▁the ▁close ▁of ▁the ▁ 2 0 th ▁century , ▁different ▁cult ures ' ▁discover ies ▁of ▁each ▁other ' s ▁com ics ▁trad itions , ▁the ▁redis cover y ▁of ▁forgotten ▁early ▁com ics ▁forms , ▁and ▁the ▁rise ▁of ▁new ▁forms ▁made ▁defining ▁com ics ▁a ▁more ▁complicated ▁task . ▁ ▁European ▁com ics ▁studies ▁began ▁with ▁T ö pf fer ' s ▁theories ▁of ▁his ▁own ▁work ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 8 4 0 s , ▁which ▁emphas ized ▁panel ▁trans itions ▁and ▁the ▁visual – ver bal ▁combination . ▁ ▁No ▁further ▁progress ▁was ▁made ▁until ▁the ▁ 1 9 7 0 s . ▁ ▁Pierre ▁F res na ult - Der uelle ▁then ▁took ▁a ▁semi ot ics ▁approach ▁to ▁the ▁study ▁of ▁com ics , ▁analyz ing ▁text – image ▁relations , ▁page - level ▁image ▁relations , ▁and ▁image ▁dis continu ities , ▁or ▁what ▁Scott ▁Mc Cloud ▁later ▁dub bed ▁" closure ". ▁ ▁In ▁ 1 9 8 7 , ▁Henri ▁Van lier ▁introduced ▁the ▁term ▁, ▁or ▁" mult iframe ", ▁to ▁refer ▁to ▁the ▁com ics ▁page ▁as ▁a ▁semantic ▁unit . ▁ ▁By ▁the ▁ 1 9 9 0 s , ▁the or ists ▁such ▁as ▁Ben o ît ▁Pe eters ▁and ▁Th ier ry ▁Gro en ste en ▁turned ▁attention ▁to ▁artists ' ▁po ï etic ▁cre ative ▁choices . ▁ ▁Th ier ry ▁Sm older en ▁and ▁Harry ▁Morgan ▁have ▁held ▁relativ istic ▁views ▁of ▁the ▁definition ▁of ▁com