Jim Bone LIS 403LE Anna L.
Nielsen 11/30/04 Paper for Final Project
Graphic Novels, Libraries and Literacy
In the last ten years or so, the graphic novel has taken its place among the most popular of publications. As a result of this popularity, and in response to the desires of their patrons, the graphic novel has found its way more and more frequently in to many library collections. It is amazing to those who have had any long term involvement with comic books (the direct ancestor of most graphic novels), either in the industry itself or as a collector, that the form has come to be so accepted as to appear in the stacks of our local public libraries. he irony
here is made manifold by the fact that !ust fifty years ago the comic book was blamed for and believed to be the main cause of !uvenile delinquency in the "nited #tates. he $%olden Age& of comics was the period !ust prior to and during 'orld 'ar II. 'ith the appearance of (ee )alk*s he +hantom in Ace ,omics -o. .. in ./01, comic books had their first costumed hero. his set the stage for
#uperman and the proliferation of superheroic comics that would follow. In addition, with war raging in 2urope and coming soon for America, the heroes
versus -azi theme ran wild through comics. 3y the end of ./40, publishers were selling 56 million copies a month and the industry was worth 708,888,888. 'ith the end of the war in ./46, comics were suddenly in less demand. his was attributed to two main vectors9 .) hordes of soldiers that had been buying them no longer were in the service and therefore lost interest in purchasing them, and 5) the comics themselves no longer had the unifying theme of $defeating the nazis& to sustain the public:s interest and failed to find newer, compelling themes in a timely manner. In an attempt to increase readership, some publishers that had produced super hero books switched to other genres completely. wo that proved quite popular were crime and horror, both featuring realistic violence. he remaining
superhero titles continued to struggle, eventually taking a backseat altogether to crime, western, and romance comics. 3y ./41, )awcett*s western title ;opalong ,assidy was selling an incredible eight million copies (this is !ust an insane number, never seen before or since in the history of the industry) per month. 3y comparison, the single highest selling issue of the modern era, #pawn < ., sold ..= million copies in >ay of .//5. ,ompare these two books with the top ten selling books today9 .) 'olverine <. (.?1,568) 5) 3atman <?.6 (.65,?=?) 0) "ltimates <.8 (...,106) 4) "ltimate #pider@>an <48 (..8,=86) 6) "ltimate #pider@>an <4. (.81,/./) ?) -ew A@>en <.4. (.8.,6.4) =) Amazing #pider@>an <60 (.8.,414) 1) "ncanny A@>en <454 (.88,5=1)
/) "ltimate A@>en (/1,?=6) .8) Benom <. (/1,..8) -ewsarama . -o comic book today sells in the millions per month, but many sell in the .=8,888 to .88,888 range. he modern market has become much wider, offering
hundreds more titles per month than during the $golden age& and the readership is spread much more evenly across those titles. "nfortunately, the public backlash against the new sub!ect matter portrayed in comic books was severe. Cne of the most important driving forces behind this upheaval was the psychiatrist )redric 'ertham. During the late ./48s, Dr. 'ertham published several articles critical of the comics industry. ,ombined with skillful manipulation of the media and the ./64 publication of his book, Seduction of the Innocent, his campaign generated so much public outrage that it lead to a congressional investigation of the comic book industry. 'ertham actually said that, $;itler was a beginner compared to the comic book industry. hey get the children much younger ("###IED"# /).F he public outcry
instigated by 'ertham was one of the most important reasons that comics lost their place in mainstream media. Gather than accept government censorship, the comic book industry banded together to form a code for self@policing. he ./64 ,omics ,ode, adopted by the ,omics >agazine Association of America, established strict standards for the depiction of crime, authority figures, religion, weapons, violence, seH, and marriage (,omicartville .). 'hile it allowed the industry to avoid a confrontation with the government, it was so restricting that it damaged
the quality of stories that could be told. )or the neHt decade, comics would be almost completely devoted to telling stories of romance and science. A logical question at this point would be why libraries would ever want to collect these materials. 3eginning in the ./18s, a combination of changes in distribution reducing the financial risk to publishers, influence from high quality foreign publications, and the erosion of the ,omics ,ode allowed by distance in time from the days of Seduction of the Innocent led to a dramatic improvement in the kinds and quality of books being produced. In con!unction with this, the comics industry began a serious push in the publishing of high@quality original works. he most important of these was probably the +ulitzer winning Maus: A Survivor s Tale by Art #piegelman that described his father:s eHperiences in a -azi internment camp. During this same time period, long time comic publishers, most notably >arvel and D,, realized (much as Disney had many years earlier) that the comic book marketplace had a built in re!uvenating aspect to itI every 6 to = years, a new group of consumers $found& and were attracted to their products. 3oth companies, and eventually their smaller brethren, began repackaging the best of their previous comics in the graphic novel format as well as producing new, original offerings. he graphic novel turned out to be an economic godsend for the comic book market as a whole. he materials, in the case of collections of previously
published issues (usually ? to .5 issue storylines), were already paid for in as far as artists, writers, etc. were concerned. he only costs incurred were those for
printing, not creating, the graphic novels. In the case of new, original work, the quality of the paper and printing made the graphic novels stand out from the crowd of monthly comic books and became huge publication $events& in their own right. he outcome for the comic book publishers was a very serious
