Graphic novel

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Graphic novels

Graphic Novel ( German illustrated novel , comic novel , graphic novel ) is a term for comics in book format that has been popular since the 1980s and is adopted from the United States . Due to their narrative complexity, they are often aimed at an adult target group. The term represents an attempt to differentiate longer and often advertised as thematically demanding comics from conventional western comic books and albums, which should also be expressed by the large-scale sale through bookstores. The term also meets with strong rejection in parts of the comic industry.

designation

Although the term graphic novel is used by retailers as well as by consumers and critics, it cannot be clearly defined. Often, longer, usually one-volume comics are called that, which tell epic , sometimes complex stories without being limited to a predefined number of pages . A graphic novel does not have to be a self-contained work, but can also belong to a larger overall work, such as the Sandman volumes by Neil Gaiman . The term is often associated with the idea of ​​a serious comic that builds a story like a literary work and thus differs from comics for children and young people. Since it is also used by the industry for collections and one-shots , this description can only reflect one aspect of the graphic novels. The American television broadcaster NBC goes one step further and even refers to six-page comic short stories for the television series Heroes , which are offered free of charge on the broadcaster's website, as "graphic novels" instead of simply as "comics".

German-speaking area

Publishers and journalists who want to avoid the original term, perceived as Anglicism, often resort to their own translations in the absence of an established German term. For example, the German wordings “graphic novella”, “graphic novella”, “graphic novel” or “ visual novel”, none of which have really caught on so far. The magazine Reddition , which has been in existence since 1984, also tries to coined an independent German term with its subtitle Zeitschrift für Graphische Literatur (introduced in 1991) . Comic publishers such as Panini and Carlsen , on the other hand, also use the original term in German.

history

The historian David A. Beronä sees the roots of modern graphic novels in the expressionist series of pictures v. a. by Frans Masereel , Otto Nückel , Helena Bochořáková-Dittrichová and Lynd Ward . In their books, these artists told sometimes complex stories without words and thus established the genre of the woodcut novel in the 1920s .

Columnist Steven Grant describes Gil Kane's His Name is… Savage as the first graphic novel from 1968 because it meets the criteria of “length” and “three-part structure”. Steve Ditko counts in his opinion with his work for Dr. Strange because of the dramaturgy of the story and the development of the characters to become the first authors of graphic novels. Nevertheless, the introduction of the term Will Eisner is attributed.

Will Eisner wrote in 1978 four short stories that he shared in a book entitled A Contract with God (dt. A Contract with God ) brought out. He himself named his 178-page work on the title page and in the foreword Graphic Novel , in the German edition in 1980 it became a story in two thousand and one in the publishing house . In 2007 Carlsen re-used graphic novel on the cover.

Eisner wanted to create a book with lasting value that was different from the weekly disposable comic books. He developed each story freely, regardless of space requirements or panel arrangement . Already in his negotiations with possible publishers, he used the term graphic novel in order not to devalue his work by the usual term comic book .

Eisner associated the term primarily with the content of the works:

"The future of the graphic novels lies in the choice of worthwhile themes and the innovation of exposition."

"The future of graphic novels lies in the choice of worthwhile topics and in the innovation of the presentation."

- Will Eisner : Comics & Sequential Art . Poorhouse Press, 28th edition 2006, p. 141.

A contract with God is a serious work that used the narrative possibilities of comics in a reflective manner. The use of the term moved away from the similarities in content to Eisner's work and was increasingly used for all comic publications that appeared in book form. Aviva Rothschild continued Graphic Novels in her monograph in 1995 . A Bibliographic Guide to Book-Length Comics already in the title both views on equal terms and thus also included anthologies of comics previously published in booklet form.

