Teresa Wong’s ‘Dear Scarlet,’ Jeff Lemire’s ‘Essex County,’ and recently nominated for a 2020 Canadian literary prize, Seth’s ‘Clyde Fans.’
(Arsenal Pulp Press/Penguin Random House/Drawn&Quarterly)
Canada’s Scotiabank Giller Prize didn’t shortlist a graphic novel, but are we surprised? The slow but increasing acceptance of graphic novels suggests the glacial pace at which literary canons grow.
Argentine cartoonist Joaquin Salvador Lavado, who passed away on September 30, also known as “Quino” poses with his comic strip character Mafalda.
Alejandro Pagni/AFP
Through his work, the Argentinian cartoonist Joaquin Salvador Lavado Tejon, known to all as Quino, engaged in pointed social critique on a range of topics that are even more relevant today.
An image from My Hero is You, produced by the UN and several humanitarian agencies.
IASC/Helen Patuck
Scientists provide the credibility and accuracy, while the artists ensure this is communicated with creative flair and appealing designs.
Michael via Flickr
Some of the most exciting fiction and memoir is being done in the form of graphic novels. Here are some of the very best.
Uderzo with his creations at Melsbroek airport, Belgium in 2005.
EPA_EFE/Francois Walschaerts
With his colleague René Goscinny, Uderzo told the story of the Gaulish nation.
The success of ‘Maus’ made the genre more visible.
Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for New York Comic Con
Some graphic novels can spur teens’ engagement with social justice issues.
Charlotte Solamon’s expansive work told a story over 784 paintings that saw words intermingling with pages of beautifully painted pictures.
Collection Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam/ © Charlotte Salomon Foundation/Charlotte Salomon ®
Charlotte Salomon’s dizzying work of hope and creativity amid destruction and despair, is a moving early example of the contemporary graphic novel
Illustration from Vanni highlighting post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Lindsay Pollock
A UN aid worker turned his experiences in war-torn Sri Lanka into a graphic novel.
Tintin: one of Belgium’s great gifts to the children of the world.
catwalker via Shutterstock
Tintin’s adventures aren’t just fun to read – you can pick up a lot of history as well.
What can an algorithm find when it reads a book?
Vasilyev Alexandr/Shutterstock.com
Some AI technologies aren’t advanced enough to provide useful insights, but simpler tools can yield new opportunities to explore the humanities.
A frame from a comic by the organisation PositivesNegatives.
Copyright: Positive Negatives, illustration by Gabi Froden
A series of recent comics are trying to shift the narrative about refugees.
Tommi Parissh’s The Lie and How We Told It is one of a crop of new Australian comics appealing to adult audiences.
Australian comic producers punch above their weight globally – many have been picked up by international publishers yet remain little known at home. Here are 10 of the best.
Illustration from NickDrnaso’s Sabrina.
ItsNiceThat
Graphic novels have a long history and are becoming an ever-more popular way of bringing profound and complex stories to life.
Taken from Persepolis.
1. Marjane Satrapi
Why this art form is rather more than just biff, bang pow.
DC Comics
She started life as a bit-part sidekick to The Joker but is now a multi-platform anti-hero.
La Presidénte volume 3, The Wave.
Les Arènes
In the French graphic-novel series La Présidente, François Durpaire, Laurent Muller and Farid Boudjellal imagine what might happen if Marine Le Pen wins the presidential election.
Feline revolution.
Ursula Dorada/Angela Sprecher/MSCSI
Superheroes are either men, or women drawn by men. Couldn’t there be another way of creating a 21st century superheroine?
City People Notebook.
Will Eisner Studios
It’s the 100th anniversary of the birth of graphic novel pioneer Will Eisner.
‘Maus’ and ‘Watchmen’ are two of the most well-known graphic novels.
Ken Whytock/flickr
The graphic novel has become a literary phenomenon, but the name doesn’t adequately describe the medium’s flexibility, diversity and potential.
© François Schuiten
They allow us to explore buried emotions.