Frans Masereel's "Die Idee" Very Early Graphic Novel, 1928 CopyNow that I've spent some time with this marvelous book, and learned a little about Frans Masereel (Flemish, 18891972), I can't believe I knew nothing of him, and it, before but I'm very happy to have made the discovery! Consisting of 83 woodcut prints, Die Idee was one of the earliest graphic novels, telling the story of the birth and worldly life of an idea, personified as a woman. As Herman Hesse wrote in the introduction to this edition (in