Posted: 06 August 2018 at 12:34pm | IP Logged | 1
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I joined a book club two months ago. We meet up and discuss various books, themes, etc (rather than traditionally tackling one book). I am the only one who reads graphic novels there, and I was happy to discuss them.
But I've always had an issue with the terminology.
I think it can be a tad pretentious for starters. What's wrong with a term such as "Comic Book Novel" or "Comic Novel"?
It's used interchangeably with collected editions. Correct me if I'm wrong, but six collected issues of WEB OF SPIDER-MAN doesn't constitute a 'graphic novel'.
Two people in my life, who were "civilians", thought graphic pertained to something sexual. A Twitter pal, who only got into comics in 2016 when she watched some Marvel films, thought it was sexual. She assumed the "graphic" in novel meant adult themes. Although I've only known two people who have thought that, are there others?
I've never liked the term. For me, it's problematic. And involves getting tongue-tied. One person said to me, "So it's a novel, what does the graphic mean?" I explained about the visual aspects, the comic medium, etc. But I am of the belief that if you have to take long explaining something, maybe it doesn't work. Maybe I could explain "Comic Book Novel" easily; maybe a "civilian" would make a quick presumption and ask, "Ah, so a feature-length comic, then?"
Maybe I'm wrong. If the term was different, I have zero evidence that "Comic Book Novel" would be more accessible a term or "civilians" would get it. I just find that I get the same questions from people who don't watch them. I lent a graphic novel to a friend years ago - and when she opened it, she said something like, "Oh, it's got pictures in, I didn't realise."
Maybe it's my social circle. Maybe it's me not being articulate. I just don't like the phrase. Never have.
To summarize, I think it's pretentious ("Oh, my newspaper won't dare review those pesky comics, but we'll review graphic novels!"); it's used far too interchangeably with trade paperbacks; and I don't think it's an accessible phrase.
Thoughts?
Edited by Robbie Parry on 06 August 2018 at 12:34pm
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