Plus, many graphic novel illustrations are stunning works of art that you can spend hours dissecting. The author must often condense the story, whittling it down to its most important elements meanwhile, the artist (either the same person or someone else) must convey emotions and actions accurately. As someone who writes both prose and GN stories, I would argue that graphic novels aren’t inferior, they are just different. Many people think that graphic novels are inferior to prose books. I approached my writing similarly - from an authentic, autobiographical place. Eventually when I got syndicated, and then later when I tried my hand at writing books, her work resurfaced in my mind. She inspired me to experiment with narrative-style cartoons. I never really thought of the importance of comics, though, until college, when I discovered underground cartoonists like Lynda Barry. Now I can’t get enough of historical books of any sort. But reading Maus sparked a curiosity of the past and a visceral connection to the material. Most importantly, they became my gateway into books of all kinds. When “adult” graphic novels began to emerge, I got hooked. When I married writing and drawing, I was in my element. In fact, I was a huge storyteller as a kid, and all my made-up adventures were told through comics. They can inspire, teach, and show that there is more than one way to tell a story. Comics of any sort can be so important to non-traditional readers. Without those comics, I may never have become a newspaper cartoonist myself, or have gone on to pen my own graphic novels (okay, technically, hybrids). (Had I today’s wide selection of kids’ graphic novels, I would’ve never left my room!) They were old school comics and they were the only things I loved reading at the time. To sum up, my graphic novels weren’t technically graphic novels. My “graphic novels” were the MAD magazines and Archie comic books I snuck from my older brother’s room and always forgot to return. My “graphic novels” were the newspaper funny pages, which I devoured every Sunday morning (full color, woo!) over breakfast. cartoons, as well as one well-loved, worn-out copy of Momma by Mell Lazarus. Growing up, the “graphic novels” I read were comic strip anthologies – collections of Peanuts and B.C.
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