increase in their bottom lines and has made the industry as a whole very healthy. As graphic novels have become more popular and accepted as a legitimate literary and artistic form, they have become more in demand by the public and therefore more prevalent in public and school library collections. his is very eHciting for many in the library profession as graphic novels seem ideally suited for use in literacy effortsI $Bisual communication is rich, evocative, and immediate, and transcends barriers that language sometimes raises. 'hen pictures and words are used together to communicate, the result can be much greater than either alone could produce ( homsen .).& he comic industry itself is starting to recognize its newfound niche in libraries and schoolsI they now have a standing yearly panel at the largest comic convention, the #an Diego ,omic@,on entitled $ The Secret Origin of Good Readers. During this session, $panelists will discuss and show how teachers, librarians, comic stores, and comic book publishers can work together to bring comic books into the classroom for use as an innovative and motivating teaching tool (;ill .).& -ow that the first step, the inclusion of these materials in public and school libraries, has been taken, (ibrarians and teachers must become familiar with the elements of this resurgent, but still mostly mysterious genre.
o make full use of a graphic novel collection, a librarian or teacher must first have some understanding of it. A number of tools eHist to make this easier. #everal quality websites are available. -o )lying, -o ights and ,omics %et #erious have good collections of reviews that can help a librarian get started. A good book about comics can also be useful. #cott >c,loud:s Understanding Comics is a graphic novel written to describe how the comics format works. Cne difficulty for librarians and teachers in understanding their graphic novel collections is that comics are read differently than books. hey are not read left@to@right, top@to@bottom. Instead, the action flows from panel to panel in a variety of ways. he illustrations are an integral part of the story, and have their own rules and conventions. It is necessary to understand the pictures in order to fully understand the teHt. hey each inform the other, which is one of the
reasons that graphic novels are useful in literacy efforts9 'e, as educators of young and old alike, have always known that reading is a series of skills9 questioning, visualizing, inferring, predicting, connecting and responding to name a few. 'ith graphic novels, the scaffolding necessary to build solid readers is in the architecture of the genre. he illustrations not only support the teHt, they are a part of the teHt. #tudents are given conteHt clues within the subtle and sometime not so subtle eHpressions, symbols and actions of the characters within the story. Bocabulary is also supported within the illustrations and teHt. he framework or grid layout of this art form lends itself perfectly to the predicting strategies needed to reach higher@level understanding in reading comprehension. +ennella ,ommon conventions in comics may be confusing to those unfamiliar with the medium. he use of a series of punctuation marks to indicate cursing and or
anger (J<7K), the use of $speed lines& to indicate movement, the convention of adding a panel that appears to be a non sequitur to add emphasis ($3A-%& to indicate a loud noise or a frame of one character hitting another over the head with a giant mallet to denote anger) are all confusing to the casual reader. Cwing to the early history of the medium as unsophisticated fringe material, most librarians are at best casual readers of comics (ibrarians and teachers must also know the group to be served. %raphic novels have traditionally been seen as useful with reluctant readers, especially boys ages .5 to .4. 'ith new publications that handle broader topics, the audience is changing. According to 2llis and ;ighsmith, $the appeal to adolescent power fantasies remains, but other interest has broadened considerably. #everal contemporary series appeal to women and girlsL(5/).& his is not to say that girls don:t want power fantasies, but they might identify with a different sort of character, a female one, for a start. (iteracy efforts have traditionally focused not on adolescents, but on younger students. And some reading eHperts are worried that with most reform efforts being directed at students in the third grade or lower, another crisis is being ignored. 2ven as elementary student scores on federal tests are increasing slightly, high school scores are declining. Cnly about one third of .5th@ graders were reading at a proficient level in 5885, down from 48 percent in .//5. Adolescent readers face a host of complicated problems, ranging from general reluctance to pick up a book to aliteracy, an inability to fully grasp the meaning of words. +roponents suggest that comic books and graphic novels can
help. )or the reluctant reader, they are absorbing. )or the struggling reader or the reader still learning 2nglish, they offer accessibility9 pictures for conteHt, and possibly an alternate path into classroom discussions of higher@level teHts. $Eust getting reluctant adolescents to read @ anything @ can be a boon to their discovery of the !oy of reading (Geynolds .5).& %raphic novels can help to eHpand vocabulary, and introduce the ideas of plot, pacing, and sequence. Another reason, suggested by specialists in reading and literacy, for using comics to help with adolescent literacy efforts is that comic book reading and other kinds of light reading may serve as an important bridge from everyday FconversationalF language to what eHperts term Facademic language (Mrashen 0?).F his view is supported by studies showing that comic book teHts contain
more rare words than ordinary conversation does (;ayes and Ahrens 480), as well as case histories of readers who credit comic books with providing them with the linguistic basis for reading more difficult teHts (e.g. >athabane). It is important to note that graphic novels need not be viewed as replacing classroom reading materialsI they are !ust as useful as supplements to regular classroom activities. )or eHample, if a /th grade class is reading 2dith ;amilton*s Mythology, the teacher can assign literature circle groups to read graphic novels about the more godlike superheroes. #tudents can read books like Superman For All Seasons, Kingdom Come or selections from The Sandman library to compare and contrast current envisionings of gods and demigods with those that make up %reek and Goman mythology.
