Tom Spurgeon's Web site of comics news, reviews, interviews and commentary











February 23, 2010


The Difference Between Graphic Novels And Comic Books In 25 Words

imageAlthough the trend in American circles is to restore the term "comics" to the conversation, a brief interview-style article at the German site Graphic Novel with a Freiburg bookseller having some success with book-length funnybooks in his store nails a major and sometimes neglected difference between comics and the graphic novel formulation: "Den Graphic Novels ist erfreulicherweise gelungen, was die anderen Comics nicht oder kaum geschafft haben: anhaltende Resonanz in den Feuilletons der großen und kleinen Zeitungen." That's roughly that graphic novels have been able to generate sustained press and cultural interest in a way that comics never were able to generate in the pre-graphic novel days -- which is something, you have to admit. In the case of this bookstore, that means a curious customer base that comes in and asks after specific books they see reviewed. Big sellers in this particular store? Alex Robinson, Craig Thompson, Bill Willingham's Fables.
 
posted 9:00 am PST | Permalink
 

 
Daily Blog Archives
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
 
Full Archives