But too much content has become more acceptable in this day and age and borderlines in being purely pornographic and the such, not saying it's wrong or should be marginalised but there is a fine line to what could be called entertainment like with most forms of accessible mass media. If you are old enough and decide to engage such material then you should be old and mature enough to be accountable for your actions...
These are the same snobs that shelter their kids from things like “The Death of Mr Hooper” for fear of scaring them, then wonder why their offspring have such a hard time dealing with the world.
It's acceptable for adults to look at live action movies; photographs that move. It's acceptable for adults to look at still photographs on the wall of a museum. It's acceptable for adults to look at drawings and paintings on the wall of a museum. But it's not acceptable for adults to look at drawings and paintings that move?
As a librarian I stand by GNs and comics as a reading form for all ages. Everytime someone says they aren't "real books" I correct them (and fight the urge to scream at them)
I'd argue by asking them what their favorite tv show is. (If they don't watch tv, then you can't get them with this argument.) Anyway, ask them what their favorite tv show is, then quickly retort with a question. "Well dearie, why is it okay for you to watch a mindless, controlling picture box that shows you what to see and tells you what to think, and then NOT OKAY to read a harmless, quick read with copious amounts of detailed imagery, followed by carefully chosen words of dialogue, or a quick glimpse into a characters thought process? Why, even some of these paragraphs are still needed to set the right tone or to set up a scene. It still works. Just because it's not laying down detailed descriptions of imagery, doesn't mean that you aren't able to process or glean anything less from staring at it's finely rendered pictures. A comic book is a book. A graphic novel is a novel." "While I think being able to decribe things in vivid detail is important, it's another thing to understand the point of the story or it's lessons they teach us. Either way, we become informed, whether it is a picture or a wall of text. We are informed. Do consider reading these finely crafted pieces of art in the future. They demand your attention as much as any old book." Then bow or something, I don't know, haha. Customers will probably stare at you, but a smile is as disarming as anything.
As another librarian, seconded. There's so much good graphic non-fiction too--the aforementioned Fun Home, Persepolis, and Maus, Joe Sacco and Guy Delisle's comic journalism, I don't know if Kate Beaton's webcomics collections count but her strips on history and literary figures are great as well.
Thank you for your stand. I have found it delightful that every library I've visited in the USA and here in Iceland has a great collection of graphic novels, thanks to librarians. In Iceland there are comics in various languages: English, Icelandic, Danish, French and more. It's a great way to improve your skills in a language.
Graphic novels is the main reason I even got into reading. My parents tried to pay me to read and even then I couldn't be tempted by money. I'm not good at visualizing so a lot of writing styles don't appeal to me and even then everyone has their likes so trying to find a story and writing style I like has been extremely hard (though it's lessen over the years). The stories and images helped me become invested at all and inspired me into writing.
one of my favorite things to do when I visit local libraries is ask where their graphic novels are, one time I went into (redacted) public library and asked and the young librarian behind the desk sighed and said they don't have them, I just stared at her and stammered "but they circulate, like a lot!" she sighed again and said that the older librarians who bought materials for the library didn't see the value in getting graphic novels...so yeah, it's still a vibe that's out there.
I'm very happy for you! That's awesome! Reading really should be fun, not a struggle. I have a cousin who struggled heavily with dyslexia. It's still a struggle for her on some things, like reflections and such, but she's a fast reader now.
Awesome! :) My cousin's step-kid also had dyslexia and hated reading... until I introduced him to a couple of manga series I enjoyed. And suddenly, he was reading at least a book a week. His mom said that if it wasn't for graphic novels, her son probably still wouldn't be reading to this day.
I genuinely love the fact that you never once mentioned 'Watchmen' or 'The Dark Knight Returns'. As good as they both are, they tend to dominate the 'Graphic Novels' conversation.
Watchmen’s writer Alan Moore had mentioned that he was annoyed that the Time Magazine article on the 100 greatest works of English fiction which listed Watchmen had made no mention of any other graphic novels such as Chris Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, Brian K. Vaughn’s Saga, Art Spiegleman’s Maus and quite a fair number of other works.
