GRAPHIC NOVELS ARE JUST ANOTHER NAME FOR COMICS! there, i said it

[Bakuma1997]

Change my mind

 

[WesternYokai]

Yes. It's just semantics.

 

[Antilocal123]

Idc just bumping this for an argument.

 

[RockinACup]

It's just another way/word for people afraid to admit they're nerds and for schools to just pass on education material in comic book-like form.

 

[beefbowl]

Who told you otherwise?

 

[TotzOnGaming]

Yeah Pretty Much

 

[χKai]

Here, Lmgtfy

AI Overview

+8
While both graphic novels and comic books utilize sequential art to tell stories, there are key differences that distinguish them:
1. Length and Format:
Comic Books: Typically shorter, periodical publications, often with ongoing series featuring the same characters. They can range from 20-40 pages per issue.
Graphic Novels: Longer, stand-alone stories, similar in length and format to novels, and often collected into book form. They usually have a complete narrative arc within a single volume.
2. Storytelling:
Comic Books: May focus on episodic adventures or ongoing storylines within a larger universe.
Graphic Novels: Tend to tell more complex and self-contained stories, exploring deeper themes and character development, similar to a traditional novel.
3. Publication:
Comic Books: Often published monthly or bi-monthly as part of an ongoing series.
Graphic Novels: Published as complete works, similar to novels, and may not be part of a series.
4. Target Audience:
Comic Books: Traditionally associated with a younger audience, though there are many titles aimed at mature readers.
Graphic Novels: Can appeal to a broader audience, including adults, due to their more complex narratives and themes.
5. Subject Matter:
Comic Books: While often associated with superheroes, they can explore various genres, including science fiction, fantasy, horror, and romance.
Graphic Novels: Can delve into diverse subject matter, including memoirs, historical events, and adaptations of existing literature.
In essence:
Think of comic books as akin to magazine serials, while graphic novels are more like novels presented in comic format. Graphic novels often aim for more literary depth and complexity than traditional comic books.

 

[Zachery2112]

No one is really arguing against this so I guess I'll pick up the torch.

Comics is the art medium as a serialization. In other words, comics are things that are released daily like Garfield to yearly like some of the major annuals that Marvel or DC print.

Graphic novels are never serialized. They are always published in full and rarely receive sequels. As such, comics are generally created over several years and do not have nearly as complex themes or stories as graphic novels.

 

[Narisucks]

I did a whole research paper about this in high school but basically the reason we have the distinction is because, in the West, we don't have seperate distinct genres for comics like they do in Japan for comics (seinen, shonen, josei, shoujo, etc)

It's easier for libraries and booksellers both traditional and online to separate the Spiderman comics and other media aimed at children from A Contract with God, Wimmen's Comix, and Joe Sacco's Palestine. The same goes for manga like Sailor Moon and Berserk. Sure these audiences can overlap but you may not want to expose the 12 year olds to The Eclipse just yet.

(Or maybe you do like my local library did before someone's parent got angry, I assume. Now there's a huge warning label under the "graphic novel" section about it not being for children)

TLDR: The labels are for the benefit of both publishers and consumers until a better system is devised.

 

[valosagutas]

And I like to call books "book" despite they may be a novelette, novella, novel, epic novel, super novel, great wall of china novel, galaxy novel, universe novel, cosmic novel, Higgs' field novel and so on lollololol.

 

[_oBSOLEte_]

Comics is American (comic strip).

In Europe we have bédé (bande dessinée). In Asia they have manga.

 

[valosagutas]

Comics is American (comic strip).

In Europe we have bédé (bande dessinée). In Asia they have manga.

My brain works very simple so I just call them "picture book" lololol.

 

[Sinmenon]

I actually studied comic books back when I was in game design and I even took classes in a school co-owned by someone who, at the time, was the artist doing Justice League of America.

The strict and boring answer of how graphic novels came to be was that they were supposed to be limited series (as in with a start and an end, and not keeping going forever) , separated from the main comic continuity if they used an existing active character (I'm looking at you, Killing Joke, who was never supposed to be part of the Batman canon but was so popular it became). And, the biggest difference is that they are supposed to come in "premium" format, with special binding (hard cover, etc).
Usually they were also the ones allowed to explore more adult and controversial themes that are not in the comics, but with time this line was crossed by some mainstream publications.

