Graphic novel

Graphic novel is a term for a kind of comic book, usually with long and fairly complex storylines and often aimed at more mature audiences. However, the term is not strictly delimited, and can be notoriously difficult to pin down. It is often used to imply subjective distinctions in artistic quality between graphic novels and other kinds of comics which can be quite controversial. Graphic novels often encompass several separate issues of comic books and can be published over a period of several months or years and then republished in larger volumes.

History

The term "graphic novel" was popularized by Will Eisner after it appeared on the cover of the trade paperback (though not on the hardcover edition) edition of A Contract with God, and Other Tenement Stories in 1978, a mature, complex work focusing on the lives of ordinary people in the real world. The label "graphic novel" was intended to distinguish it from traditional comic books, with which it shared a storytelling medium. Eisner cited as inspiration the 1930s books of Lynd Ward, who produced complete novels in woodcuts. The critical and commercial success of A Contract with God helped to establish the term "graphic novel" in common usage, and many sources have incorrectly credited Eisner with being the first to use it.

Related Topics:
Will Eisner - Trade paperback - Hardcover - A Contract with God, and Other Tenement Stories - Comic book - Lynd Ward - Woodcut

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In fact, it was used as early as November 1964 by Richard Kyle in CAPA-ALPHA #2, a newsletter published by the Comic Amateur Press Alliance, and again in Kyle's Fantasy Illustrated #5 (Spring 1966). In 1976 the term appeared in connection with three separate works: Bloodstar by Richard Corben (adapted from a story by Robert E. Howard) used the term on its cover. George Metzger's Beyond Time and Again, serialized in underground comics from 1967-72, was subtitled "A Graphic Novel" on the inside title page when collected as a 48-page, black-and-white, hardcover book published by Kyle & Wheary. ' by Jim Steranko used the term "graphic novel" in its introduction and was labelled "a visual novel" on the cover, although Chandler is more commonly considered an illustrated novel than a work of comics.

Related Topics:
1964 - Richard Kyle - Fantasy Illustrated - 1966 - 1976 - Bloodstar - Richard Corben - Robert E. Howard - George Metzger - Beyond Time and Again - Underground comics - Jim Steranko - Illustrated novel - Comics

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Since the term came into use, it has been applied retroactively to various works which did not use the term but fit (or nearly fit) the popular modern usage. These prototypical examples include Milt Gross's He Done Her Wrong (1930), a wordless comic published in book format; Gil Kane's self-published, magazine-format comics novel, His Name is... Savage (1968, the same year Marvel Comics published two issues of the similarly magazine-format The Spectacular Spider-Man); and Kane's illustrated novel Blackmark (1971), a sword-and-sorcery paperback published by Bantam.

Related Topics:
Milt Gross's - 1930 - Gil Kane - His Name is... Savage - Marvel Comics - The Spectacular Spider-Man - Blackmark - Sword-and-sorcery

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Another often-cited example is ' by writer Don McGregor and artist Paul Gulacy (Eclipse Books, October 1978). Calling itself a "graphic album," it marked the first time that an original heroic-adventure character in the American comic-book tradition was conceived expressly for the graphic-novel form.

Related Topics:
Don McGregor - Paul Gulacy - Eclipse Books

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One could also classify the long-form sequential woodcut albums by Belgian Frans Masereel, such as Passionate Journey, as early forms of graphic novel.

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