It was weird. If you are making a video about "graphic novels" it feels strange excluding at least a mention of watchmen that was a major drive in the graphic novel market, and still is. I think it was omited for other reasons.
My ex-girlfriend told me that she considered "comic books" to be less intellectually valid because most of the page was taken up by pictures and there weren't as many words as a typical book. Then she sat down and watched TV.
@@victoriap1561 i don't think op meant to look down upon tv, rather i think they juxtaposed the ridiculousness of dismissing the comic book and graphic novel medium as intellectually valid, while the ex clearly considers tv at least worth their time and attention, while giving her reasons, tv is a worse offender than the comics, and as such through her logic, should consider tv not intellectually valid at all. Makes you wonder if she thinks that why would she watch it at all. Basically, hypocritical logic. Probably unintentional on her part tho haha we all have leaps of logic sometimes
@@tac-floor1330 it's a literal direct comparison though, comics are less valid because they are mostly pictures, tv is pretty well defined as mostly pictures.
Doubling down on this, check out Scott McCloud's book "Understanding Comics!" It is one of the essentials and it personally taught me a lot about all comics/graphic novels have to offer!
And the subtle details clueing us in to race and trauma, as well as the blatant, more direct clues of the holocaust. It's a great read because of the range of emotions I felt while reading it. It's surreal in many ways, but all too real when you consider the historical comparisons. I just, I enjoyed the honesty, despite the analogies.
@@phantomflower6749 Really? I wonder why. To me, it seems an excellent educational device for introducing students to the experience of the Holocaust - and in a way that high school students, in particular, could relate to. But sadly, banning certain books is not an uncommon practice in some school districts.
@@Always8Baka not really, I just consider comics to be shorter than graphic novels, as novella is shorter than a novel and a short story is shorter than that so are comic books shorter than graphic novels.
For me, personally, graphic novels eventually led me to finally pick up an "actual" book, after neglecting them for multiple years. There's undeniably an underrated power to this medium.
I was a massive bookworm as a kid, but the habit petered out in my late high school and early undergrad years. It was Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie's The Wicked + The Divine that got me back into the habit of reading in general.
I didn't realize Maus came out in 1992. It must have been brand new when I read it. I picked up a copy in Hebrew School when I was about 12. It was eye opening. I am looking forward to sharing that with my children. They need a couple more years first. They are slowly learning about the extent of human cruelty. They're still a couple of levels below Maus. They know that things like the holocaust and slavery happened, but they don't know the graphic horror of it just yet.
Maus won a Pulitzer in 1992; it came out much earlier. It was first released in installments in the cmics anthology Raw; it was then released collected into volumes starting in 1986.
I was at a party once and this guy (Gen Xer, college professor) totally dismissed graphic novels / comics and I said "oh hello 1950's? ah yes, you'd like your high school principal back?" (anyway, we're not friends, LOL)
If the snobs want to keep the novel title for them, let them have it. Comics can be and in fact are a great vehicle for literature with or without a dumb tag.
one of the first books i read in college was “The Best We Could Do” by Thi Bui which is about Bui surviving the Vietnam War. it’s so moving and such a painful read. it’s pretty new, but i hope it joins the ranks of Maus and Persepolis one day
Why, in french-speaking countries comics/graphic novels are called "9eme art" (the ninth art), so not only they have artistic merit they also have literary merit. I mean, of course there are also comics with material with a clear commercial angle in it but what I mean is, people would certainly not look down upon graphic novels (or comics) the way they do in the USA.
I was about to write something similar. In some European countries comics have always been a respected medium of its own. There's lot of mature stories aimed at adults
The French speaking world (mainly Belgium, France and Quebec) has a long standing love for BDs (bandes dessinées, what you call comic books) and graphic novels. For us, comics only refer to the US comic versions (superheroes comics or 4 panels newspapers comics). For us, a BD is anything that combines images and text on a paper support. Graphic novels (romans graphiques) is defined as a looser form of BD, one that is not confined to panels and bubbles format and they are generally longer. Whatever you call them, you'll find them at your nearest bookstore or library. BDs are viewed as a serious literary art form. There are festivals for them and general medias (TV, radio and newspapers) talk about the newest publications. Comics artists and writers are invited at literary shows and festivals. Most of my adult friends (and they are far from comic book fans) have at least one BD aimed for adults in their bookshelf.
