Newbie question

RightHoJeeves · Jan 15, 2014

Hi everyone,

So I'm keen to get into graphic novels, but I'm not sure whether it will work for me as a storytelling medium. Can anyone recommend a few graphic novels that tell a story that couldn't be told through a novel?

Kylabelle · Jan 15, 2014

Well, not a few, and I am no expert at all, but Sailor Twain: Or: The Mermaid in the Hudson I read when it was appearing as a serialized web comic. I would say that this could not be converted to novel form without being completely rewritten. The images did half the work, IMO.

Beautiful piece. I was a bit disappointed in the ending, however. Still, it was a wonderful thing to behold as it was unfolding.

I am sure there are others. The graphic novel is a medium unto itself and as such it isn't easily translatable into another medium (though I suppose it could be done, poorly or well.)

ETA: Looking at your question again, I see I misread a bit. Of course, this story could be told in a novel; IMO any story could be told in a novel. It would be told differently, but it could be told. What is the best medium for a story is another question. And probably has a lot to do with what medium is inspiring to the creator/writer/artist.

RightHoJeeves · Jan 15, 2014

Kylabelle said:
Well, not a few, and I am no expert at all, but Sailor Twain: Or: The Mermaid in the Hudson I read when it was appearing as a serialized web comic. I would say that this could not be converted to novel form without being completely rewritten. The images did half the work, IMO.

Beautiful piece. I was a bit disappointed in the ending, however. Still, it was a wonderful thing to behold as it was unfolding.

I am sure there are others. The graphic novel is a medium unto itself and as such it isn't easily translatable into another medium (though I suppose it could be done, poorly or well.)

ETA: Looking at your question again, I see I misread a bit. Of course, this story could be told in a novel; IMO any story could be told in a novel. It would be told differently, but it could be told. What is the best medium for a story is another question. And probably has a lot to do with what medium is inspiring to the creator/writer/artist.

Sorry I think was a bit unclear, hence your confusion. I suppose I mean a graphic novel that is a really good example of how graphic novels are used as a storytelling medium. Does that make sense..?

Lissibith · Jan 16, 2014

To be honest, I don't think there's any comic that tells a story that you *couldn't* tell in a novel. The question is, is the story told *better* in comic form.

I mean, look at super hero comic books. There's been tie-in novels around for years and years, but you'll find most people, when reccing superhero stuff, are going to rec the comics because they tend to tell the story better. It's much cooler to see the intricacy and detail of, say, a Green Lantern construct in the middle of a huge galactic battle than it likely would be in prose, where you'd have to choose between just saying what it is or stopping the action to describe the construct. And sometimes the sheer volume of action in some of them gets mind-numbing in their novel tie-ins.

Art also lets you do certain things of scope a little better I think. You tell me there's a fight with fifty people on either side, my mind conjures a mess. But a splash page of a huge battle puts things in perspective.

And then, of course, there's the fact that some comics enhance the story through the sheer beauty of the art. I've got a few books in my collection - Wicked West hops immediately to mind but I know the Dark Tower comics and many other would come up for others - where I'm just thankful we got them in art form instead of prose. I've got enough imagination to figure out what I think characters in a book look like, but there's just something incredible about that pitch-perfect comic book character design.

As for recs, it would help to know what sort of genre or story type you want to write, because if you're not a fan of, say, certain types of humor, then a book like Chew would just gross you out, whereas if you're not into stark darkness, you may want to avoid things like Watchmen. If you don't like your stuff philosophical, Sandman won't be for you, whereas if zombies are overdone to you, Walking Dead's a miss.

Sorry, that got a little long

RightHoJeeves · Jan 16, 2014

Lissibith said:
As for recs, it would help to know what sort of genre or story type you want to write, because if you're not a fan of, say, certain types of humor, then a book like Chew would just gross you out, whereas if you're not into stark darkness, you may want to avoid things like Watchmen. If you don't like your stuff philosophical, Sandman won't be for you, whereas if zombies are overdone to you, Walking Dead's a miss.

Sorry, that got a little long

Don't be sorry! Everything you're saying is very valid. To be honest I'm so unfamiliar with the medium that I'd be keen to try anything as long as it's good. I read all different sorts of novels, so I'm not worried about fitting into a particular genre at the moment.

Lissibith · Jan 17, 2014

RightHoJeeves said:
Don't be sorry! Everything you're saying is very valid. To be honest I'm so unfamiliar with the medium that I'd be keen to try anything as long as it's good. I read all different sorts of novels, so I'm not worried about fitting into a particular genre at the moment.

