The Evolution of the Graphic Novel

Charles Cavalla

The definition of the graphic novel has often been a contentious issue: does it have to be fiction? how does it differ from a comic book? and should we really consider a graphic novel as worth studying?

 

If you had asked me that last question two years ago, I would have said probably not - but my answer now, having read much more of the genre, would be the contrary. Graphic novels have evolved over the last forty years and have come from being simple cartoon strips to fully fleshed out, interesting narratives
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There is not one accepted key event that marks the beginning of the graphic novel. People sometimes argue that cave paintings from Neanderthal times are a type of comic; they have writing and pictures and tell a story.  These paintings seem far from what we are used to nowadays, and more modern texts that could be described as the ‘first’ graphic novels are Belgian and French comic strips also known as ‘Bande Dessineé’.  These BD's tended to be comedies; examples of this style of comic today are Tintin and Asterix and Obelix.  Throughout the latter end of the 19^th century and the beginning of the 20^th century, BD’s were published in newspapers and magazines but also as their own issues.  

On the other side of the Atlantic comics were also being created but of a very different nature.  Superhero comics became popular in America and the iconic characters created then are the same ones we see on our screens today.  These comics were extremely popular but I would not consider them as worth studying in schools.  It was not until around the 1980s that what came to be known as graphic novels were beginning to be published. 

These graphic novels were different from the bande dessineé and comics we had seen before.  These texts had in depth character development, a coherent plot and interesting themes.  Alan Moore’s Watchmen was published in 1987 and is one of my favourite graphic novels.  It is about ‘superheroes’ but is not limited to the iconic and classic action scenes we have seen in earlier comics.  Watchmen is full of brilliant commentary on the idea of passing time and being overtaken by new generations but also of isolation.  Simply, what stands Watchmen apart from earlier comics was that it was an illustrated novel rather than being a cartoon strip with written narration; there is a subtle difference.  Alan Moore’s novel is more carefully put together; the pictures and writing complement each other perfectly.

Neil Gaiman is an example of someone who made the jump from writing books to writing a graphic novel, or a series of graphic novels.  The Sandman is a wonderful set of graphic novels, in which he balances the mystery and fairy-tale like elements of the main character, the Sandman or Dream as he is also known, with the speed and bustle of the real world.  Gaiman takes the reader into a universe full of different stories; in one novel Gaiman has his own take on The Canterbury Tales, which involves stories within stories.  The Sandman uses a host of different artists as well which means the art style is constantly changing subtly throughout each chapter; Gaiman’s steady and artful writing style is what provides the reader with some regularity.

Frank Miller took a new spin on an old favourite when he wrote The Dark Knight Returns.  The brilliance of this novel is that Miller explores the characters of Batman and Bruce Wayne and their differences and similarities.  The reader learns more about the emotion and motives of Wayne and his alter ego, and in this respect, the novel really is different from the classic Batman comics.  The black and white artwork for this novel works well and is really what Batman is about: black and white; good and evil; Batman and Wayne.

Graphic novels are no longer fun, easy reads but in-depth, theme-filled novels.  We can now find in them characters that we can relate to and sympathize with rather than characters we like because they are ‘cool’.  I am not saying that graphic novels should be put on the GCSE syllabus, although I do think they should be part of a student’s English education: whatever your view on graphic novels, love them or hate them, I think we can all agree that they are now a fundamental part of worldwide literature.