Last Saturday (May 2nd) is Free Comic Book Day! In celebration of comics and graphic novels, some suggestions:
– Do you read graphic novels/comics? Why do/don’t you enjoy them?
– How would you describe the difference between “graphic novel” and “comic”? Is there a difference at all?
– Say you have a friend who’s never encountered graphic novels. Recommend some titles you consider landmark/”canonical”.
I don’t really. I did read Watchmen and I enjoyed it, though, so I’m open to reading more. I’ve just started reading Elfquest online. I have a book, Letters To Jenny, by Piers Anthony, and in his letters to this poor girl, Jenny Gildwarg, who has been hit by a drunk driver and seriously brain damaged, he mentions Richard and Wendy Pini a lot, so I’ve always wanted to read their series. I think it stuck in my head because I really liked Letters to Jenny. I was a kid, and I thought Piers Anthony was funny and I was glad he was nice enough to keep up such a correspondence with her and help her recover. I always wondered what happened to her after the end of the letters in the book, although after some quick online searching it appears she was in college in 2006.
Anyway, that’s not what the question is about, is it? Heh. I’d also really like to read Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series, but have mostly been waiting to have a decent enough library so I can see if I like it before I start to pay for it. I have a couple of friends who read comics and I’ve had peeks at theirs and in the comic book store, but I’ve always strayed to the lone shelf of science fiction books when there, so I can’t really say too much. I know there is also a Firefly series continuation of some sort and I can’t say I’d be opposed to that either, so I guess I would be willing to read them. I just haven’t for some reason!
I guess to me, the difference between comics and graphic novels is probably very small these days and I’m not the person to judge. If I had to, I’d say comics are short, always a series, and possibly lighter than graphic novels, which I would envision at least as being a shorter series if not a contained work dealing with bigger consequences. Is that anywhere near right?
Such a fun question this week!! And so timely for me. I just finished my first 2 graphic novels last week!
Happy Thursday!
stephanie’s last blog post..Booking Through Thursday – Graphic
Say what?! A Firefly comic book series?! *scurries over to BookMooch and PBS to get some* I’m a bit of a Firefly fan
The Kool-Aid Mom’s last blog post..BTT ~ Do You Hafta Be So Graphic?!
I don’t read a ton of graphic novels but I loved Epileptic by David B. It was incredible.
jess’s last blog post..Talking with Joshua Henkin
I’m like number 177 out of over 200 for Watchmen from the library. I figure to read it sometime before the Mayan End of the World in 2012.
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Well my answer was different, here, but that doesn’t necessarily make one right and one wrong, does it?
I discovered graphic novels this year and was surprised at how much I like them. But I have so many other books to read, I doubt I’ll return to the format for a while.
Beth F’s last blog post..Thursday Tea (May 7): The Killing Frost by John Marsden
I have to agree with you when you said that there’s not so much difference now between a graphic novel & a comic, though I did start off trying to figure it out when I was younger. I’ve been reading comics/graphic novels even as a child so I never really had the mindset that it was strictly a kid thing. Hehe. Sandman’s always a good start, but I also recommend trying out some Japanese comics (the translated ones, of course). My answer can be found here. Cheers!
I really don’t know the difference between the two. I’ve read a few graphic novels and they’re bound differently than I remember comics being bound. Of course, all of that could have changed since my Archie comic reading days.
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By all means do read The Sandman!! It’s still my favourite thing Neil Gaiman’s done, and since he’s my favourite author, that’s saying a lot.
I remember reading that the difference in the terms doesn’t have to do with content or themes, but with the way they’re published: comics are weekly or monthly or whatever, graphic novels are published in book format. Of course, a lot of comics go on to be collected and published as graphic novels: Watchmen, Fables, The Sandman, etc. So the terms are mostly interchangeable these days.