After that, there is also the library and publishing aspect as @Narisucks mentioned. It is good publicity/marketing to keep that.
Also keep in mind that in Europe, the graphic novels were slightly different. Some series like Corto Maltese and Asterix were published in graphic novel format as the adventures were basically , as the name would imply, "graphic books".

Oh yeah, to make it clear: I'm not disagreeing, I'm just giving a tl;dr of why it exists.

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

I don't recall anyone saying otherwise

 

[Ikagura]

Seinens are also mangas.

 

[ciro64]

Let me know when you can press buttons on your comic lmao

 

[valosagutas]

I actually studied comic books back when I was in game design and I even took classes in a school co-owned by someone who, at the time, was the artist doing Justice League of America.

The strict and boring answer of how graphic novels came to be was that they were supposed to be limited series (as in with a start and an end, and not keeping going forever) , separated from the main comic continuity if they used an existing active character (I'm looking at you, Killing Joke, who was never supposed to be part of the Batman canon but was so popular it became). And, the biggest difference is that they are supposed to come in "premium" format, with special binding (hard cover, etc).
Usually they were also the ones allowed to explore more adult and controversial themes that are not in the comics, but with time this line was crossed by some mainstream publications.

After that, there is also the library and publishing aspect as @Narisucks mentioned. It is good publicity/marketing to keep that.
Also keep in mind that in Europe, the graphic novels were slightly different. Some series like Corto Maltese and Asterix were published in graphic novel format as the adventures were basically , as the name would imply, "graphic books".

Oh yeah, to make it clear: I'm not disagreeing, I'm just giving a tl;dr of why it exists.

I understand their differences despite it's not a significant difference for me. It also seem like a word salad lol. If I had cared about picture book, why would I care if it's a comic or graphic novels anyway lol. I like to read so I don't care what I read. Sometimes even manuals of products can be an interesting read because how funny it can be lol. My favorite "please don't put this device into bathtub while you take a bath" true story ayy lmao.

In the end this is the way companies trying to brainwash people to create an audience by inventing word salads as if when a person is not interested in comic they can be attracted to graphical novels. It doesn't make sense to me whatsoever lol. The most popular word salad is "valentine's day". I don't even know what "valentine" is but you are supposed to buy things for your lover, otherwise it's a bad thing (according to the word salads and BS they come up with). Because of it mindless people brainwashed and divided into "he doesn't care about me because he doesn't believe in valentine's day" and "damn girl you care about my wallet, not my love!!!" and it causes social discord lololol.

 

[Sinmenon]

Yeah, the oldest examples of modern uses in American comics for graphic novels were basically risky projects that they thought it would be a massive flop and with a brand that might not be strong, like how The Dark Knight was for Batman. At the time, Batman was a failing comic on the verge of cancellation, so doing the graphic novel they could do anything they wanted without angering the last few loyal readers too much.

 

[Muklas]

You ain't wrong, graphic novel as a term exists purely out of a desperate attempt by the comic industry to escape the comic ghetto and be taken seriously as an art form by people who would never accept comics no matter what and the general public which generally knows nothing about things you need to invest a modicum of personal effort into finding.

 

[Glossy Cat]

I completely agree.

 

[UnDubious]

It's mostly a different format, as others have stated. American comics are typically published as these short little 20-page issues or whatever, just a small slice of a larger story. A graphic novel is a full story in one, so it's a different product. There was also the fact that American comics were almost nothing but superheroes at one point, whereas with graphic novels you could talk about anything. So the term exists for good reasons. The Dark Knight is definitely not one of the first uses of the term, lol. It came from outside of Marvel and DC and they started using it to try and capture some of that new market.

 

[Fray Guillermo]

Comics is American (comic strip).

In Europe we have bédé (bande dessinée). In Asia they have manga.

in Spain we use "tebeo" to refer to serialized juvenile comics, because our first comic magazine was names TBO. We also use (or at least used) "historieta".

Although both those terms are not as used today as just comic or novela gráfica