I find say saying Manga, Graphic, Comics and audiobooks aren't books or reading to be stupid and disrespectful to the people who work hard to make them expsely Manga just research what it's like to be a Mangaka
PBS, y'all need to keep Princess Weekes (and Lindsay Ellis, for that matter) on payroll forever. They're your franchise players. Top quality work right here.
I always compare graphic novels to movies and comic books to tv show because graphic novels are longer and can take place in three to eight books while comic books are more episodic. That doesn't mean that graphic novels can't BECOME movies, tv shows, or plays and vise versa with comic books.
That's hilarious, but more people should be vulnerable and brave in the face of facts, or be ignorant to them forever by living a deception or lie. I hope you are choosing the former.
If any of y'all ever have a chance to meet Art Spiegelman at a signing, be sure to go... It's like getting your most treasured spellbook autographed by Gandalf.
Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell creator) works commonly feature notes in the margins explaining scientific concepts (as well as just random notes about stuff). Truly absorbing any of his work is a mentally stimulating, if not challenging, task. I highly recommend some of his older works such as Orion and Black Magic M-66.
One important point that I hoped would be made, but was missing, is that this mostly pertains to sequential art created in the USA. The whole history surrounding the Comic Code made mainstream comics a medium that by definition had to be made for kids. Things like the underground comics movement played around with other and often more serious plots and characters, but it wasn’t until Manga started proving to the American audience that people would actually happily buy comics in collected books that the American mainstream in comics caught wind and started collecting comics into larger books. Graphic Novel as a term is totally the industry in the US trying to sound legitimate to itself, given how the pains of the Comic Code still has the same sting, even though it is long gone, as a medium that isn’t to be taken seriously. In other parts of the world, mainly Asia and Europe, comics didn’t suffer the same fate that they did in the US, and as a result don’t carry the same stigma in those cultures.
"Subject matter previously deemed unsuitable for the comics medium" Nakazawa Keiji's _Barefoot Gen_ (which fictionalises the author's experience surviving the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima as a child) and Mizuki Shigeru's _Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths_ (based on Mizuki's own WW2 time as a soldier in New Guinea) both started publication in 1973.
My first thought on seeing that title was that graphic novels are more like graphic short stories than novels. (They are often pretty brief and to the point, though since you need far fewer descriptions if you have a drawing showing them, so I won't belabor the point. Not important anyway. :) ) Apparently I already accept them as proper literature, lol. But then _Maus_ won the Pulitzer when I was in a young teen, so that probably had something to do with it.
MARCH by the late John Lewis showed me the history of the 60s civil rights movement. They Called Us Enemy by George Takai showed me the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII from a child's viewpoint. The Plot by Wil Eisner showed me the history of the spurious document that is used to this day to justify hatred of the Jewish people. Just glorified comics for adults? Nope, nope, nope.
It's Lit is quickly becoming my favourite program on this channel! Like everyone else I came from Prof. Z's channel for the scary folklore and history. I never the less find Princess Weeks's & Lindsay Ellis's delivery to be very on point and both presenters are very articulate making these topics seem effortless if not outright intuitive. Keep the good work.👍
It was sad to see recently, when asked, S.E. Hinton not only claim that The Outsiders shouldn't be turned into a graphic novel but that kids should just read books. 2020 and we're still not willing to give children every avenue possible to learn to love reading.
I think it is unfortunate that English got stuck with 'comic' as the label for something that is not necessarily comical. Other languages mostly go for 'series of picture' in some form, bandes dessinées (drawn strips) in French, serier, short for tecknad serier (drawn series) in Swedish or sarjakuva (a series of pictures) in Finnish, for example.
I didn't know that. That's really interesting! Especially because my personal introduction to comics was the funny 4 panel strips in the Sunday newspaper, then the bound collections like Archie, Casper, and Richie Rich, and finally the full array of "comics" as they are found in comic book stores.
In Spain they're called "tebeos" because there was a very old, very famous comic magazine called TBO. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TBO_(comics) In Italian they're fumetti (fumetto = puff of smoke) because of the shape of the speech bubbles.
