Comics And Graphic Novels

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Ever since the comic book industry begun catering to a mature audience in the late 70s and 80s, the definition of incisively what a comic book is – or in truth what it takes for a comic to become a graphic novel – has become more and more murky territory.

Much of this is down to the gradual acceptance of comics as literature, and their inclusion in schools and libraries. The terms “Comic”, “Comic Book” or, more badly “The Funny Books” still hold connotations of a less sophisticated era, when the medium was tailored only toward the very young, and sequential art messages that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events were rudimentary in comparison to other storytelling devices. Thus, the term “Graphic Novel” is seen by a lot of as a more mature and adequate for the purpose label.

Naturally, the only reasonable way to distinguish comic books from graphic novels is by their content… which is also far from simple. Many US graphic novels are Trade Paperbacks (or TPBs); compilations of regularly every month comic book titles. This way, the publisher is competent to test the market with a new title, which will finally see a wider market and potentially far more prominent print run in accumulated format. Increasingly, though, publishers are printing introductory graphic novels that were initially conceived as such, freeing writers from the originative confines of a monthly, 22-24 page format.

Different markets also prefer dissimilar terms. The majority of mainstream comic readers are rather happy to be known as such, while in academic studies the medium is many times referred to as “Sequential Art”, a term coined by comic legend Will Eisner in his book Comics and Sequential Art. Sequential art, however, many times refers to storytelling proficiencies beyond the pointed comic, such as sequential tapestry, picture manuscripts and even hieroglyphs.

Other regions likewise have dissimilar definitions; in France and Belgium, for example, comics are closer in page length and demonstration to what US readers would consider a graphic novel, but are in general freed on a less regular basis.

In short, call the funny books what you will. Comics, comic books, graphic novels or sequential art; each has it is own implications. There’s no right or wrong.

Frank Armstrong has an inoperable brain tumor that’s killing him. In his final days, with his body, senses, and mind failing him, he’s going to do the one thing that he’s never been capable to do before… save the girl.

TUMOR is a dark Los Angeles noir from the Harvey Award nominated creators of the seriously acclaimed ELK’S RUN.

Most helpful customer reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful.
Looks like the rough sketch for a completed comic
By Marc Dell Angelo
I’m sorry but this was just poor. Couldn’t get through the dialog, especially during the hospital-car scenes, due to the very loose drawing. Those type of renderings work for storyboards done on demand but not in graphic storytelling.
And, as said before, the gratuitous language is distracting. I still have strong hope for the kindle as a medium for comics, though.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful.
Hello Zoom Function!
By Sarah E. Portwood
This was the first comic I viewed on my new Kindle 2–I chose it because it was free. The comic is great. I was worried about it being formatted for the larger DX, but once I found out you could zoom in using the 5-way controller, it became quite comfortable to read.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
meh
By Victoria Lugo
It’s alright. not too special. the images are more like rough sketches. some lines were a little too repetitive. but i did find it amusing. it’s not very long.

if your the kind of person that doesn’t like randomly inserted flashbacks, then this will irk you; personally, i found it was an element that was pulled off pretty smoothly.

See all 22 customer reviews…