With many of the summer’s biggest blockbusters drawn from authentically artistic origins, it’s time you familiarized yourself with the increasingly dynamic world of graphic novels. It’s a realm where everything, from the real-life to the fantastic, feels, somehow, a little more focused, explicit. And, no, they’re not just for your kids.

By Cerulla Daemon

“Is that a comic book? No! It’s a graphic novel! Is that porn? No! It’s adult entertainment!”

What is comic book fan Robin Williams talking about?

Coming of age and especially joining the workforce comes at the cost of giving up much of what made being a kid so special.

Somewhere, along the way from playing video games on your parents’ couch to selling them for a living, many concessions are made. All-night parties require three squirts of Murine and a double-shot espresso to look halfway alert on the job, and eventually just have to be laid to rest. Pick-up games give way to gym memberships or the equally acceptable jogging.

Some concessions are more painful than others. And some are not so much given up as pushed underground. Everyone has a couple of favorite dolls, stuffies or comic books stashed in their bedroom, posing as “childhood keepsakes.” The “keeper” sometimes pulls them out, stroking the beloved doll’s hair or re-reading a favorite, dog-eared DC comic — the equivalent of comfort food for the emotions. Only, of course, when no one is looking.

That MBA or long-haul trucker’s license would be called into question if the stuffed Teddy or Marvel comic came along to work. Holding down an adult job includes carrying things to impress your coworkers or boss. Like venti lattes, iPhones and serious, or at least best-selling, books. Nothing that signals your youthful fun, or the promotion you deserve might go to the guy carrying the volume of William Blake.

But a funny thing happened while you were trading toys for acceptance as a full-fledged adult. The first inkling came when you smugly stuck your copy of Outliers on the edge of your desk or outside pocket of your bag. Glancing around the office, you snag on your manager’s more imposing-looking book. One peek, while she’s at the copier and your jaw drops in shock. She (or he) reads comic books in public?

Now that you’re tuned in, you begin to notice the signs everywhere: While you were busy growing up, comics grew up right along with you. And to cement their grown-up status, they renamed themselves Graphic Novels.

The dawn of a new day

Graphic novels are not only the hottest accessory around but also riveting reading. To say it’s acceptable to mention them out loud is a serious understatement. Graphic novels are lengthy, beautifully-illustrated, award-winning books with complex characters and plots.

Bookstores and libraries that used to have a shelf in the back (out of sight) for “comic books” now have whole sections for graphic novels, near the front. With clear signs pointing the way because sales are way, way up. It’s impossible to miss the relentless spate of blockbuster films coming out of Hollywood that are based on graphic novels. If nothing else, Watchmen clued you in to the fact that there’s a book behind the movie.

Turns out, the book is vastly superior and more interesting, and will grab you with its conflicted characters and layered plotlines and not let go until the last page. You begin to suspect that this might be true of other flicks you didn’t give too much thought to before. Like maybe 300, The Spirit, V for Vendetta. Hollywood knows a good read when it sees the cash cow possibilities of one.

But 90 minutes of celluloid is not enough time for more than a taste of a good book. That’s true for all-prose books as well as graphic books. And the unique difference between the two is that the graphic novel — by definition — gives you the images right along with the words. The illustrators, colorists (or inkers) are the other half of the artist duo behind this format. (Sometimes the same artist is both writer and illustrator.) The millions of fans who’ve flocked to graphic books (Persepolis alone has sold more than a half-million copies. Yeah, it’s that good.) know that it’s like enjoying a spellbinding story with the movie built right in, cell by cell. And no shortcuts by revisionist directors.

It is what you remember — but more

Once your appetite is whetted by a few graphic books, through movies or a hand-me-down from a friend, you suspect that there’s a rich vein to be explored. Turns out that these books are not all superheroes, either. They mirror the straight-prose versions in covering every sort of reading: novels, mysteries, existential drama, biography, non-fiction, poetry and everything else ever committed to paper.

But while you’re looking for your favorite genre among them, if you happen to pick up the actual, and classic, graphic books featuring Superman (All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison, one of the best) or Batman, you’ll be in for your second surprise: They are far from the one-dimensional heroes you were led to expect from the films or television shows based on them. In fact, they rival the nuancing of the best of traditional books, even the classics.

They range from biting satires to plots that revolve around deeply psychological and all-too-human problems to thrillers, capers and romance-driven stories. These graphic books have won every kind of award, including the Pulitzer Prize in 1992, for Art Spiegelman’s Maus. (In 2005, Maus was chosen for “One Book, One Bucks County,” a national initiative to encourage the reading of worthy books.)

Graphic novels can be purchased online (if you know which titles you’re looking for) and from local bookstores, as well as Borders and Barnes and Noble, each of which has a graphic novels specialist on staff. Better yet, visit Ground Zero for these books, Cyborg One in Doylestown, whose vast inventory and totally clued-in staff, including — actually, especially — owner James Frazier, can navigate you toward a world where your interests explode in beautiful, explicit detail, as you thought they only could in your imagination.

Or, you can begin at the beginning, with Will Eisner’s Contract with God. Published in 1978, it is commonly accepted as the first illustrated book to call itself a graphic novel.

Now that graphic novels are making inroads on the best-seller lists, not to mention the cocktail party circuit, the logical next step of their acceptance is the book clubs. Once you have a few of our choices under your belt, you can suggest your favorite among these titles for your next book club selection. In fact, it’s a move designed to show off your cutting-edge grasp of popular and literary culture.

For a totally serious take on comics, a discussion with like-minded readers, and a great night out in the city, head to Brave New Worlds on Second Street in Old City. Since April, this chic comic book store has featured monthly, two-hour book discussions on a level that draws a crowd of serious readers and thinkers along with die-hard old-school comic book fans. The featured book is listed on its Web site, www.bravenewworldscomics.com, so you can arrive prepared to match insights with urban readers.

And remember, if it hasn’t already been drilled in by that point: no guilt.

1. I particularly like Daemon’s “these aren’t your parents’ - or your children’s - comic books” approach.
   It’s good to see a piece about graphic novels becoming accepted in the cultural mainstream.
   Well done!

   Posted by Sean Murphy | December 11, 2009, 4:15 pm

2. Gotta love any article on comics/sequential art that actually avoids the hackneyed “BAM! POW! Comics Aren’t Just For Kids” headline. For that alone you deserve a Pulitzer.

   Posted by MJ | December 11, 2009, 9:47 pm