Tag Archives: Graphic Novels

Uncategorized

Saturdays @ the South: A Bibliophile Confession Gets Graphic

GraphicNovelsReadingLists_ALSC

Last week, I waxed about on and took a walk down memory lane over Susie Derkins because she was the first female character I encountered in my young reading life that was complex and relatable. In reflecting over last week’s post, I also thought it was significant that some of the most memorable of my early reading experiences, the ones that shaped my views of what reading could be were brought to me through a medium that many don’t even consider “real” reading. I learned valuable lessons about reading through a comic strip, a medium that is more pictures than words. Yet somehow, those experiences with comics still left an indelible mark on me and my future reading life (not to mention a lifelong soft-spot for stuffed tigers).

Calvin reading
Yup, this pretty much sums up my childhood Sunday mornings. Thank you, Bill Watterson!

I feel like this would be the perfect time to perch myself up on the soap box and talk about how comics are good for kids, good for readers, just plain good. And they are. There are studies that show kids reading graphic novels and comics are still engaging their minds in the complex thought processes in order to understand the text no less than they do in picture books. Librarians have often pushed for graphic novels in the collections as it has been used a successful method to engage reluctant readers. There are even those who believe that readers who have a difficult time comprehending text can gain confidence by reading graphic novels and comics because the images reinforce what’s happening in the text and aids comprehension. Therefore, this would be a great opportunity to talk about graphic novels and how they are amazing segues for people (both adults and children) who simply don’t always think in linear terms, about how the artwork represents a story in and of itself and can lead to an appreciation of so-called “higher art”. This would be a great time for all that except for one small problem… I have the hardest time reading graphic novels.

What is a graphic novel?
See all those curvy lines? They make my orderly reader-self VERY uncomfortable. Image from Drawing Words and Writing Pictures

For me, it may be that for a long time, I associated graphic novels and comic books with topics that I had no interest in, such as superheroes or galactic battles. So when I was a kid, I went straight for traditional books and never really “learned” to read graphic novels. I’m also very much a linear thinker; I think in terms of cause and effect and in step-by-step processes to reach a goal (no matter how many steps there may be in that process). So as an adult, with linear thought processes and linear reading experiences, I’ve found myself somewhat cut off from the ever-expanding world of graphic novels, despite their now having extensive content that does interest me.

Similar to our blogger-in-residence Arabella (who apparently linked minds with me this week on the topic of graphic novels – seriously this similarity was completely unplanned), I have made some attempts to rectify this in recent months because now I feel like I’m missing out on something. There are just too many graphic novels out there with amazingly cool concepts, characters, themes and stories for a bookworm like myself to remain segregated from this wealth of possible reading material. I’ve started with things similar to what I know and are familiar with, including books that are more like compiled comics, hearkening back to the bound Calvin and Hobbes collections of my youth. This has at least gotten me back into the groove of reading panels and words together. Also, much like my recommendations of easing past metrophobia, I also started with graphic novels designed for kids. Soon I hope to break down the barriers leading into some more content-heavy graphic novels.

If, like me, you’re looking to start somewhere to test the waters of more graphic formats of books, here are some options that might guide you:

3496473Hilda and the Troll by Luke Pearson

This may be intended to be a graphic novel geared towards children, but this book is AMAZING, regardless of your age. Hilda is a little blue-haired girl who encounters magic in her intrepid adventures to explore her world. Pearson has turned Hilda into a series which are all equally amazing. This is a great introduction to graphic novels as it’s straightforward in terms for story, but visually detailed and engaging without getting too disorienting in terms of varying format. And if you get courage from this series, you might want to give Luke Pearson’s adult work Everything We Miss a try, because that looks pretty amazing, too.

3699749Poorly Drawn Lines by Reza Farazmand

This book is decidedly adult, dealing with themes and language that children should not really be entertaining, but it’s also decidedly funny in an absurdly poignant way. If you’re a fan of The Oatmeal, this collection will most likely appeal to you. This is more on the comfort level of those whose forays into comics have been, like me, largely the Sunday funnies. But while most of these comics are episodic, some of them have storylines spanning pages, which means you have to get a bit more involved than the usual 4-panel strip to hit the punchline, so you’re getting a bit more practice in reading in a longer graphic format.

3654366Step Aside Pops by Kate Beaton

Beaton also writes comics, so this is less of a graphic novel and more of a bound collection of comics. However, Beaton’s illustrations (which are wildly detailed and yet still “cartoony” black-and-white sketches) easily have as much detail as some graphic novels, so it’s a good way to ease into detailed illustrations where there’s a lot going on, but in a familiar format. Her comics are often historical or feminist-based but they are all pretty hysterical. Plus, they have the added side-benefit of making you feel smarter for reading it because she takes actual, historical situations as material. So you either feel smarter for having recognized the historical characters, or feel smarter for now having the most basic introduction to talking about that historical situation.

