Graphic Novel Formula

The funny thing about the internet is that if you disagree or stir up trouble, more people will read your blog. Over the past few weeks, I have had some very differing opinions from a few established artists out there, which makes me think: do I really want to be a part of this field? This is why I don't like to share my work online.

I feel very lonely in my views and my tastes.

It's also funny that the saying "high school never ends" applies to the graphic novel/comic book community as well. And politics. Always the politics.

Anyway.

I had to write a paper after my graphic novel class that compared what I do to the artists we studied. This was not really a paper I wanted to write, so I wrote about something that had been on my mind. So here is an excerpt from my paper which you will probably disagree with. (The nice thing about writing an opinion paper is that I can make things up about my opinions and make them sound all official. )

    That balance [of great storytelling versus the craft of the medium] recently had me thinking about something a peer had said, which was that good art and bad writing make a bad graphic novel. Another peer agreed and added that bad art and good writing also make a bad graphic novel. Having read a lot of graphic novels, I disagreed. I started to call this "The Graphic Novel Formula" and changed it to what I saw was fit.

Good writing + bad art = good graphic novel
     First of all, going along with Kochalka’s idea ["Craft is the enemy"], I believe that a graphic novel can have good writing and bad art, and still be a good graphic novel. Style of art can vary widely from artist to artist. What makes a graphic novel may not necessarily be the art, but the story. Many people who are not artists or art historians think good art equals realism. The more realistic a person can paint or draw or sculpt, the better the art is. This is a distorted view of what “good” art is and creates a lot of barriers for people to accept other types of art. When the average person picks up a graphic novel, he or she may dismiss it due to the lack of realism in the drawings, or “bad art”. However, what the average person doesn’t know a good story can transcend bad art if it has a powerful enough message, if it is original, well written, and if the writer really puts their heart and soul into the work. An example of this would be one of the classic graphic novels of our time, Maus by Art Spiegelman. Many artists do not think the drawings in Maus are that impressive. While it is unique to use anthropomorphic animals in the place of people, they are animals whose features are simplified. To the average person they look like badly drawn mice with basic triangular heads. At times in the book, many of the character hardly differ from one another visually. Although this is mainly due to a stylistic choice (Spiegelman is in fact, a very talented artist), some may pick up the book and flip through it and think, "this isn't art, these are scratchy cartoon drawings." However, once people read Maus they realize it is much, much more than simplified drawings of a cartoon mouse. Speaking from my own personal experience, I was moved to tears by the story alone, because it is the story that really carries the message in Maus. Another artist who falls into this category would be Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, a  storywith simple art that deals with the complex topic of a girl growing up in Iran during a political revolution. I think the reason why Maus and Persepolis tend to be recommended to a beginner for their first graphic novels is because the writing shines through the art. Once read, a person can see just how complex and serious the medium can be.

Bad writing + Good art = bad graphic novel
    I do agree that bad writing plus good art makes for a bad graphic novel. A graphic novel with pretty pictures but poor writing is nothing more than a sequence of pretty pictures. If the story doesn't make sense, is poorly written, uninspired or unoriginal, the reader is going to walk away unmoved. One graphic novel I recently read was Blacksad by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido, originally from Spain but now has been translated into English. Most readers agree that Blacksad has some really amazing art. It is another graphic novel that uses anthropomorphic characters but these are done with vivid detail and in color. However, Blacksad lacks an original story. It is a usual, and uninspired, detective noir with a three part story which mostly involves the main character, Detective Blacksad, running around and interviewing suspects. By the end of the graphic novel, he seems to just stumble upon the answers and brings the criminal to justice. When it comes to story, there is nothing ground breaking here. Therefore, the graphic novel was just a mediocre and bland read.

Good writing + Good art = needs a careful balance   
    The next part of this formula would be one about both good writing and good art. The problem with a book that contains both is that it has to maintain a perfect balance of both; otherwise the art and writing will be competing for one another. There are two memoirs that were covered in our "History and Practice of Comics" class that I think speak to this. In David Small's Stitches, I think his loose and expressive style of drawing complements the emotional story very well. There are times when Small's drawings are amazingly strong compositionally, but I think the story is also strong enough to stand up to these drawings. Never was I distracted be either the art or the story so much that it took away from the other. In Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, however, the writing often seems more like fine literature than a graphic novel's complimentary prose, that it distracts from Bechdel's art, which is well done in itself. Often Bechdel references older literature and uses fancy writing in places where a much simpler diction would be ideal (ironic because she is so disgusted with her father's ornate home decorating, yet she uses ornate language in her writing). Because of this, the reading of the words becomes a bigger ordeal than looking at the pictures, and I found that the text was competing against the drawings.
    There are exceptions to this, of course. Books where all there is are pictures except for a sound effect, but there is still a silent story that is going on at the same time, along with the pictures (see, Robot Dreams by Sara Varon). There are also many, many graphic novels, which are just “mediocre” in both art and writing. For the most part, however, the graphic novels that are more widely spoken about I believe fall into the categories above.