I'm really curious how this intersects with the bande dessinée graphic novels (like Tintin) from Europe. I have a feeling that they have enjoyed a greater acceptance in Europe and more generally accepted as just another form of literature without the 'comic for kids' shade that happens in North America (much like what happened/happens with animation vs cartoons). Is my inkling correct, or did they follow similar paths? :)
People try to dismiss video games and sometimes even music as "not real art" Traditional novels were once considered lowbrow, and not art nothing is ever art until it is, I suppose
I've never really read graphic novels or comics, but I think my kids will really be into them, given that Dog Man is their all time favorite thing to read. And what could be better? They love to read the stories, then they like to draw and write their own comics. Practicing art, reading, writing and storytelling, loving every bit of it.
SANDMAN!!! 🖤🖤🖤 First time I read it was life-changing. Low key, one's favorite member of the Endless says more about oneself than one's horoscope, don't @ me.
Short answer: YES. My daughter loves them. She is 9 now and it is hard to find ones that are age appropriate. Most are either too young or too old for her. She loves manga, but if it isn't written for a 6 year old, it is usually VERY R rated. Thank god for Raina Telgemeier. She has written probably more than half the age appropriate graphic novels for that age. Any recommendations? My daughter's reading buddy (a 4th grader) started reading Smile to her in Kindergarten, not knowing much about it. She stopped when it got bloody and my daughter had a nightmare. But she loved it. She got it from the school library and we read it to her. I didn't realize when we started that the subject matter ages as the character goes from about 6th to 9th grade. I wasn't PLANNING to explain spin the bottle to my kindergarteners, but... well... it happened. Regardless, she loves the book. Now in 3rd grade, it is still her favorite and she has read most of Telgemeiers works by this point.
I liked Fruits Basket. Its geared to teens, with a pretty innocent love triangle/romance and a guy who's a bit of a ladies' man, but I would totally let my kids pick up my copies once they're old enough to actually read the words. Right now my 7yo still prefers Thomas the Tank Engine and my 4yo Llama Llama. Of course your mileage may vary.
I find it interesting that the argument that 'graphic novels/comic books aren't 'real books' isn't used in France or Belgium, over there comics are seen as being just as valid as regular novels. Just look at all the people who study Tintin :=)
I don't quite understand why the novel is considered the fundamental form for literature, its only a few hundred years old, plays and poetry (both lyrical and epic), are both far older. Perhaps it is to do with the novels place as a commodity that signifies intelligence and social status? Perhaps its because literature courses centre it? Why must a comic be like a novel to be literary, why can a comic not be more like a play, or a poem. And of course "literary" is not a synonym for "good", why can't a comic be like a painting, or even a piece of music. Perhaps the relationship between comics and novels has as much to do with where you buy them as it does what they are.
Great story telling can be done through any medium. Books, movies, music, dance, comics, even games are all devices for story telling. The medium doesn't weaken story telling, it all really comes down to the creator. To look down on comics as a legitimate way to telling stories is close minded and purist.
I’m currently in a class at northeastern university all about graphic novels which discusses some of the comics you mentioned (including Maus, Persepolis, and Fun Home) and a lot of others as well. It’s really good, and I highly recommend it to any other northeastern students. The course is ARTF/ENGL2220: The Graphic Novel Art with professor Hillary Chute.
I grew up collecting manga but always called them 'comic books' as a kid. When a friend showed me his comic book collection I always thought it was weird his stories were in such bite sized skinny bits unless you counted his Collected editions that had entire storylines. Now we encountered 'lite novels' and have another thing to start collecting.
Manga usually is a chapter by chapter experience in Japan. Imagine only getting to read a single chapter of manga every week/month. That is all that comic books are doing here but instead of calling them chapters they are called issues. Manga outside of japan usually is in the 'collected editions' or volumes. And the term in the comic book community for a bunch of issues put together is a Trade, derived from Trade Paperback Books.
@@kid14346 A friend just informed me of the 'Tankobons' that are apparently what I have been getting. He showed me a Shonen Jump collection of his that had many different comic stories, but one or two chapters at a time. And I thought a season of Dragon Ball Z dragged on. ^_^; Now I see why they have those filler episodes.
