Sorry to (metaphorically) poop on you, Dajjer, but according to web sources Barefoot Gen was published in serial form in the early '70s.
http://www.theblackmoon.com/BarefootGen/bomb.html
I think Maus was first published, also serially, in Raw in '80 or '81. I remember reading somewhere that Spiegelman was influenced by Barefoot Gen, but I don't remember where.
And yeah, comics can be as evocative as any other story-telling medium...though it is weird to see stoney-faced businessmen in Asia reading SailorMoon type stuff.