Comic Book vs. Graphic Novel Part 1

Well, May is upon us. We were sweltering in 90 degree heat over the weekend, how about you? Anyway, the warm weather can only mean one thing, the summer blockbuster season is upon us. This, in turn, means, you and any men in your life whom you go see the movies with, will begin that interminable debate over what to see come movie night. You want to see the Proposal with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, or Ghosts of Girlfriends Past with Jennifer Gardner and Matthew McShirt-Off-all-the-time. He wants to see Wolverine and Star Trek.

So, we thought it'd be good to take some time and discuss why these movies have such a pull to the men in our lives and since Wolverine kicks off this blockbuster extravaganza, we thought we'd start with comic books since superheroes have taken over the box office.

In order to understand the male love of these movies, we need to delve deep into the dark underbelly of their childhood. If you delve deep enough you will find their first encounter with a comic book.

Nowadays, there is a huge debate raging between comic books vs. graphic novels and what the difference is. Today, we thought we'd break down what a comic book is.

Here is what DC comics, one of the largest comic's producers (they brought you Superman, Batman and Wonderwoman, just to name a few), has to say on the subject:

Q. What are comics?
A. Variously referred to as comics, comic strips and comic books, the comics format as we know it today is a unique art form and literary medium that originated in the U.S. in the late 1800s. Its popularity exploded in the U.S. in 1938 with the hugely popular introduction of SUPERMAN. Ironically, it has become relatively more popular in many other countries around the world, where adults and children read it avidly. At its simplest, a comic is a series of words and pictures that is presented in a sequential manner to form a narrative.

Although many people regard comics as purely humorous or think theyâre meant only for younger readers, this is far from the truth. Today's comics span a wide range of styles and genres÷you only need to browse through our Comics and Graphic Novels to see the incredible variety that just this one company has to offer.

For an entertaining overview of the comics medium, history, and so on, we recommend that you check out Scott McCloud's two books, UNDERSTANDING COMICS and REINVENTING COMICS, which are fascinating looks at the medium told in comics format.
(http://www.dccomics.com/new_to_comics/index.html)

Now, there is a whole culture of comics that we will go into later on in the week, but if you feel the need to approach a guy on the subject, you need to get the basics down first. Mainly, the difference between a comic book and a graphic novel.

For right now, think of a comic book as a television series like Lost. Every week there's a new episode and it's completely serialized, meaning, if you want to understand the next one you had better watched all the previous ones leading up to it. And that's what comic books are. Every book or magazine is a new episode in the series.

Most popular comics companies? DC and Marvel. The characters within each are often referred to living in the DC or Marvel Universe. Examples of the most popular DC characters were named earlier. Some of Marvels: X-Men, Ironman, Hulk and Spiderman.

And if you really want to see how confusing the comics world can get, check this out (and it's only for the world of Spiderman):
http://www.marvel.com/universe3zx/utility/network.htm

And there you have it. Your comic book basics. Now remember what you've learned today because you'll need it tomorrow when we go into graphic novels...