Difference between graphic novels and comic books

Learn the difference between graphic novels and comic books in detail

graphic novels vs comic books

Long ago in my school years, my wonderful friend Derek was a comic book freak.

You could find on his study table every latest issue of Marvel’s famous superheroes such as Captain America, Spiderman, The Hulk, Ironman.

I would borrow a lot of his comic books and read them myself. He was generous enough to lend me a piece of his precious collection whenever asked for.

When he hit puberty, he didn’t find his interest in comic books subsiding.

People in his circle threw jabs at him for reading comic books at the age of 17.

Let me tell you right away that I was not one of those people who mocked him for reading comic books.

I appreciated his love for comic books and I still do, maybe this is why we’re good friends still.

Tired of people teasing him, Derek adopted the term ‘graphic novel’.

He would say that he is into reading graphic novels, not comic books while he was actually reading comic books.

Derek thought that ‘graphic novel’ is a sophisticated term for ‘comic book’ which does the task of changing his boyish image to that of a man.

At this point in time, I should tell you that Derek was wrong to refer to comic books as graphic novels.

Why was he wrong? Because he didn’t know that there exists a difference between graphic novels and comic books.

So this article is all about graphic novels vs comic books, that will help you make a choice between the two by putting all the necessary information about graphic novels and comic books and also the differences between the two.

Read More : Difference between Novels and Books

Are comic books and graphic novels the same?

No, a graphic novel is not the same as a comic book.

A graphic novel carries a whole story within itself. Usually, the story in a graphic novel is made by stitching together complex plots.

A comic book carries a small piece of a big story that takes months or years to complete.

Frequency of publication also differentiates the two - while comic books are periodicals, they get published at regular intervals (weekly or monthly) however, no such frequency exists for graphic novels because they contain the whole story or at least a big arc of the story.

A similarity between graphic novels and comic books is both do the storytelling using pictures.

What is considered a graphic novel?

Oxford dictionary says that a graphic novel is a full-length story published in a comic-strip format.

A graphic novel presents its story to its readers using pictures and text enclosed mostly within word balloons.

The combination of images and words brings a pleasant movie-like experience to readers with no detail of the story removed.

Graphic novels can drive interest in a beginner reader working on developing a reading habit.

The history of graphic novels

Richard Kyle, a fan historian, first used the term ‘Graphic Novel’ back in 1964 in a fanzine by Capa-Alpha which happened to be the first Amateur Press Association started by Jerry Bails.

A contract with God and other tenement stories by Wil Eisner published in 1978 is considered to be the first popular graphic novel.

Marvel launched a series of Graphic novels in the early 1980s which is when the term ‘Graphic Novel’ started getting traction.

‘Graphic Novel’ format got widely popular among masses in the late 1980s after the success of Pulitzer prize-winning Maus by Art Spiegelman, Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, and Watchmen release in 1987 by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

Thus with time, bookstores started having a graphic-novel section within their walls which you see till today.

Graphic novel characteristics

Graphic novels are generally hardcovers. The spine of the graphic novels is thick in nature with pages glued to it exactly like books.

The thick spine makes it obvious that the number of pages is more in a graphic novel which again is obvious as graphic novels contain a nice big story within themselves.

Graphic novels are fiction. Most of them involve a protagonist and an antagonist, also some of them like ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ have superheroes and villains.

However, a few authors have been releasing graphic novels in the nonfiction genre as well. One great such graphic novel is The 14th Dalai Lama: A Manga Biography, by Tetsu Saiwai

You can read a graphic novel like a book. Like a novel, they do have a beginning, a climax, and an end.

Another characteristic of graphic novels is that they focus on the development of the characters and the storyline. They explore the history of the characters and use it to take the plot further.

The graphic novel is a format, not a genre which is important to understand if you’re a serious reader.

List of best graphic novels

Below is a list of some of the famous graphic novels

Blankets by Craig Thompson

Saga by Brian K. Vaughan

Nimona by Noella Stevenson

Ghost World by Daniel Clowes

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore

The Diary of a Teenage Girl by Phoebe Gloeckner

New Kid by Jerry Kraft

What is a comic book?

A comic book is a piece of a large storyline that is published at specific intervals.

Comic books have within them a superhero or superheroes, villains, and supporting characters.

Comic books also tell stories through pictures and text printed in word balloons.

The worldwide belief is that comic books are meant to be read by children and young adults.

A brief history of comic books

Comic strips are the ancestors of comic books.

A comic strip is basically 3 or 4 panels of illustration that you see in the newspaper or in some magazines. They do have word balloons to read the conversation between the characters.

The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck released in 1842 is recognized as the first American prototype comic book.

The Yellow Kid In MacFadden’s Flat published in 1897 in the United Kingdom is the first recognized comic book that was based on the collection of stories published in comic strips in the past.

Comics became more mature with the release of DC comics in 1937 and Marvel Comics in 1939.

Captain America emerged during the world war II period. Along with being a past-time for young adults. Captain America became an emblem of the anti-Nazi spirit in a light way.

This led to a boost in sales of comic books during and post the period of war.

The comic books industry has since grown a lot and was valued to be worth $1.09 billion in 2016.

Characteristics of a comic book

Comic books are an extract or a portion of a large storyline that is published at regular intervals, weekly or monthly.

You can’t know about the history of a superhero or a comic character unless you’re reading a particular comic book that explains their history.

Like from a recent Spiderman issue, you can’t deduce how Peter Parker became Spiderman.

Comic books are fiction that may not have a beginning or an end as they could be a continuation of the previous issue or the end of the story arc could be presented in the subsequent issues.

You generally find a lot of action in comic books. A few comic books offer various short stories bundled within them in each of their editions.

The number of pages in a comic book is limited as the story inside a comic book is an excerpt of a big narrative.

Since the pages in a comic book are limited hence they are created using saddle stitching in which the pages are mostly stapled together inside the glossy cover.

Difference between graphic novels and comic books

Graphic novels and comic books are not the same, you must have figured out the distinction between them by now.

But when writing an article about graphic novels vs comic books, it becomes my responsibility to present the differences between the two in contrast with each other.

Graphic novels usually have a thick spine in which the pages are glued to hold them together whereas comic books are thin in which pages are stapled within the cover. In publishing language, this is called saddle stitching.

Graphic novels carry within themselves the entire story or a big arc of a storyline in case the novelist wishes to release them in volumes while comic books contain a portion of a piece of a large storyline.

The number of pages within a graphic novel is more than the number of pages in a comic book. This connects to graphic novels containing the whole story within them.

Comic books are periodicals. They are published at regular intervals to carry the story ahead whereas, no such publishing frequency is defined for graphic novels.

The next volume of a graphic novel, if any, may release after a couple of years of the release of the first volume.

Graphic novels focus on the development of characters and the storyline. Graphic novels tell you about the history of characters, the protagonist, as well as the antagonist.

While Comic books do not talk about the history and the development of characters and only focus on the current piece of a big story.

Are Graphic novels better than comics?

Well, in the final section of this blog I would tell two reasons why graphic novels are better than comic books.

You won’t understand a comic book if you haven’t been a regular reader of the series. At the minimum, you should have at least read a few previous releases of the series.

Graphic novels provide a great way to develop a reading habit. Words along with pictures provide a greater understanding of the story to those who are reluctant to read. Any reader would want to read the entire story in one go rather than only an excerpt of a story that comic books present.

When you want your kid to upgrade his reading skills or comprehension skills then you can make them switch to graphic novels from board books.

Which one between a graphic novel or a comic book will you be picking to read next?

Do let me know in the comments section.

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