That's that. I anticipate my internet flogging.

I have a deadline for Friday. I am scared of what Nicole Hollander might do to me if I miss it.

Top Secret, pg 4

Here is another page from my confessional comics course. This is the 4th page of a short 7 page comic called Top Secret. Done with ink and charcoal.

First page...

Here is the first page to a comic book I am working at while I'm attending Ox-bow this week. I didn't really want to make this story my final comic, but the teacher really liked it, so I'm going to try and do this one on the side.

Charcoal and watercolor. The rest of the comic will be done in just charcoal.

If you'd like to read the story, here is the rough draft/first draft version: http://community.livejournal.com/nanomango/581011.html

Thoughts on the girl comics market (a dissertation, ha!)

INTRODUCTION.

I have been seeing a lot of articles and interviews lately about a new Marvel line called Girls Comics. Sprouting from this has been the debate about what is best for the girls comic/graphic novel industry. While there are good (and really bad) points being made on each side, whether from a female comic creators, female comic readers, or male comic readers, I am concerned by one thing: Why are people speaking for those who are not present in this debate (girls who have not yet discovered comics)?

What I am finding is that these articles are on websites exclusively about comics. Such as comicbookresources.com or comicsbeat.com. With all this talk about reaching girls who don't read comics and bringing them in, I am finding a lot of this talk is taking place on websites that these girls wouldn't even be at in the first place!

One issue that has been lighting up the Internet girl comic debate is a survey on LiveJournal done by graphic novelist Hope Larson (http://hopelarson.livejournal.com/170166.html).

Larson seems to be the name coming up everywhere (along with Raina Telgemeier) and even though I disagree with her survey (and feel that it doesn’t describe me as a comic reader at all), she is definitely succeeding in one thing: getting people to talk about what the graphic novel industry must do to reach tween/teen girls.

I know you are wondering, "How can you disagree with a survey?"

It is not so much the survey I disagree with but with some of the given suggestions/answers provided by some of the survey takers. The top ten responses were compiled as a list of "What can authors, publishers, retailers do to better serve teen/tween girls?"

The problem with the survey is that it was taken by mostly (if not all) girls/women who are already well established in comics. Looking at the comments, it seems that they have been reading comics for some time, some even making their own. In a survey trying to figure out what girls who have never read comics want from comics, why are we asking those who don't need convincing?


CONTENT.

Let's look at Twilight though, because it brings me to my first argument.

Tween/teens as a whole - or mostly - in general, have no taste. I know this comes off as crass, but really, think about it. Look at what sells, look at what the top movies are at the box office, look at the bands they go see, the TV shows they watch and the things they wear. Most will follow the trends of the time.

Now looking specifically at tween/teen girls, look at the books they are reading. Number one is easy: Twilight. When I was placed in the high school classroom nearly every girl has a copy. High school libraries stock catty, overtly sexual, teenage drama books (The Cliques, The Wannabees, or the recent Gossip Girl series, to name a few) because that is what the girls are reading, and if kids are reading, who can complain?

When we limit ourselves by saying, "Pink, sparkly cutesy comics about boyfriends, ponies, cupcakes and shopping are widely reviled. Condescend to female readers at your peril, writers and comic publishers," we are forgetting a very large population of girls. Boyfriends... that is one very big part of a teen girl’s life. And, unfortunately, so is sex. Teenage girls are being bombarded with sexual imagery from every angle and at any age. What's even sadder is that they buy into it. It's not surprising that books like Twilight are so popular (with the graphic novel itself breaking records with 66,000 copies sold the first week). Many of us scoff and think that Stephanie Meyer is the worst writer ever, the books are trash, but it's what teens love, and if we're going to make graphic novels that appeal to them, we need to adapt to their tastes (or lack thereof).

Question is, which graphic novelist is going to feel comfortable writing about these types of things (sexually active high school girls, cliques, the “bitchy” girl, the “slutty” girl)?

One of the statements made is that we need more and better female protagonists. "Girls want to see strong, in-control, kick-as women..." I find this ironic considering the issue of Marvel's Girl Comics that I picked up had not much ass kicking to be had. It was mostly filled with mundane stories that were not adventurous, exciting, or even interesting (one even took place in a salon).