Well, in that case, you may want to check out the ones I listed there and see if any pique your interest.

You probably already know what Walking Dead is like thanks to the TV show putting it in pop culture. Ditto Watchmen, which is a sort of deconstruction (oft imitated, never duplicated) of the superhero genre.

Chew's set in a world where chicken is outlawed and follows the work of a man who can see the history of something if he eats it.

Sandman is... hard to categorize for me, actually. It's Neil Gaiman, if you've read any of his other work, writing about the lord of dreams. It's a dark fantasy series, lots of literary and other references. Not a quick read, but definitely a worthwhile one.

Saga is the big current book getting a push, and personally I think it's well done - sort of an interstellar Romeo and Juliet thing, but that's reducing it somewhat. And great art.

Bone's another good one, another fantasy series. A pretty huge, sweeping story. Been ages since I read it so I can't say much more, but I really should reread it. I remember enjoying it a lot.

Basically, I suspect you can read most anything that's been given an Eisner Award and you'll get a solid read.

I know people have said good things about 100 Bullets and Y The Last Man, but I haven't read either yet myself.

I might add in Blacksad if noir style appeals... and Elephantmen, actually, though if animal-people bother you, may be best to avoid. There's also The Abominable Charles Christopher, which is hard to describe but, to me at least, an engrossing an somewhat melancholy story.

We3 is a contemporary sci-fi story that's half "Plague Dogs" and half "The Incredible Journey." It gave me a lot of feels, but some folks have said it felt manipulative.

I suspect that might be enough to go on with for now, and as always, taste plays a part. Everything on this list that I've read (everything but Y and 100 Bullets) I've really enjoyed, but there are other highly recommended books that I just don't like, even if I can admit they're well done. I suspect that at least a few books on this list won't work for you. But they might be a starting place. Hope it's somewhat helpful.

RightHoJeeves · Jan 17, 2014

Lissibith said:
Well, in that case, you may want to check out the ones I listed there and see if any pique your interest.

You probably already know what Walking Dead is like thanks to the TV show putting it in pop culture. Ditto Watchmen, which is a sort of deconstruction (oft imitated, never duplicated) of the superhero genre.

Chew's set in a world where chicken is outlawed and follows the work of a man who can see the history of something if he eats it.

Sandman is... hard to categorize for me, actually. It's Neil Gaiman, if you've read any of his other work, writing about the lord of dreams. It's a dark fantasy series, lots of literary and other references. Not a quick read, but definitely a worthwhile one.

Saga is the big current book getting a push, and personally I think it's well done - sort of an interstellar Romeo and Juliet thing, but that's reducing it somewhat. And great art.

Bone's another good one, another fantasy series. A pretty huge, sweeping story. Been ages since I read it so I can't say much more, but I really should reread it. I remember enjoying it a lot.

Basically, I suspect you can read most anything that's been given an Eisner Award and you'll get a solid read.

I know people have said good things about 100 Bullets and Y The Last Man, but I haven't read either yet myself.

I might add in Blacksad if noir style appeals... and Elephantmen, actually, though if animal-people bother you, may be best to avoid. There's also The Abominable Charles Christopher, which is hard to describe but, to me at least, an engrossing an somewhat melancholy story.

We3 is a contemporary sci-fi story that's half "Plague Dogs" and half "The Incredible Journey." It gave me a lot of feels, but some folks have said it felt manipulative.

I suspect that might be enough to go on with for now, and as always, taste plays a part. Everything on this list that I've read (everything but Y and 100 Bullets) I've really enjoyed, but there are other highly recommended books that I just don't like, even if I can admit they're well done. I suspect that at least a few books on this list won't work for you. But they might be a starting place. Hope it's somewhat helpful.

Thanks mate, I will investigate these.

MelodySRV · Jan 17, 2014

Something that might be helpful for you to consider: will it be easier for you to show instead of tell with graphics or can you do it just fine without? That should help you decide on if you want to put a specific story into a graphic novel or not.

John Chambers · Mar 21, 2014

As someone said above, the dark tower comics were brilliant enhancements to the novels and i fully recomend them.

Newbie question

RightHoJeeves

Kylabelle

unaccounted for

RightHoJeeves

Lissibith

On target

RightHoJeeves

Lissibith

On target

RightHoJeeves

MelodySRV

John Chambers