Examples

A selection of well-known works that are commonly referred to as graphic novels :

One of the most successful graphic novels in the United States was Neil Gaiman's The Sandman - Endless Nights (2003), which reached number 20 on the New York Times bestseller list , making it the first and only graphic novel to ever appear on the list . In the North American comics scene, graphic novels are a marginal phenomenon alongside the normal, higher-circulation magazine comics.

criticism

The term is u. a. Rejected by notable comic book creators such as Daniel Clowes , Alan Moore and Seth . The central argument of the critics is that the narrative complexity advertised is purely subjective and that the bond and distribution channel are the only factual differences between comics and graphic novels. Another - often raised - point of criticism is the assumption that there are purely commercial interests behind the term and that the term suggests to the reader that a graphic novel is automatically more demanding than a conventional comic. Above all, it is criticized that the term graphic novel does not help the comic to a higher reputation, but instead underpins the common prejudice that comics are aimed exclusively at children, while the graphic novel is solely aimed at an adult audience.

In contrast to regional formats, such as B. Manga , Manhwa or the Franco-Belgian Bande Dessinée , the graphic novel, according to the distribution principle of many publishers, does not see itself as a genre of comics or as a genre of sequential art, but much more as a separate literary section.

In this context, Alan Moore often criticized the fact that many American titles that previously appeared as comic books are later published very often in anthologies (so-called trade paperbacks), which are often advertised as graphic novels. In this context, when asked what he thought of the term graphic novel in 2000, he said :

“The problem is that 'graphic novel' just came to mean 'expensive comic book' and so what you'd get is people like DC Comics or Marvel comics - because 'graphic novels' were getting some attention, they'd stick six issues of whatever worthless piece of crap they happened to be publishing lately under a glossy cover and call it The She-Hulk Graphic Novel, you know? "

"The problem is that 'graphic novel' just took on the meaning of 'expensive comic', and so it happens today that people like DC Comics or Marvel Comics - because 'graphic novels' got some attention, they just stick six Issues of some worthless crap they just happened to put out under a shiny cover and call it the She-Hulk Graphic Novel, you know? "

- Alan Moore

Web links

literature

  • Paul Gravett: Graphic Novels. Stories to Change Your Life. Aurum Press, London 2005, ISBN 1-84513-068-5 (English.)
  • Felix Giesa: Graphic Telling of Adolescence: German-Language Author's Comics after 2000 (= Children's and Youth Culture, Literature and Media , Volume 97), Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2015, ISBN 978-3-631-66454-4 (Dissertation University of Cologne 2014).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Heroes Novels, Heroes Books & Comics. NBC , archived from the original on January 26, 2009 ; accessed on March 25, 2017 (English).
  2. ↑ Official advertising text for Watchmen - The Complete Motion Comic , to be found at Amazon.de , among others , accessed on March 25, 2017.
  3. ↑ Stefan Pannor: "The Monster in the Folding Bed" , Spiegel Online , July 2, 2004. Accessed December 14, 2009.
  4. ↑ Mona Sarkis: There are people who are even more afraid than we are , Telepolis , May 3, 2008. Accessed December 14, 2009.
  5. ↑ Madame Bovary with Speech Bubbles - On the Unstoppable Rise of Graphic Novels (manuscript) . DLR culture. May 1, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  6. ↑ Marvel Graphic Novel 12: Wolverine: Logan at Paninicomics.de. Accessed March 25, 2017.
  7. ↑ Carlsen graphic novel at Carlsen.de. Accessed March 25, 2017.
  8. ↑ David A. Beronä: Wordless books. The original graphic novels . Abrams, New York 2008, ISBN 978-0-8109-9469-0 .
  9. ↑ Steven Grant: Master of the Obvious. In: Comicbooksresources.com. December 28, 2005, archived from the original on October 14, 2007 ; accessed on March 25, 2017 (English).
  10. ↑ Andreas C. Knigge: Everything about comics . Europa Verlag, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-203-79115-3 , p. 322.
  11. ^ Andrew D. Arnold: The Graphic Novel Silver Anniversary , TIME November 14, 2003.
  12. ↑ Scott McCloud: Reinventing Comics . Carlsen Verlag, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-551-74793-8 , p. 32.
  13. ↑ ( page no longer available , search in web archives: www.aloisnebel.cz ) (engl.)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.aloisnebel.cz
  14. ↑ Barry Kavanagh: The Alan Moore Interview: Northampton / "Graphic novel" . On: blather.net, October 17, 2000.