What?

Why?

How?
• Same format as comic books

• Text & illustrations present information

• Medium, not genre

• Book-length, usually contain one story

 A Graphic Novel Page
Pages consist of a variety of elements

• Panels-squares or rectangles that

contain a single scene

• Gutters-space between panels

• Dialog Balloons-contain communication

between/among characters

• Thought Balloons-contain a character’s

thoughts

• Captions-contain information about a

scene or character

• Sound Effects-visual sound clues i.e..

Wonk! Pow!
 How to
Read a
Graphic
Novel Page

Graphic novels are

read left to right, just
like traditional texts
 Dialog Balloons
dialog balloons are read left to right or top to bottom as is
appropriate.
1 4

3
5
Sometimes it can get
a little more
complicated…
 2

But the 3
basic left to
right rule
still applies
to panels

4
 2

and dialog balloons 1

as well

4
5

6
7
Major Types
Humor
Non-Fiction
Fantasies
 Adaptations
or

Spin-offs
Realistic Fiction
Personal
Stories
 Toon Books
• For age 4+

• Can be read to or
by children

• Vetted by educators
Manga
• Manga=comic books

• Period before
WWII=beginning of
modern manga
How to read a Manga Page
Unlike traditional western books,
Manga is read right-to-left and
“back” to “front”

Often, if you
start at what
looks like the
front of the
Manga, you will
see a message
like this
 1

2
Panels are read
right to left

5
 2
3 1

As are dialog
6 balloons

7 5

10

11 8

9
Common Manga
Character Traits
Large, expressive eyes

Small noses

Tiny mouths
 Types of Manga
• Shonen: teenage
boys

• Shojo: teenage girls

• Shonen-ai /
Yaoi=boys love
 Manga
Adaptations
Popular & Respected
• Read by everyone

• Artists & writers well

respected

• Much anime based

on manga
• perceived as
subversive=attractive!

• Ratings
 • “God of Manga”
Osamu Tezuka

• Hayayo Miyazaki:
anime & manga

Names to
Know
 First comic “strip”
• Appeared in New
York World: 1895

• R. F. Outcault

• Increased sales
 Katzenjammer Kids
• 1897

• Used word balloons

• Used multiple panels to tell story

Early 20th Century

• Windsor McCay
– Chalk-talk artist
– Broadway musical
– Animated movie
Popularity Grows
• By early 1900’s, over
150 strips in
syndication

• 1929: Tarzan

• 1931: Dick Tracy

 The Comic Book
• 1933-reprints of
comic strips
• Initially free

• 1935-original stories
& characters
• 10 cents each
 Popular comics
• Superman
– First superhero
– On newsstands: 1938

• Characters spun-off into radio & movies

• Superheroes big during World War II

After WWII: crime, science
fiction and horror comics
 Shades of things to come…
• The Spirit published
as book-type
supplement

• National
newspapers

• Educated readers
 1950’s: comics in crisis!
• Frederic Wertham

• Comics examined by US Senate

• Comics banned and burned

 A New Beginning
• Late 1950’s: Justice League of America born

• 1961: Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, &

Spiderman

• 1960’s: Self-published underground comics

 Milestones in the
Graphic Novel World

• 1978-Will Eisner coins term

• 1986- Batman: the Dark Knight Returns

• 1987- The Watchmen

• 1992- Maus: A Survivor’s Tale wins Pulitzer

• 2005-”Graphix” imprint launched

• 2006- American Born Chinese named NBA

finalist for Young People’s Literature

• 2007- American Born Chinese wins Printz

Award for excellence in YA literature
• 2007 The Invention
of Hugo Cabret
finalist for NBA

• 2008 Invention wins

Caldecott
• 2007-YALSA creates new annual booklist: “Great
Graphic Novels for Teens”

• 2009-NYT Graphic Books Bestseller List

• 2009- David Small’s Stitches NBA finalist

 New Graphic Classics
• Marvel Illustrated

• IDW

• Manga
Shakespeare

• Classical Comics
Educational GNs
 President
Obama
collects both
Spider-Man
and
Conan the
Barbarian
comics
 Why Graphic Novels &
Manga?
• 6.3 million secondary school students reading below
grade level.

• Average American age 15-24 spends only 7 minutes of

daily leisure time reading.

• >57%of high schoolers devote 3 or more hours of an

average school day to electronic viewing.

• Students with access to variety of reading

materials=higher average reading scores.
 Graphic Novels & Manga:
• Present complex material in readable text

• Serve as a bridge to more difficult reading

• Challenge readers of more traditional literature

• Embrace nature of multimedia world

• Fulfill NCTE’s “21st Century literacies” (multiple streams,

simultaneous information)
 Checking Out Graphic
Novels & Manga

• Public Library

• Local comic stores

• Book stores
 Purchasing
• Many traditional library suppliers offer
graphic novel titles.

• Local comic stores

• Book stores
 Collection Development
Policies
• Clear (enough) definition

• Selection criteria

• Maintenance

• Challenges
 Classification & Shelving
• Within general collection

• Format specific (PS, NC or 741.5)

• Graphic Novel designation

• DNC
Learning more about Graphic
Novels & Manga!
Reviews & More
School Library Journal

Library Journal

Diamond Comics Bookshelf

Cooperative Children’s Book Center

• Get Graphic!

• Graphic Novel Resources: SUNY at Buffalo

• First Second Books

• Public Square Books