the process behind McGuire’s story and expansion of the story to a full-length work.<ref name=Heller /> McGuire relished the synchronicity of "having the exhibition in a one-room gallery that is about a book that takes place in one room."<ref name=Heller />

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal|first=Thierry |last=Groensteen |title=Les lieux superposés de Richard McGuire |journal=Urgences |volume=32 |date=1991|page= 95–109|language=French}}
* {{cite book|last=Hancock |first=Michael W. |date=2013 |section-url=http://digitalcommons.imsa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=comics |section=Storytelling in Comics: Who, When, and Where in 'Here' |publisher=[[Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy]] |title=Comics and Graphic Novels. Paper 2}} — [http://digitalcommons.imsa.edu/comics/2/ abstract and additional PDF files for the Chris Ware article and the "Here" comic]

== See also ==
* [[Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress]] — similar concept of a single home seen at various points in time

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20141230004937/http://www.entrecomics.com/?p=9431 "Here"] at Entrecomics (larger GIFs)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100814190317/http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~jbass/courses/402/402_mcguire_here.htm "Here"] at [[Rutgers University]] (smaller JPEGs, via [[Archive.org]])
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57hR44mB5u0 ''Here''] six-minute student film (1991)
* [https://59.studio/project/here/ ''Here''] trailer for immersive virtual reality film (2020)
* [https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/here/id930995752 "Here"] (interactive edition){{dead|date=November 2024}}

[[Category:1989 comics debuts]]
[[Category:2014 graphic novels]]
[[Category:Pantheon Books graphic novels]]
[[Category:Raw (magazine)]]
[[Category:Short comics]]