Not to change the subject,

but can we get rid of this term "graphic novel"? I find it a bit pretentious as it seems to be the only way some people can justify reading comics.

"Comics" sounds, I think, to some, like something that must be funny (like the "funny papers") but even the funny papers weren't always funny--adventure and educational strips have always been part of what we consider comics (think Steve Canyon or Mark Trail). Graphic novel hews a bit too closely to "novel" and, despite what the boosters of this term may believe, comics are not novels with illustrations. A decent comic is one that uses words and images to convey a message not unlike the way a film does (another somewhat pretentious term--"cinema" is another and "motion picture" the worst).

But how are we to separate serious art from crappy superhero stuff, you may ask? By reading it! Segregating the medium in this way smacks of snobbery (in the same way people say "genre fiction"--they used to say the same thing about American writers). I worry that we are dividing comics into black and white memoir (art) and colorful people with capes (trash).

The earliest use of "graphic novel" that I recall was when Will Eisner started publishing books in the late seventies (A Contract with God, for example) and it became a way to market it to those interested in art. A few years later, DC comics used it to describe Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns--a book starring Batman. For a long time after that it seemed to me the term was either applied by pretentious art kids who read anything autobiographical and black and white (like Yummy Fur) or pretentious comic store owners who were looking for ways to milk more money from teenagers who liked Batman--but this one is darker, more violent, and hardcover!

It seems the art kids won that battle, but every now and then, I read a review in a mainstream publication or hear a traditional comics artist refer to his or her work as being a graphic novel. Poppycock--it's comics.

"Poppycock?" Alright, I'm officially too old to have an opinion on this. Converse among yourselves...