When conversation turned to comics studies and graphic novels, I shared that I have in recent years begun reading and enjoying graphic novels. I realized as I shared my thoughts that I was trying to "sell" the genre, and how hard it was to be concise, and how little I actually knew in this newly found appetite of mine. Their interest prompted me to try to articulate my new interest in these sorts of stories.What I do know is that for a "graphic novel" to work for me, it has to have both story and art that intrigues me. A year ago I ordered a book by Warren Ellis, Global Freqiuency, which had host of guest artists and very interesting—at times eye-popping—art, and sadly a boring, repetitively-themed, and un-compelling story. I wanted to like the book for the art and what it promised in moving the eye forward, but my brain was left idle...
This is the first of a four week series: Here's my outline for trying to organize this new hobby of mine...
- Part 1: An introduction to the term "Graphic Novel" (with heavy Wikipedia Quoting).
- Part 2: Graphic Novels that have delighted my young children. (Recommendations with age appropriateness offered).
- Part 3: Complete Collections Recommendations (for adults).
- Part 4: Ongoing series (for adults) that I am currently reading...
My relationship starts with a Christmas gift: About five years ago my younger brother offered a Christmas gift that was not from any list I had generated. He knew I had turned my son on to a graphic story that we each had enjoyed in the summer of '09, Bone [to be included in Part 2 of this series]. He also knew I was reading dystopian novels and offered a tangential book to those I had asked for, Watchmen by Alan Moore. It has been listed on Time magazine's 100 best novels, is currently being taught at my high school, and has made every list I have researched for the best of this genre. I do not wish to write a review of this book, as so many before me have done a better job of it. I mention it for a starting point to this conversation; it is so important for the increased interest in comics by many, including me.It seems appropriate to use Wikipedia's entry on the term "graphic novel" here as it is clear mentioning some of the greats and represents the crowd sourced consensus on what this genre is all about:
A graphic novel is a book made up of comics content. Although the word "novel" normally refers to long fictional works, the term "graphic novel" is applied broadly, and includes fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work. It is distinguished from the term "comic book", which is used for comics periodicals.Controversy of terminology: It's not lost on me that some of my favorite writers in this genre somewhat resent the use of the term "graphic novel."
The term "graphic novel" was first used in 1964; it was popularized within the comics community after the publication of Will Eisner's A Contract with God in 1978, and became familiar to the public in the late 1980s after the commercial successes of the first volume of Spiegelman's Maus, Moore and Gibbons's Watchmen, and Miller's The Dark Knight Returns. At the beginning of the 21st century, the Book Industry Study Group added "graphic novel" as a category in book stores.
Writer Neil Gaiman, responding to a claim that he does not write comic books but graphic novels, said the commenter "meant it as a compliment, I suppose. But all of a sudden I felt like someone who'd been informed that she wasn't actually a hooker; that in fact she was a lady of the evening."[31]
My first may have been Watchmen, but it should have been Sandman: Neil Gaiman wrote Sandman, a series that a good college friend of mine recommended repeatedly back in the early 90s to me. I had little interest when I was 20, but have since made my way into Gaiman's work and found moments that were delightfully profound and well presented. Of particular note in his 75 issue story (collected in 10 volumes) was volume 3: Dream Country:Dream Country is the third trade paperback collection of the comic book series The Sandman, published by DC Comics. It collects issues #17-20. It is written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Kelley Jones, Charles Vess, Colleen Doran and Malcolm Jones III, coloured by Robbie Busch and Steve Oliff, and lettered by Todd Klein... ...It concerns [in part] the premiere of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, which we are told was commissioned by Morpheus as part of a bargain in which Morpheus granted Shakespeare his extraordinary skill with writing. Performed on a hillside before an audience of bizarre creatures from Faerie - including the very characters who appear in the play, Titania, Auberon, and the hobgoblin Robin Goodfellow (Puck) amongst them - the Sandman's version of reality and Shakespeare's play are merged and interact with one another. Puck greatly enjoys the play and repeats the theme of the story that while the play does not directly reflect history or even some of the personalities of the characters it is still considered a true reflection of "reality". (In reality Puck is described as being a psychotic murderer and not a merry wanderer of the night.) Titania takes an interest in Shakespeare's son Hamnet, who plays a small role in the play. The issue received a World Fantasy Award for short fiction in 1991. Dream first meets Shakespeare in Sandman #13, "Men of Good Fortune," and the final issue, #75, "The Tempest," focuses on the second of the two plays commissioned by Morpheus.[4]
Alan has opinions too: Alan Moore's work is prolific, and many of his titles make the lists of "must reads" in the comic world. I have read V for Vendetta, Watchmen, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and hope to read From Hell soon. I feel like my interest in his writing style is a little love/hate, but I am always interested in what he presents. He, like Gaiman, is critical of the term "graphic novel":
It's a marketing term... that I never had any sympathy with. The term 'comic' does just as well for me... The problem is that 'graphic novel' just came to mean 'expensive comic book' and so what you'd get is people like DC Comics or Marvel Comics—because 'graphic novels' were getting some attention, they'd stick six issues of whatever worthless piece of crap they happened to be publishing lately under a glossy cover and call it The She-Hulk Graphic Novel...."[29Looking Forward: Regardless of the term "graphic novel" or "comics," I have been supplementing my more traditional reading with graphically enhanced books since I started with Bone and Watchmen. I am always on the lookout for something else to add to my list.
Next week: "Graphic Novels" Part 2: Graphic Novels that have delighted my young children. (Recommendations with age appropriateness offered).
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