Graphic Novels Genre Study
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Adult Reading Round Table Graphic Novels Genre Study Introduction and Benchmarks The 4th edition is the first time Graphic Novels have ever been included in The ARRT Popular Fiction List. However, because graphic novels aren’t really a genre, the study will be structured a bit differently. • It will only be one year long. • Each meeting will focus on a type/genre area. • Appeal factors usually apply to genre, not format, but we’ll explore whether we can determine format appeal factors (which may require developing a different vocabulary than pace, frame, etc.) • We will be discussing what draws people to the format as well as what draws people to different genres within the format. • We’ll be discussing both the text and the visuals for each work. • We will cover Teen and Adult works, but not Children’s. • We will not be working from any one reference text. Working Definition of Graphic Novels from the ARRT Popular Fiction List: Graphic Novels essentially are long-form comic books, typically conveying stories through words and pictures arranged in sequential panels. Graphic novels can be original works or collections of previously published comics. The term “graphic novel” can be a misnomer, as the format encompasses fiction, nonfiction, and biography/memoir. For the purposes of this genre study, we going to use the terms “Graphic Novels” and “Comics” to encompass all long-form comics, including books that are published as graphic novel originals and ones published as monthly serials that have then been bound and reissued as trade paperbacks. Understanding the Appeal • Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, by Scott McCloud is a good book if you have never read comics and are looking for background on their history, language and form. • Both the right brain and left brain are engaged – art and language centers. • Sometimes readers get more out of the images on a second or third reading of a work than on the first reading. The first time they are more focused on the text. • Some fans are drawn to a specific writer, a specific illustrator, or only a specific type – like superheroes. Some people will read all of Alan Moore. Others will read all the Batman books. More rarely will a fan read any book by an illustrator, but they may be more willing to try a book just because it has specific an artist. • It may be easier to stick with a book despite the story if the art is really good. The art can make up for a weak story. It is harder for a good story to make up for really bad art. Really bad art detracts too much and blocks enjoyment of the story. Benchmarks Maus by Art Spiegelman and Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons were the first graphic novels to really receive “comics aren’t just for kids any more” notice from critics and the public at large. Both are considered literary, and received critical acclaim. Maus won a Pulitzer, while Watchmen won a Hugo. Both novels shared a few elements: • Past plays a role in the present. • Who watches the watchmen in both – who is responsible for the evil that is happening in the world. Telling Maus as a graphic novel made it more effective because: • The characters became more universal. They were everymen. • By using animal faces, Spiegelman made the characters symbolic and easily identifiable. You could see from the beginning who is a cat/German, who was a mouse/Jew, who was a pig/Pole. It also echoed the use of the Jewish star to make individuals into a quickly denoted class. • If photographs had been used instead of line drawings, the brutality might have been overwhelmingly horrific. The illustrations of animals provided a layer of separation – faceless millions of people. It keeps it from feeling as immediate. You have to keep reminding yourself that it really happened to real people. • The simplicity and compelling power of the drawings make the story more accessible to a younger audience. The story is able to reach them on a level they are capable of handling and understanding. It becomes a teaching opportunity. • Some people got even more out of the images of Maus after reading MetaMaus, a casebook of interviews and sketches about the creation of the comic. Watchmen felt both dated and timeless because: • The Cold War story may have been somewhat dated, but the Afghanistan connection is still timely, as is the attack on New York. • The dystopian and world-weary hero aspects are both modern and still apt. • The art or the coloring of the art almost feels more dated than the story. o Some people found the art in the Watchmen distasteful. Others thought it was an homage to the classic superhero era, in tune with the author and writer’s desire to take the classic superhero mythos into a different and dark direction. o Everyone agreed the art was striking and noteworthy. • The visual medium provides a modern hook for younger readers. • Reading Watchmen all in one clump is a very different experience than if you read it serialized, as it was originally published. It feels much more depressing. • The art ties in to the tone and mood of the story in Watchmen. It’s sharp and traumatic. Perhaps talking about tone and mood is the best way to describe artwork when you are book talking, if you have difficulty verbally articulating the look of the book. • You can’t have the “monster” invade New York as effectively in prose, like at the beginning of Chapter 12. You can’t do it in words, but you can do it in art. General Notes: • Spiegelman was both artist and author in Maus, whereas Watchmen was a collaboration between the two people. In other collaborative works, the artist may only get the barest bones outline from the writer. A great variety exists from work to work on the level of connectedness between the text and the art. • Novice readers have to learn how to read graphic novels. o It’s a different skill set than reading straight text. It may be easier to read a graphic novel that has cleaner, simpler art. o Variations in panel size can be jarring. o Overall, people found Maus easier to read than Watchmen. Some people found the black and white drawings of Spiegelman easier to absorb than the color drawings of Gibbons. • It is easier to direct nonfan patrons to nonfiction graphic novels because you have the subject connection. o Graphic novel memoirs are a good match to memoir readers and probably the easiest nonfan sell. o Nonfiction graphic novels are also reviewed more in mainstream sources so patrons are more likely to have seen reviews of them in the standard sources like New York Book Review or People. They get more exposure. o Asterios Polyp, by David Mazzucchelli is a good jumping point for literary fiction readers. But be warned it has a totally open ending. o With fiction, the dystopian angle gives a hook. o Fortunately, don’t have to wait as long these days for the collections to be issued. • How libraries shelve graphic novels ties directly into the problem of graphic novels often being treated as a genre even though they are a format. o It also ties into the problem of how we market the collection to people who don’t know we have it. Sometimes they are hidden in a back corner. Some places they divided into small spaces instead of gathered all into one spot. o Libraries also have issues dividing Teen from Adult works. Some libraries started with Teen collections and are just now adding Adult collections. Having Adult collections can be seen as legitimizing the format/genre/collection. o Libraries not only had to get over the snob factor when they started collecting graphic novels but also issues relating to the format. o Even now, the size variations can make for shelving difficulties. o Some libraries have had success interfiling new graphic novels with their new fiction and nonfiction, both to boost circs and market the fact that the library actually carries the format. Displays also help create awareness. • When you booktalk a graphic novel, whether you talk about the story or the art largely depends on which appealed to you the most. Superheroes Superhero Graphic Novels • These are probably what most people automatically think of when they think of comics. • By sales and pop culture, these are the most popular types of graphic novels. • Started with the 1938 publication of Action Comics #1, a Superman title. • Traits of Superhero comics (see http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/07/06/ask-chris- 113-just-what-is-a-super-hero-anyway/) o Costumes o Secret identities o Grandeur and theatrics o Abilities beyond normal (or access to technology that is beyond normal) o Heroic o Strong moral code that they are living up to (as opposed to anti-heroes who are more self-serving) o Adventure or action, sometimes related to crime o Violence, explicit or not • Appeal of Superhero comics o Good versus evil o Wish fulfillment o Power fantasy o Appeal of secret identities o Modern-day mythology o Drawn to specific characters • Problem of being dropped into a story without the whole backstory: o You also sometimes have to keep up with which version of history you are in. o Comics can be like a soap opera in the length of the continuing story. o You have to find your place in a large story arc with lots of offshoots. o You have to determine if the reader can handle some uncertainty/confusion.