3453223Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

Based on the brilliant website of the same name, Brosh’s book is a collection of wildly poignant essays that manage to be laugh-out-loud hysterical while being exceptionally heartfelt. These essays are more text punctuated by absurd images, but there are some graphic novel elements here as well, particularly when it comes to dealing with incredibly deep subject matter in a visual way. Her depiction of clinical depression is easily one of the most spot-on, heart-wrenching, genius depictions of the disease in literature to date. It’s worth picking up this book for that alone, but there’s a lot of great stuff in here and this could easily be someone’s foray out of “comics” and into other more graphically based books.

18594409Can’t We Talk about Something More Pleasant by Roz Chast

I’ve talked about this book before, mostly because it was an incredible reading experience. This was the first “official” graphic novel I read (even though it’s technically a graphic memoir). This takes the graphic format away from the episodic and into an extended narrative told with pictures and words. Chast’s honest and open discussion of the last few years of her parents’ lives is amazing to read and experience. Be prepared to laugh, cry, question and more.

I hope this tentative dip into the world of graphic books is helpful to easing you into the graphic novel format. For me, I feel like it’s built my confidence up enough to tackle something like Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series or Scott Snyder’s Wytches sometime soon. If you’ve had some great (or not-so-great) experiences with graphic novels, we’d love to hear about it in the comments! Until next week, dear readers, I hope you’re able to ease your way into something out of your usual comfort zone.

Uncategorized

Bibliophile Confessions: It’s Not You, It’s Me…

So, having waxed lyrical about the television show Lucifer and the graphic novels that inspired the show, I decided it was high time that I put my proverbial money where my proverbial mouth is…and read a graphic novel.

keep-calm-and-read-a-graphic-novel

I chose, not surprisingly, Lucifer: Book One.*  Though the character of Lucifer was created by Neil Gaiman in his Sandman comics, the Lucifer comics were written by Mike Carey, who turned Lucifer from a supporting character to the hero of his very own series.  This book is a 400-odd page collection of Lucifer’s adventures, beginning with his comfy retirement in Los Angeles, running the trendy piano bar Lux, with his companion Mazikeen by his side.

Lucifer_Vol_1_1When a vicious new power arises, wantonly fulfilling wishes and granting human desires, however, Heaven begins to fear that the balance of power may be disrupted.  Unwilling to get directly involved, Heaven instead dispatches a high-ranking angel named Amenadiel to request Lucifer’s assistance.  If he complies, and defeats this new foe, he will be granted anything he might desire.  When Lucifer inevitably makes quick work out of this new foe, he is granted his wish–a letter of passage, allowing him to travel to any world he might chose.  And thus, the stage is set for a whole series of mayhem and adventure.

The Lucifer series was–and remains–enormously successful, regardless of the television show.  These are startling imaginative, beautifully illustrated adventures that pull you into the story within a few short panels…that is, once I got used to reading them.

I don’t know if this is the case for all new graphic novel readers, but I found my eyes moving more in reading this book than in most traditional novels I had read.  In part, this is because graphic novels are read left to right and top to bottom.  This panel might make it a little easier to understand:

McCloud_panel_layoutB
Courtesy of Anina Bennett: www.bigredhair.com

Inside those panels, dialog is read from top to bottom.

It can actually get pretty tiring on the eyes, especially for those of us not quite used to the format.  Moreover, there are so many pictures to look at, so many colors on the page, and so much detail, that reading a page can take a pretty long time–especially for those of us prone to going “ooooh” and “aaahhh” at colors easily.

Even this page, perhaps one of the most straightforward within Lucifer, has so much more detail than a traditional novel that I was mesmerized:

lucifer-6
From http://comicsalliance.com/lucifer-book-one-review-mike-carey-vertigo/

Seriously–this graphic novel dashes around like Lucifer himself–delighting in breaking the rules and defying all your expectations with each new tale.

But, for all that, as much as I appreciated the creativity and the artistry that went into each panel, as much as I found the story lines compelling…I am not a graphic novel reader.

I think part of it is that I have grown so used to imagining my own characters and settings that I found the graphics to be more of a roadblock than a part of the action.  The panels made the reading experience a hectic one for me.  However, for visual-based learners, I can see where these elements would be a huge draw, and an enormously entertaining reason to keep reading.

I also realized, in the course of reading, that I really like narratives.  I love the descriptive passages in traditional novels, and the discussions of what a character is thinking and feeling, outside of what is being said between characters.  And graphic novels don’t provide those kind of details as explicitly as traditional novels.  They require you to read facial expressions, analyze the lettering in the panels, and deduce the  subtext in ways that most novels don’t.  And, to be honest, I am not terribly good at subtext in real life, so I’m fairly hopeless at it when reading.

So all in all, it’s not you, Lucifer.  It’s me.  I truly enjoyed my foray into graphic novels, and I can utterly see the appeal.  For readers who respond to imagery over words, for more intuitive thinkers, graphic novels are wonders, and I couldn’t recommend them more highly.  But, while I’d be happy to try more graphic novels in the future, for my verbal, logical(ish) brain, I think I might be sticking to more traditional novels…for now, anyways.

*The link to this book will bring you to the website for the Boston Public Library.  All Massachusetts residents are eligible to get a library card and order books from the BPL’s amazing selection.  Ask at our Reference Desk for details!

