Of course you're right, says another comics-reading medievalist. Don't forget the Harley Roll images of the life of Guthlac (some of which can be seen here). Point well made and not at all boring!
Another great column, Karen - lots of wonderful examples! I've been asked this question about a jillion times, myself. Once you toss a few examples, though, it's been my experience that most people seem to get it.
One more example I'd add is the Biblia Pauperum (Paupers' Bible). The images aren't always exactly sequential or narrative, as its basis is typology, and that might discourage some comics purists. But if Spiegelman or Ware did a strip using similar techniques, I'm sure they'd be praised for their "innovative approach to comics storytelling" :-)
A few links:
- Wikipedia has a brief but ok overview: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblia_pauperum .
- The Internet Biblia Pauperum has several (too small) images, but its transcriptions/translations are arranged as they're laid out on the paage, which is very helpful. http://www.amasis.com/biblia/
- BIBLIA PAUPERUM & SPECULUM HUMANÆ SALVATIONIS compares the BP with a more text-heavy mss. The BP images here - lots - follow the typical, typological format, but instead of woodcuts, this one uses delicate, multi-colored illustrations. http://danielmitsui.tripod.com/aaaaa/speculum.html
Heh--I saw the first Wikipedia image and thought "Oh, that's like an even more visual version of a Bible moralisee!" and then I saw that the Wiki-er claims it to be a "simplification" of the earlier approach. I think it's more complex, myself, but maybe they think the emphasis on images is a simplification. Sigh. We have to fight this battle everywhere, don't we?
The piece I really wanted to include was a 15th-c Spanish altarpiece dedicated to St George that's in the V&A in London. First time I saw it, it just blew my mind. It's like a catalog of how to martyr a saint. There are no great pictures of the whole thing--it's nearly 22 feet tall--but you can get a sense of it here:
Is there, or will there be, a book about the history of sequential art? I can't imagine any other book I would rather read right now. Fantastic column!
Here's an exhibition at the Getty Museum entirely devoted to visual narrative in medieval manuscripts:
http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/stories_watch/
Some examples are more analogous to illustration than to comics, but not all:
http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/stories_watch/00325601_enlarge.html
