Lately, there has been a swift upturn in the amount of focus put toward a subgenre of literature where serious fiction and the comic book are starting to seamlessly blend together: The Graphic Novel.
Now, in all fairness, the graphic novel has been around for going on thirty years. In fact, if you wanted to get technical, the first comic book series was essentially a graphic novel. Way back in the early 1920′s, when the only comics were the funny page strips in the newspaper, the ever popular (and horribly racist) “Yellow Kid” strips were collected into serial format to make a more direct profit for the syndicates publishing them. While not exactly a graphic novel, these collections started the serial format that birthed what comics would become during the late 1930′s.
Now when you fast forward to the days when serialized comics became collected into a larger, squarebound format called “trade paperbacks” (or “TPB’s”), a natural evolution began to occur. The sales of such collections in the direct market were enough to keep publishers writing it into their quarterlies for the remainder of the 20th century. What happened subsequently can only be described, if in keeping with the evolution metaphor, as Neanderthal discovering fire.
While it’s hazy in my scope of comic book trivia to pin down, somewhere in the late eighties and early nineties, publishers began to entertain the notion of original graphic novels (or “OGN’s”) whereupon the material inside was not a reprint or a collection, but rather an all-new story in the same squarebound format.
While there were many OGN’s published throughout this experimental period, none of them had the resonance or staying power of two such works published in the mid-eighties: “Watchmen” by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons (while technically a TPB, as it was a collection of 12 comics, the book has been a seminal graphic novel icon) and “Maus” by Art Spiegalman. Both of these works have become so fixed as figureheads of the graphic novel genre that select college literature classes in some states have added them to required reading for almost five years now.
Recently, a resurgence has occurred in this realm, whereas the OGN and TPB are both becoming a staple of chain bookstores. What started a mixed bag of collected comic strips (deja vu), Spider-man and Superman TPB’s, and various imported manga (Japanese comic collections) has now blossomed into an organized locale of independent OGN’s, Mature TPB’s (not porn), and more manga than you can shake a copy of “Akira” at.
Due to this influx of interest, it has become much easier for independent publishers to garner the funds to start companies to continue the OGN as a format of change. Oni Press, AIT/Planetlar, and Top Shelf are all companies that have done everything in their power to get their books noticed as something fresh and with a distinct voice unheard in the mainstream. To top it off, the mature readers sub-publishing branch of DC Comics, Vertigo, has been the forerunner of the mass market adult TPB line of books since it started collecting its insanely popular “Sandman” and “Swamp Thing” titles. “Preacher,” “Y the Last Man,” and “Transmetropolitan” are all collections of theirs that seem to always be in high demand in both the direct comics market and retail bookstores.
This genre seems to be one that will be holding on with its very fingernails for the next few years, trying to be taken seriously and trying to be heard. The books that are being released are of such a diverse voice and passion that there seems to be something for everyone.
Recommendations are as follows:
Switchblade Honey (AIT/Planetlar): Imagine if Star Trek had been made by Guy Ritchie instead of Gene Roddenberry.
Street Angel (Slave Labor Graphics): She’s the ultimate martial arts, skateboarding, street urchin. Fighting demons, mad scientists, and algebra class.
Teenagers from Mars (Gigantic Graphic Novels): The ultimate testament to rebellion and fighting for the pinnacle of freedom: The right to read comics! It’s better than I can possibly describe it.
Last of the Independents (AIT/Planetlar): Probably the best movie never made. A bank heist goes off without a hitch until the crew tries to get away with what turns out to be mob money. The perfect blend of 70′s era action and modern story-telling.
Planetary(DC/Wildstorm): Three archaeologists of the unknown track the secret history of Earth’s super heroes that no one knows exist. Part satire, part sci-fi epic, full-tilt story-telling.
Full Moon Fever (AIT/Planetlar): When you mix “Alien” and “The Howling” you get Full Moon Fever. A repair crew is called to a space port on the moon only to discover the base’s occupants either dead or turned into werewolves.
Slow News Day (Oni Press): An aspiring American screenplay writer, heads to England to spend some time at a local newspaper as creative fodder for her project. She partners with prickly, but loveable, Owen, and keeps in touch with her ambitious boyfriend back in the states. Conflict ensues and lessons are learned. “Notting Hill/Four Weddings and a Funeral”-style humor set against unique art and storyboarding.
Hawaiian Dick (Image Comics): Two-parts “Magnum P.I.,” one-part “X-Files” set in 1950′s Hawaii. A private investigator named Bird gets himself mixed up in everything from the mob to the supernatural all while trying to just pay his bar tab.
