Special Topics Paper: Graphic novels
For this post I took some of the strongest sentiments from my paper since I already grossly summarized multiple topics in it and summarizing it more would trivalize the points that I was illustrating. If anyone is interested in my full paper please let me know and I would be happy to share.
In 2018, Black Panther made over $1.3 billion and still was only the second highest-grossing movie that year. The honor of being the highest-grossing movie was given to Avengers: Infinity War, which earned a staggering $2 billion (boxofficemojo.com, 2019). Both of these movies were adaptations (or at least inspired by) graphic novels of these characters. So what makes graphic novels so interesting that they are able to make over $3 billion? The goal of this paper is to explore the history of graphic novels and look at what people like about them in order to have a better understanding of what to keep in mind when recommending them to a patron.
With all of that in mind, we now come to the question of, “What is important to keep in mind when suggesting graphic novels to a patron or friend?” Graphic novels are in a unique position to be both a book and a visual medium so it is important to take into account factors that you would when recommending a book as well as recommending a movie to them. So some factors that need to be taken into account are art style and how the patron feel about pictorial depictions of certain events. For example, a novel about ghosts might be light hearted but in a graphic novel if the art is done in a scary or gruesome way some readers might be turned off to it. In general, when doing reader’s advisory for graphic novels, a librarian should take into consideration all the factors that they do when they perform reader’s advisory for a book. They should establish the genre that the patron is looking for and then dive more deeply into what about that genre the patron likes. Do they like realistic science fiction? Then Watchmen might be a good choice with its more subdued art style and science fiction setting. Do they like horror for its dark a claustrophobic feel? Then Hellboy might be a good fit with its dark panels and showing the hero against large monsters (Webb, 2019).
As libraries continue to grow, so does the demand for graphic novels (MacDonald, 2017). Though they started as simple one panel cartoons, graphic novels are now a large industry that tells stories of all genres and imparts information in a visual way. They are popular for many reasons including being a newer medium to covey ideas through and being a more visual way to consume stories on a page. They can be difficult to perform reader’s advisory for since they have more things that they need to take into account, but in the end you just need to listen to what a patron is saying and what they like about a genre or topic to be able to give great reader’s advisory advice.
In 2018, Black Panther made over $1.3 billion and still was only the second highest-grossing movie that year. The honor of being the highest-grossing movie was given to Avengers: Infinity War, which earned a staggering $2 billion (boxofficemojo.com, 2019). Both of these movies were adaptations (or at least inspired by) graphic novels of these characters. So what makes graphic novels so interesting that they are able to make over $3 billion? The goal of this paper is to explore the history of graphic novels and look at what people like about them in order to have a better understanding of what to keep in mind when recommending them to a patron.
With all of that in mind, we now come to the question of, “What is important to keep in mind when suggesting graphic novels to a patron or friend?” Graphic novels are in a unique position to be both a book and a visual medium so it is important to take into account factors that you would when recommending a book as well as recommending a movie to them. So some factors that need to be taken into account are art style and how the patron feel about pictorial depictions of certain events. For example, a novel about ghosts might be light hearted but in a graphic novel if the art is done in a scary or gruesome way some readers might be turned off to it. In general, when doing reader’s advisory for graphic novels, a librarian should take into consideration all the factors that they do when they perform reader’s advisory for a book. They should establish the genre that the patron is looking for and then dive more deeply into what about that genre the patron likes. Do they like realistic science fiction? Then Watchmen might be a good choice with its more subdued art style and science fiction setting. Do they like horror for its dark a claustrophobic feel? Then Hellboy might be a good fit with its dark panels and showing the hero against large monsters (Webb, 2019).
As libraries continue to grow, so does the demand for graphic novels (MacDonald, 2017). Though they started as simple one panel cartoons, graphic novels are now a large industry that tells stories of all genres and imparts information in a visual way. They are popular for many reasons including being a newer medium to covey ideas through and being a more visual way to consume stories on a page. They can be difficult to perform reader’s advisory for since they have more things that they need to take into account, but in the end you just need to listen to what a patron is saying and what they like about a genre or topic to be able to give great reader’s advisory advice.
Hi Zack! These are some great points about how readers' advisory can look when a patron wants a graphic novel recommendation. In a way, you are describing integrated advisory because you used titles in one format (book) to shape your recommendation for a title in another format (graphic novel.) I think you're spot on when you say graphic novels are so diverse that there is something that will appeal to fans of any genre. I like to read memoirs, for example, and one of the few graphic novels I've read is Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, a graphic novel about a woman whose father owned a funeral home.
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