Uncategorized

On the Screen: Lucifer

Lucifer

Books make terrific fodder for movies and television, as we’ve often noted here.  But when it was announced that Fox was adapting DC Comics’ Lucifer into a television show, there was both great rejoicing, and enormous trepidation.

This Lucifer is based on the character first established in Free-For-All Favorite Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series.  He later got his very own spin-off series, written by another of our favorites, Mike Carey.  This Lucifer isn’t the horned, tailed, cloven-hoof specter of puppet shows and pantomimes; instead, he’s very much based on the Devil from John Milton’s Paradise Lost–well spoken, deep thinking, and very, very opposed to be told what to do.  In Gaiman’s version, however, Lucifer also grew terribly bored, not only with ruling Hell for 10 billion years, but also in the various stereotypes and assumptions about him that simply weren’t true: he never traded in souls, or manipulated people into behaving badly.  So he dispersed the demons and souls who were in Hell, and locked the gates, adopting a mortal form, and moving to earth–first, Perth, in Australia, and then Los Angeles.

Why yes, David Bowie did inspire this version of Lucifer...
Why yes, David Bowie did inspire this version of Lucifer…

In Carey’s series, Lucifer’s retirement is harshly interrupted by the return of several otherwordly figures from his past, and the stirring of his still-simmering anger over the lack of genuine free will that exists in the universe he is forced to endure.  As a result, Lucifer decides to create his own universe, where sin is not a pre-destined concept, much to the obvious concern of the legions of Heaven.  The resulting series is full of epic battles, complex contests of wit and savagery, and a long-running analysis on the reality of free will and honesty.

Which is quite a lot to fit into a single hour-length television show.

lucifer-fox-vertigoBut while the good people at Fox have distilled Lucifer’s story to something more akin to a police procedural (during his “retirement”, he becomes involved with a female detective, and uses his powers for justice, if not always for good), they are making increasing use of Gaiman’s and Carey’s plotlines, concepts, and ideologies, which may be the key to saving it from being some new-fangled kind of Law and Order with angels.  This Lucifer is cynical, sarcastic, hedonistic, and self-centered, but he’s still not the sleazy-car salesman of past iterations.  Instead, this is a Lucifer who finds himself far more drawn to humans, to their foibles, shortcomings, and dreams, than he imagined possible.  And, in his growing battle with his brother angel, Amenadiel, it becomes increasingly clear that Lucifer may have more in common with humanity than he now does with his winged-brethren.

Still, there is a lot missing from this adaptation.  And some of that is understandable, as I’m not entirely sure how Fox would go about creating a new universe.  Nevertheless, as the series continues (and rating increase), it seems that there is a growing willingness to venture deeper into the pages…we finally saw the true face of Lucifer’s assistant, Mazikeen, in a final shot a few weeks back, which, to me, was the first in what I can only hope is a series of nods to those who loved Lucifer before he ever appeared on their television screens.

For those who feel some sympathy for the devil (hardy har), check out some of these selections, and see how other humans have dealt with that most interesting of villains (anti-heroes?  anti-villains?).

1523127Sandman: Obviously, if you’re a fan of the show, there’s no better place to start than with Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series, which introduced the world to (this incarnation of) Lucifer Morningstar.  Though Gaiman originally based Hell on the version created by Alan Moore in Swamp Thing, Lucifer himself is very much the product of Neil Gaiman’s fathomless imagination.  He appears and re-appears throughout the series, and it’s a testament to Gaiman’s gifts as a storyteller that his story arc is as developed and moving as Dream’s.   You can follow Lucifer on the rest of his wild journeys in Mike Carey’s Lucifer series.

2702516Sandman Slim: Though similar in name, Richard Kadrey’s series present a much, much different world than either Gaiman or Carey, but they are a marvel just the same; fans of noir-style novels and like their paranormal with a twist of the genuinely bizarre, look no further.  James Stark, aka Sandman Slim, spent eleven years in Hell, having been banished there by some fellow members of the magic circle, the Sub Rosa to which he belonged.  Having returned to LA, he is determined to have his revenge–but the LA has changed.  And so has Stark.  I love this series to the point of recklessness.  The off-beat humor is sublime, the settings are weird and a little creepy, and so marvelously detailed that you can smell the cheap liquor on the bartops.  Things only get better when Lucifer himself puts in an appearance (he is a consultant on his biopic, naturally).  His exchanges with Stark are startlingly insightful, and really helped this series progress in a whole different direction.

3200846Up Jumps The Devil: This one-off novel is, as incongruous as it may sound, a love story, featuring the Devil (in this version, his name is John Scratch) and a fellow fallen angel named Arden.  Having decided that the world was just too scary and violent, Arden has departed earth, and Scratch has spent millennia trying to win her back.  Though ancient Egypt and the glories of the Roman Empire failed to win Arden’s approval, Scratch knows that America will be the place to win her heart, and sets out to create the perfect civilization, with the help of three musicians who sell him their souls in return for power and talent beyond their wildest dreams.  But, it turns out, the Devil has quite a lot to learn, not only about humanity, but the secrets of the heart, as well.  This book is a wonderful blend of humor, history, and insight that is strangely, perversely endearing.