Peeve de jour: Graphic Novel

[howeird]

Comic books is a misnomer. They are seldom comic, and they are not bound well enough nor do they have enough pages to be called books.

Calling them graphic novels is even more ridiculous. While they do contain mostly pictures, there is only enough content to fill a page, at best. And don't give me the "picture is worth a thousand words" line, because these are much simpler pictures than the quote was referring to.

I do admire the art work, I have zero ability to draw anything even remotely recognizable as humanoid. But face it, one doesn't need a high level of literacy to understand (and enjoy) these works. One notch above "ooh! shiny!".

I think we need a brand new word, because Graphic Entertainment Pamphlet just doesn't have much of a ring to it.

Comments

[unseelie23.livejournal.com]

Will Eisner, a giant amongst comic artists and arguably the father of the 'graphic novel', preferred Sequential Art for whatever that's worth.

[howeird]

Sequential Art for me, brings up an image of flip books. I think the item in question is more than just art, but less than literature.

[unseelie23.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there really isn't a perfect name for comics these days as guys in spandex dominate what's left of the comic publishing industry.

Also, I forgot to mention earlier, he also pretty much wrote the book (http://www.amazon.com/Comics-Sequential-Art-Will-Eisner/dp/0961472812/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211399027&sr=1-2) on storytelling from a comics medium. Sadly it's currently out of print, but I see a new edition available for pre-order.

If you can find a copy, I think you might like his Contract With God Trilogy (http://www.amazon.com/Contract-God-Trilogy-Dropsie-Avenue/dp/0393061051/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211399256&sr=1-2). Spiegelman's Maus: A Survivor's Tale is also quite good, and proof that comics can transcend spandex, though it's not very comic.

[nolly.livejournal.com]

Graphic novels, as I understand the term, contain far more than a page worth of content. A graphic novel is not a single-issue "comic book". It's a longer, stand-alone work. Some, but not all, graphic novels were originally serialized in that form, much like some, but not all, text novels. Maus is perhaps the most common example of the difference between a comic book and a graphic novel.

[howeird]

You're probably right, but up here the terms seem to be used interchangeably.

[nolly.livejournal.com]

Perhaps those abusing the term should be corrected to "graphic short story"? *grin*

[howeird]

graphic short story = slash? ;-)