This article provides an introduction to comics, the translation of comics and the contents of the volume. It begins by offering a brief historical overview of comics, highlighting those aspects which may be especially interesting from a translation perspective, and an overview of different types of comics translation, from an inter- and an intra-semiotic perspective. This is followed by a discussion of the specificity of comics as an art form (the ninth art) and as a means of communication, and of its bearing on translation. The article ends with an overview of the literature on comics in translation, and of the contributions to the present volume.