I know it doesn't matter which book you choose to read. However, whenever I ride the trolley or ride on a bus, I see adults only reading novels. I never see a kid or a teenager reading a comic book or a manga. And it appears that novels are more popular than graphic novels in American. In Japan, I seen photos of business people and students reading manga. That is because their culture revolves around visual art. But in American, more people only read more novels. Plus there arew barely any comic book store known. And there book stores and library only have small sections of graphic novels. If you want to find a place that has more graphic novels and manga, the comic conventions are the biggie. And usually children and nerds are the readers of most graphic novels. Do you think Novels are higher than graphic novels in America?
Graphic Novels and Comics are just as good as Novels. All depends what your reading will depend which you like better. In general neither is higher then the other.
Are you asking if novels are more popular than graphic novels in the US? If so, I would say yes. I rarely see people reading graphic novels, but I see people reading novels a lot (on the bus, on the plane). I guess there just isn't a big market for graphic novels here.
Novels are definitely more popular than graphic novels in America. I feel like manga, comic books, and graphic novels are all lumped into a children's category. It's unfortunate, but I think most adults see anything with that many pictures as less worthwhile than a novel. I think it's interesting that you took the popularity of manga as a sign of a more visual culture than America. I'm not saying America is more visual that Japan, but we have Hollywood and spend a ridiculous amount of time being bombarded with visual media. Maybe the reason we choose novels is we need a break from all the pictures. But hopefully graphic novels will eventually attract more than "children and nerds" and we can all get a little more variety in out reading
People just find graphic novels childish or "dorky". Graphic novels can be very important and can be as emotionally resonant as any novel. Ex: Watchmen or for me Ultimate Spiderman.
Graphic novels are a visual print medium. Novels are a literary print medium. They both tell stories, but neither needs to dominate over the other. Nor should one be put forth as a substitute for the other. If your teacher requests a book report, expect it to be rejected or graded harshly if you try to report on a graphic novel instead.
I know any novel and graphic novel can be good based on how addicting their stories are. But if you novelization a graphic novel, it can add more information than the graphic novel. For example, Halo: The Flood, based on the first Halo game showed us more stuff that is happening during the events in the first game, which we never saw in the game.
Are graphic novels not fit for English classes? If so, then why? There are some graphic novels based on literature books.
Because graphic novels are not primarily about language. They are primarily visual. Your English teachers are required to teach you language arts, and the time they have available to prepare you is limited. Judging by the level of language competence in the adult population, they can't spare the time for studies on the periphery of language, such as graphic novels and other primarily non-language arts.
I get it. Graphic novels are more of an art form, which has nothing to do with language art. It would be better fit in an art class that teaches visual art.
Not sure if I agree as the plots of graphic novels can be just as rich and complex as a regular novel and ultimately it's that which draws me to them. Most things by Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman support this, they just happen to be illustrated.
Comic books used to be super popular, but I think their appeal started dying away when they kept going on and on and on and on and on with new stories built on their old ones. I tried getting into The Hulk, who is my favorite comic book character, but it's ridiculous how many allusions they make to past issues, and almost as a way to promote past issues they specifically GIVE you the issue number. I know there are some people that are finding it hard to get into Wheel of Time because it spans 14 books dating back 1990. Getting into a comic book series is even harder because they originate in the 60's, sometimes the 50's. Although it's easy to read wiki summaries up to where it's currently at, I tried doing that and I always felt like I'm missing something that's implied that you should should already understand. As far as the quality of comic books, The Walking Dead characterizes its characters better than any novels I've read besides Song of Ice and Fire. Invincible, a series that started in 2003, is one of the best examples of power of responsibility portrayal I've ever seen. Sandman by Neil Geilman contains some of the most thought provoking stories I've ever read. I'm not choosing a side, but just saying that comic books can be as good as novels. [edit] Crap, I totally forgot there's a difference between comic books and graphic novels.
I prefer novels over graphic novels because I'm not really a visual person. I'm auditorially biased; the arts I'm drawn to are verbal and musical. While, for most, a picture is worth a thousand words, I find that many times I'd rather have the thousand words, because the picture they would summon in my imagination is usually quite a bit more interesting than the one the artist provides. This is especially true if the artist is limited to black and white, or a four-color palette.
I can't believe I've got to say this to writers, but my hand has been forced. You must not post copyrighted material that doesn't belong to you. We take it seriously, and don't tolerate ANY flouting of the rule.
I think its more an age issue in the west, when your young and haven't seen a lot of life the extra aid to the imagination really brings the stories alive where as novels will generally require more involvement from the reader for the same reward. Comics are the cocaine of reading giving the user a quick fix while novels are more the comfy chair by the fireside that although wont make you jump up and do cartwheels shouting COOOOL! will give you a warm glow when you let yourself relax slowly into it.
I can't speak for the US since I'm not from there. But sadly, here in South Africa, not a lot of people are into graphic novels. Or comics, for that matter. I say sadly because my husband is a big Marvel fan and got me into it. The bookstores here have a very tiny graphic novel section and then overprice the books so I just put them back on the shelves and pout. It's sad how people can look down on graphic novels and dismiss them because there's an artist depicting the scenes/actions using illustrations instead of words. I guess the same people look down on movies because everything, including dialogue, is not in written form. It takes all kinds of people and all that, but I hope they actually pick up a good graphic novel and read it cover to cover before dismissing it as childish and immature. I've read good and not-so-good graphic novels but I can say the same about novels, too.
I'd say advantages of Graphic Novels is the clear visualization that's used instead of mentally painting pictures Conversely that takes away the imagination for the reader