Why do all compelling female leads to be "kick-ass"? Are we to the point where we think we need to keep up with the men by beating up bad guys to be considered strong? Women can be strong in many ways, physically is only one of them.

Take for example lead female characters in Hayao Miyazaki's films. Nausicaa easily comes to mind. She is a princess, but she is also brave, strong, emotional - and yes, kick-ass. Another example is one of my favorites - Chihiro from Spirited Away. She starts out as a whiny, spoiled brat but by the end of the movie is strong, brave, unselfish, and saves the day.

When we knock out the pink and glittery category, we are forgetting one very big staple in the girl super hero genre: Sailor Moon. Teenage girls loved Sailor Moon. The biggest draw for me was that she was, like Chihiro (if not more so) whiny, wimpy and spoiled, yet when the time came for her to be strong, she got her act together and she always looked out for her friends. I think there is an appeal in Sailor Moon of being a normal teen girl, who becomes a princess, finds her true love, wears a cool costume, makes lots of friends, and always defeats evil without ever giving up.

Another character that comes to mind, in recent literature, is Hermione Granger from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. She is a book worm, incredibly smart, immensely talented, loves her friends and also... has a boyfriend, “snogs” a boy, wants to go to the school dance... and still manages to help save the day.

Lastly on this point, excluding pink and glittery is missing out on a huge market: little girls. And what would be a better time to hook a girl on comics than the very early years? At a time in their life when they are beginning to read and the sequential formatting of panels helps solidify the reading directions of left-to-right, why not create illustrated novels to stick in their hands that appeal to their tastes?


Niche and Community.

Going along with content, I think part of the problem is this push into the superhero community. Yes, there are some girls who really do love super hero comics. But I think we're focusing too much on one niche. The reason we are getting results with women saying they want more female super hero comics, more kick-ass lady leads, is because we are stuck in our community of women/girls who already know where to go out and get these materials. I was lucky in that I found one good artist, followed them on LiveJournal/Twitter, which led me to finding others. But I had already had interest in comics.

This leads me to ask, how accessible was Larson's survey? How accessible are the articles about girl comics? How accessible are the girl comics? What about advertising for graphic novels in general?

Along with the accessibility, I am finding more often that I am coming across the same 2-5 big names in the girl artist community. Not that there is anything wrong with those artists, but I think we are committing community suicide by limiting ourselves to having a small number of recognizable names. I see Telgemeier and Larson as paving the way, but we need to do more. (As an afterthought: this is improving through great sites like Twitter, and because of Larson's and Telgemeier's efforts other talented artists are being recognized).  I am also finding a lot of copycat styles (the "Scott Pilgrim" look is floating around, to name one). With such a limited number of options, it could be hard to push girl written comics, especially if they all start looking the same, or if not enough new talent is being introduced into the community to keep it fresh.

Along that point: we can't steal someone else's market. I hate to say it, at the risk of sounding sexist, but Marvel and DC are a male dominated market. However, we are women. We can create something new, fresh, original. Why must we use the big two as publishers? Why not start a new line just for picture/illustrated/graphic novels of all kinds: super hero, drama, comedy, romance, manga... where it doesn't matter the genre or style, but rather the quality? Is it a good story? That should be more important than what niche market we try to align ourselves with. A good story will cross any genre (People who have and never will again read a graphic novel picked up Maus, or Persepolis, or Blankets). I am especially discouraged when I read that new up-and-coming female artists are redoing older, successful literature in graphic novel forms. I know this is a great way to break into the market, but I hope this is a trend that does not continue. I think this is furthering the stereotype of "women can't do anything original, women have no new ideas" that I see so often in the arts community in general. This is why I disagree with the statement, “Use licensed properties to lure new readers into comics.” Again, we need to come up with new, big ideas to keep the community from going stale and to not further alienate the niches we do have.



THE DARK, MUSTY, SCARY PLACE THAT IS THE LOCAL COMIC BOOK STORE.

One final argument I want to make is for the local comic book shop. On suggestion given on the list by survey takers: “A welcoming atmosphere in local comic stores is key. Many respondents reported feeling uncomfortable in comic stores. They were stared at, talked down to, and generally treated without respect.”

Funny thing is, some men aren’t even treated with respect when they walk into a comic book shop (or feel comfortable with the images they see). When it comes to these kinds of places where business depends on a niche, a culture, a fan base – you’re going to be confronted with a condescending know-it-all. You can either be offended by it, or use it to your advantage. I’m not saying it’s okay but it is what it is.