If a class is reading The !iary "f Anne Fran# and there are students who may be struggling with the reading, the teacher may assign them to read Maus instead. Cnce both books are read, the class can compare the realism and content of both works that are centered on the ;olocaust. %raphic -ovels can be used in classes other than 2nglish as well. In order to drive home the point about safe seH or abstinence education, students in a health class can read $edro and Me, a story about +edro Namora of The %eal &orld fame, and his life with AID# and the education programs he participated in himself. hese are !ust a few of the possible uses of graphic novels found in
school libraries . +ublic libraries can serve their patrons by helping them form connections with other organizations and individuals with similar interests. A librarian that has knowledge of local events about comicsI local comic publishers, artists, or writersI fan websites, and other online forums can help their patrons make these connections. Aspiring young artists may become interested in drawing comics. 'riters may get interested in scripting them. he library can support these efforts by sponsoring workshops, again through the librarian:s knowledge of the local art, writing, and publishing world. 'ith the introduction of the 'orld 'ide 'eb, comics have gone online. o a librarian with the slightest knowledge of web publishing and free web server providers, the possibilities are enticing. It is possible to run a series of workshops introducing cartoonists to online publishing. And because many web comics are
free, the library can easily develop an online comic collection by adding a page of links to their site. he eHciting thing for a librarian with a graphic novel collection is the combination of the collection:s possibilities and its popularity. 'ith a bit of research and work on the part of the librarian, the collection could become the genesis for a colorful and popular children:s and young adult literacy program. And the best part is the participants won:t even know its overtly educational, they:ll !ust think its funO
Bibliography ,omicartville. ,ode of the ,omics >agazine Association. http9PPwww.comicartville.comPcomicscode.htm. Accessed ..P.5P84. Adopted on Cctober 5?, ./64. ,omics %et #erious. http9PPwww.noflyingnotights.comP. Accessed9 ..P/P84. 2llis, A, ;ighsmith, D. About face9 comic books in library literature. #erials Geview, 5?(5)9 5888. p.5.@40. ;ayes, D. and Ahrens, >. Bocabulary simplification for children9 A special case of FmothereseFQ Eournal of ,hild language. ./119 .6, 0/6@4.8. ;ill, Gobyn. #ecret Crigin of %ood Geaders. http9PPwww.night@ flight.comPsecretoriginPindeH.html. Accessed9 .8P5/P84. Mrashen, #. .//0. >athabane, >. Maffir boy. -ew Rork9 +lume, ./1?. >c,loud, #cott. "nderstanding ,omics. +erennial ,urrents, .//4. >c)arlane, odd. odd >c)arlane ,omplete 3iography. he power of reading. 2nglewood, ,olorado9 (ibraries "nlimited,
http9PPwww.mcfarlane.comPinfoPtoddPbio.long.aspH. Accessed9 ..P.=P84. -ewsarama. April 5880 #ales -umbers. http9PPwww.newsarama.comPApril80numbers.htm. Accessed9 ..P55P84. -o )lying, -o ights. http9PPwww.noflyingnotights.comP Accessed9 ..P/P84. +ennella, 3renda. %raphic -ovels9 he +C'O@er in the classroomO A eacher*s +erspective. http9PPwww.graphicnovels.brodart.comP teachersSperspective.htm. Accessed9 ..P85P84.
Geynolds, >arilyn. I 'on:t Gead and Rou ,an:t >ake >e9 Geaching Geluctant een Geaders. ;einemann, 5884. homsen, 2lizabeth. .88 %raphic -ovels for +ublic (ibraries. "nited #tates #enate #ubcommittee to Investigate Euvenile Delinquency in the "nited #tates ("###IED"#). April, ./64. 'ertham, )rederick. #eduction of the Innocent, (./64). Amereon (td. #eptember, .//?.