First, it’s great to see Princess! This is a really great video that I’ll be sharing with my students. I teach composition at the college level, and every semester the one book that I never take out of our rotation is John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell’s March: Book One. It never fails to resonate with my students, no matter their age, and it’s great for teaching generic conventions and disruptions. Thanks for this🖤🖤
Yet another well done video, it was super interesting and informative, also I definitely didn’t spend half the video trying to figure out what your shirt said with my bad eyesight(while ofc listening to the amazing video)
I haven't read Infinite Jest, but just going thru the wikipedia article makes me say All*Star Superman is the best choice between the two. Great selection of graphic novels! Now if only Saga would be back...
I'm on the last few volumes for Saga so far, so I wholeheartedly agree. Glad they mentioned it. I also started Paper Girls, the newer volumes of Runaways, and thinking about getting the newer volumes of Ms Marvel
Tillie Walden's graphic novel On a Sunbeam is one of my favorite pieces of media ever, I've always been a graphic novel and comics fan, but that book elevated my love for the medium even more.
Ah, memories of being introduced to graphic novels in the 1990's: Sandman series, Black Kiss, Black Orchid, Stray Toasters, Miracleman, Hard Boiled, Grendal, V for Vendetta, The Killing Joke, Arkham Asylum, Give Me Liberty, Alan Moore's Swamp Thing.
I'm fully behind the idea of learning language through twinning words with images. My parents are deaf and lacking in the grammar and vocalization department, so I already had a wonky start when it came to just learning my own native language (Dutch). But we had this collection of Disney Book Club picture books and I basically learned to read on my own by recognizing words by associating them with what's happening in the pictures and remembering how my mom read them to me, and it went from picture books to comics to full on novels. It's also how I learned English by reading Prima guide books for games :P (of course, school was also a thing but they were more focused on punishing you for not reading well than to actually... you know... teach kids to read...)
Yes, graphic novels are sources of literature. My favorite graphic novels to date are The Sandman, Maus, Persepolis, the 2019 authorized adaptation of Anne Frank's Diary, Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons, and George O'Connor's Olympians series which I use as a reference when discussing Greek mythology with my students.
Love "It's Lit" which brings so much great literature content in a clear and engaging way. I also think this specific video is very helpful to understand the evolution of comics and graphic novels; I am a high school English teacher, and I plan to make use of this video! I, and a few other teachers, currently teach "Persepolis" at our school, and I think there is so much depth, emotion, and possibility in using graphic novels. A few of us also teach "American Born Chinese" which I think is another wonderful graphic novel that deserves mention. Thank you again for these videos!
Ah, "The death of Captain Marvel." More than a few interpretations of Chinese/Indian/Japanese religions. Graphic novels are not new by a long way. Just American are only now picking up on the way to tell stories over the past 40 years.
Sandman was not the exactly the first "bound collection"; maybe the most popular from the USA but, Japón did it with Barefoot Gen, In Argentina there was A Lot Of comics tide in one álbum (like Nekrodamus, for mention one), and in Europa, Italy in particular also did the same with titles as Dylan Dog and Diabolic for example. Super-Album, Álbum de Oro (Gold Álbum), or just Compilado were some of the names to described. Some amazing USA graphic novels (I think) previous to Batman year one would be Atmospher Zero by Jim Steranko, an adaptation from the movie with the same name; and I have no mouth and need to scream by John Byrne, base In the script by Harland Edison. Good vídeo. (I hope you can understand my english, not my first lenguage).
I love Sandman! It was the first graphic novel series that I read, and I was so excited when they expanded the universe. Now I want you to do a video about manga, because I feel that people judge you more when they find out you like manga than if you say you like comics or graphic novels.
Missed a few key points: pictographs are....”graphic” story telling. Cave painting of France to the walls of Egypt to the symbolic (still “graphic”) Cuneiform, to the symbols of China, and Japan with its ancient “animal scrolls”. Books to read: Understanding Comics & Manga Manga Manga the World of Japanese Comic This vid was half researched. Very Western Europe centric. Didn’t take into account that “story telling using drawn graphics” is......ancient.