Realize that the people who work there, or hang out there, are a vast resource of comic knowledge. I find that my own local comic book store worker is condescending towards my lack of knowledge, but as much of a snob as he is, he is still a sales man. If I ask him about graphic novels, he will give me titles, author names, go to the shelf and pull things out. I don’t know a darn thing about comic books, but he will ask me what kinds of stories I do like so that he can better serve me. He has been dead on so far, and you know what? It keeps me coming back. That’s a good salesman.

Realize that some of these people may be socially awkward, but once you get to know them, like any person, they can be very nice and helpful.

It is asking a lot to tell comic book shop owners that they need to change the atmosphere of their business, even though they have probably been doing what they are doing for years. And frankly, they don’t need our business. The print market is struggling, including comics, but these hole-in-the-wall places have survived without our money.

Instead of saying, “It’s uncomfortable! Change it!” we need to show them that we are wiling to be consistent, paying customers.

I say, let’s go in there (with a friend, if it is too uncomfortable to go in alone), ask questions, show interest, and make a purchase. Then come back. Except that when you come back, bring friends. Have them make purchases. Keep coming back. Soon they will see that there is a group of female patrons that continuously return. Maybe ask if you can start a girls comics reading group that meets there some nights.

What this is doing is establishing our presence in the community. They will take us seriously; they will know we are here to stay. Maybe, just maybe, they will decide that they want to start redecorating. Maybe they won’t. But does it hurt to ask, after establishing yourself as a regular if there is something they can do about that scantily clad woman on that poster because your friend’s mom won’t let her come in the store with images like that?

It’s worth a try, especially if the comic book store atmosphere is as big of a roadblock as it has been made out to be in the comments section of girl comics articles.

Remember, there is no motivation for them to pander to us if we are not regular paying customers!  It would be nice if they changed it to make it more inviting to initially draw us in, but the world doesn’t work that way, and if we want to be as strong and inspirational as the characters we want to read about, then we best start by taking charge ourselves and making a change!


CONCLUSION.

Finally, I think the main issue here is quality. Ultimately, outside of the big two of the super hero world, which have an established fan base and therefore a demographic in mind when creating their work, we shouldn't be writing "girl" comics or "boy" comics. We should be writing GOOD comics. The best way to do this, I think, is to push aside all formulas, all current pop culture, and write what YOU want to write. I have mentioned Miyazaki previously, Stephanie Meyer, and J.K. Rowling. What do all three creators have in common? They wrote first and foremost for themselves. They wrote the story THEY would want to read. And look where that got them. Rowling is a wonderful example, in that Harry Potter is appealing to both genders, of all ages. I think this is because the Harry Potter series is honest, not condescending, doesn't make stereotypes, and comes from the heart.

So my piece of advice is this: write from the heart, don't limit yourself, and think big. Some people will like your work, some won't. But it is time as artists and writers for us to stop categorizing our markets and ourselves. However, if we do want to find a specific way of reaching an audience, I think instead of asking, “How were you introduced to comics”, we should be asking non-readers, “What would get you interested in comics?”

Page 1

New update

Ah, Spring is finally here, which mean the semester is winding down. The semester winding down also means the schoolwork is ramping up. Thus, I have been unable to do much art as of late. I have done some writing here and there for "Anna."

I joined a group called the Grand Rapids Comics Roundtable a couple months ago (check them out!) and have been blissfully consumed with thoughts of cartooning 24/7. Unfortunately, school is a jealous force to be reckoned with and thus, anything that has to do with fun (cartoons) is on the back burner until the end of April.

However, the GRCRT anthology submissions are due on April 30th. To ease the workload, I am submitting "Daisy" in a panel format. Here is a sample of an inked image:

I'm excited to be published, especially something local and with such great and talented people.

I've been talking to another friend on a collaboration and have a few other things of my own in mind. Most exciting, in June I will be at Ox-Bow (a branch of School of the Art Institute in Chicago) taking a course called the "History and Practive of the Confessional Comic." I am super stoked about this and can't wait to be burnt out on making COMICS for a full TWO WEEKS! Woo!

So that is that, in a nutshell. I may go another lapse without updating, but once summer gets here, I will try to be around more often.

Sketch...

Haven't updated in a while. Christmas break wasn't productive at all. I *thought* I'd get some things done, but no. I slept in. Which was nice.


It just goes to show that the best drawing times, my most active creative mind times, are during class.

Here's a doodle:

It's Anna! On a broom!