Library News, by David W. Keeber

Sedona Public Library

July 6, 2007

Happy July 4^th week! Whew, it is HOT! Heck of a way to celebrate the birth of nation – go to ground and hunker down in the shade! But, if you find that it’s too hot to do much other than hide out, you might consider exploring a new genre of literature – graphic novels. Sedona Public Library, as well as the rest of the Yavapai Library Network, has a good size, and growing, collection of this “new” form of storytelling. There is plenty there to sink your teeth into with styles, storylines and genres within the overall genre bound to interest you.

“Aren’t graphic novels just comic books,” you might ask? To some degree, the answer is yes, but also no. Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, offers this description of the genre: “A graphic novel is a type of comic book, usually with a lengthy and complex storyline similar to those of novels, and often aimed at mature audiences. The term also encompasses comic short story anthologies, and in some cases bound collections of previously published comic-book series.”

Essentially, the major difference is the length and complexity of the storyline, as well as the “mature” nature. But, there are plenty of graphic novels that don’t have content considered to be mature.

One aspect of reading is the opportunity to allow your imagination to run off with the story, giving you, the reader, a large role in how the story “shows” on the screen of your mind. With graphic novels, much of the imagery is taken care of for you and therefore it is a much more active relationship between the author/artist and the reader, compared to that of the print only page.

Some readers may recall from their youth the comics called “Classics Illustrated,” great literature that was reduced to comic form. They may also recall Will Eisner, a comic artist who took a very pragmatic approach to getting people to better understand the genre of comics as storytelling. This often is the biggest hurdle - seeing the graphic novel as a “real” form of literature. After having read Donald Duck and Batman comics in our youth, many of us don’t take this material seriously.

One great way to better understand this fascinating form of literature is to read Scott McCloud’s book, Understanding Comics, available through the catalog from many libraries in the Network. He provides a wonderful discussion on the way the art form can so effectively tell a story through the use of light, dark, drawing style, the way the different panels are laid out on a page, and much more. After reading this book, of course presented in a graphic format, you will have a much greater appreciation of the genre. I strongly recommend it.

So what sort of graphic novels are there? “Classics Illustrated” books still exist and they cover all sorts of things, such Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo or William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. For something lighter, try French author Herge’ and his The Adventures of Tin Tin. But, those recommendations are still basically comics in their form and storytelling style.

The wider popularity of the genre was kick started by Art Spiegelman with his book Maus. This story took the reader into the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps that his parents survived and the long term affects the experience had on his family. It was a huge success and a challenging read. More recently, he wrote, In the Shadow of No Towers, about the aftermath and effect of the attacks on the Twin Towers .

There are many contemporary authors who have had their work translated into this form such as fantasy writer Neil Gaiman and his Sandman series. Famed graphic novelist Osamu Tesuka has written a six volume, soon to be eight volume set entitled Budda, about the life of Siddhartha Gautama and the people around him. He wanders between a period relevant story and odd additions of modern

There are titles for teens in the Japanese style called Manga. They are even printed in the Japanese format, reading from what we call back to front, bound on the right side, versus the left.

Some stories are fantasy, some are non-fiction, some are just odd. There are storylines that will challenge your thinking and there are some solely throw away, fun reads. Just like in the printed only versions of novels, there is a wide variety of tales to read.

Summer is a great time to treat yourself to new reading experiences. Use the hottest part of the day to catch up on things you have long intended to read, or even to explore new genres, such as graphic novels. I hope that you take a bit of time to explore this form of storytelling as it offers a new form of storytelling too often overlooked. Give them a try!