Graphic Novels vs. Comics

Hold onto your hats, it's windy 🌬 out there!  You might get blown off your reading course, take a left turn, and land on a stack of graphic novels or comic books.  For this week's blog, I have asked my eight year old granddaughter to join us for a discussion of all things in the arena of graphic novels.  A solid foundation might be the place to start.  Do you know what a graphic novel is?  I didn't until Maggie started talking about it and delving into the stories she enjoyed.  

Encyclopedia Britannica defines a graphic novel in this way:

"A graphic novel, in American and British usage, a type of text combining words and images—essentially a comic, although the term most commonly refers to a complete story presented as a book rather than a periodical." 

That seems pretty simple, straight-forward even, but there’s more to it, as I was so primly informed. In fact, Maggie would dispute the “essentially a comic” phrase. She loves graphic novels and doesn’t enjoy comics at all.  In her mind, and I’m sure others, there are key differences, some of them very significant.  For instance, comics are picture oriented, while graphic novels are book-like, with more words than pictures.  For devoted readers this is an important distinction.  Let’s take a look at one of each:

Dog Man, by Dave Pilkey, is one of Maggie’s favorite graphic novels, she has all the current books in the series, and is waiting for a new release in December.  “What a coincidence, just in time for Christmas!”  I was told. There are great, colorful illustrations and a storyline that carries through each book.

While X-Men, by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee, is more of a traditional comic book, this one released in 1991. The story is told through more pictures and fewer words. 

Maggie's clear favorite is the graphic novel genre.  It was the media that really got her reading independently and collecting so many of the available series. I think they kicked off a lifelong love of reading!  While it might not be the reading path your child or grandchild chooses, there are lots of options out there.

One of the places where graphic novels and other books converge are older chapter books remade into graphics.  For instance, The Baby Sitters Club, by Ann M. Martin. If you put the old version alongside the new graphic novels you will see some differences pretty quickly.  The graphic novel version of these books is visually different with updated settings, clothing and hairstyles, but the biggest difference are the actual stories. Some of the storylines are (in my daughter’s opinion) more mature than the original novels and the characters some might call “catty".  If you are a sensitive reader, like my granddaughter, you might find some of the characters  “mean”. Yes, these are just opinions, but devoted readers value others' thoughts and reviews.   

When asked about a favorite, Maggie said she's read so many graphics she couldn’t name just one.  Her love of this genre continues and grows.  For her birthday this year, I started her on a new series, Animal Rescue Friends, which she seems to enjoy.  Maybe one of your readers will too.  Just this past weekend we visited a new independent bookstore in Houston, called Good on Paper.  It’s only been open a couple of weeks, but looks to be a reader favorite, if foot traffic is any indicator.  While there, we picked up another book in a graphic novel series called, The InvestiGators.  It’s becoming the new Maggie approved graphic novel.

Whether you enjoy a good graphic novel, comic book or chapter book, I can't think of anything better than helping a child find her/his way to a love of reading. Nothing makes me happier than to hear Maggie ask for more reading time before "lights out" or see her pick up a book five minutes before leaving for school. She uses her time very wisely!

"To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is to light a spark."