Comments on: Graphic novels vs comic books

By: Colin Corneau

Colin Corneau — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:02:59 +0000

I always saw a re-imagining of Archie comics as having Moose imprisoned for stalking Midge, and maybe beating Reggie so badly as to cause his hospitalization.

Seriously — that guy’s insane jealousy of Midge had “abuser” written all over it.

Jughead had to have had some kind of drug problem, and Ethel would somehow be revealed as his transsexual alter-ego.

By: Grant Hamilton

Grant Hamilton — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 21:24:17 +0000

I would buy that Archie!

No seriously, that would be a fantastic reimagining.

By: Colin Corneau

Colin Corneau — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:56:07 +0000

Only if Archie were a conflicted, morally-ambiguous anti-hero roaming a post-apocalyptic landscape.

And wouldn’t that be just the coolest.

By: michelle buhr

michelle buhr — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 15:12:45 +0000

your definition would make archie digests… graphic novels?

By: Grant Hamilton

Grant Hamilton — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 01:54:07 +0000

Actually no, Colin — American money is different colours than Canadian money.

I kid!!

By: Colin Corneau

Colin Corneau — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:49:08 +0000

I guess I’m a geek (and a tardy one, at that) for getting beat to the punch on answering “Che” and “Louis Riel” for biographical comic novels. I have both of ‘em and they’re great. In fact, a former acquaintance of mine who taught university First Nations studies borrowed the Louis Riel novel to look into using it for her course.

As to slack-jaws not knowing the difference…well, their money is the same colour as anyone else’s, no?

By: Pat J

Pat J — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:26:57 +0000

Let’s all be thankful that no one calls them “Grapp-Hick” novels. ...which made me flash back to Quantum Mechanics, and its punningly-named bra-ket notation.

By: Grant Hamilton

Grant Hamilton — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 18:34:05 +0000

@Pat: That’s precisely the one I was thinking of. Although, you’re right, it has numerous fictional elements.

@Keith: That strikes me as over-wordy. Could we call them “chap-book comics”?

Let’s all be thankful that no one calls them “Grapp-Hick” novels.

By: T. Keith Edmunds

T. Keith Edmunds — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:58:51 +0000

Graphic novels can be all sorts of things. Pat mentioned “Louis Riel,” but there is also a graphic novel biography of Che and numerous memoirs in the format. Granted, the “novel” part of “graphic novel” then causes all sorts of other grumblings. I don’t want to deal with them. I only wanted to make the break between graphic novels and comics.

I can’t immediately think of an instance where a graphic novel was broken into comic books, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it had happened. I would call this “a serialization of a graphic novel into comic book form.” How does that strike you?

By: Pat J

Pat J — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:49:31 +0000

The battle between “graphic novel” and “comic book” strikes me as being about as unwinnable as the tripartite one between “geek”, “nerd”, and “dorkwad”.

Grant
Does a “graphic novel” have to be fictional? Could it be, say, a biography?

See Louis Riel by Chester Brown for that. (Though, to be fair, it’s a fictionalized biography.)

By: Grant Hamilton

Grant Hamilton — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:40:20 +0000

I always considered the “graphic novel” format to be a subset of the “comic book” genre. Similarly, “novels” in general are a subset of “books” in general.

Two questions for you to satisfy my curiosity:
1) Does a “graphic novel” have to be fictional? Could it be, say, a biography?
2) What about a graphic novel that is published, then later broken up into comic book components? Would you refer to these as “comic books” in your opinion? Or would they be more like “chapters”?