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Difference between comic books and graphic novels?

posted 2 years ago by damocci (1514)
11 replies | jump to latest

I don't read either, but my understanding is that a comic book is like a soap opera, in the sense that it doesn't really have a beginning or end. A comic book runs for years or decades, with reboots and reimaginings and no real consistency, like Superman or Archie. Whereas a graphic novel has a beginning and an end, and runs for a limited number of issues, like Watchmen or 300 or V For Vendetta. This makes sense to me.

However, Alan Moore, the creator the aforementioned graphic novels says that the term "graphic novel" is just a marketing gimmick by publishers so they can charge and sell more and they're all ultimately just comic books. He has credibility because he is an industry insider, but does my definition of the difference between the two make any sense, or is Alan Moore right?

[–] ShogunofYonkers (77425) 2 years ago

I’ve always taken both of the terms to mean what you described in your first paragraph.

[–] AndyKing1967 (38136) 2 years ago

It’s almost correct (see my posts below).

[–] Wint3rFir3 (7171) 2 years ago

I thought the difference was just about the art style, like Western versus Japanese, with graphic novels taken a lot more seriously and intended for any and all ages, and comic books drawn and written for kids only.

[–] actionkamen (23176) 2 years ago

Marketing. I side with Alan Moore.

[–] damocci (1514) 2 years ago

AndyKing1967 has given a little more insight into this. I am convinced there is a difference between a graphic novel and a comic. Even what Wint3rFir3 said above makes a bit of sense, with respect to the audience for graphic novels. In my limited experience it seems like graphic novels deal with more mature themes and stories that don't shy away from violence, profanity and moral ambiguity. But this definition isn't very robust because you have violent comic book characters who are antiheroes like The Punisher and Deathstroke.

[–] AndyKing1967 (38136) 2 years ago

Comic book collector for over 40 years here.

Comic book - ongoing series often made up of numerous arcs and self contained stories.

Graphic Novel - complete story, which can comprise of a section of a comic book series, hence Alan Moore’s assertion (genius that he is).

[–] damocci (1514) 2 years ago

Your explanation kind of makes sense but it gets blurry because for example Batman is a comic book series, and yet The Dark Knight Returns and The Killing Joke are considered graphic novels for some reason.

This reinforces Alan Moore's assertion that they're all basically comic books and The Dark Knight Returns and The Killing Joke are just called graphic novels so the publishers can charge more and make them collectibles. I mean, why isn't The Death Of Superman considered a graphic novel? Or X-Men's Day's of Future Past? Aren't The Dark Knight Returns, The Death of Superman and Days of Future Past sections of comic book series which tell complete stories? There's something I'm missing here.

[–] AndyKing1967 (38136) 2 years ago

The Dark Knight Returns and The Killing Joke were one-shots, created specifically to be presented in a graphic novel context and were never serialised.

The Death of Superman and Days of Future Past were originally part of the ongoing respective comic books that were retrospectively given the Graphic Novel treatment as a result of their success. Hope this makes sense (Comic Book Andy).

[–] damocci (1514) 2 years ago

So if I understand correctly if something like Batman Vs Dracula (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Batman_vs._Dracula) or Batman Vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_vs._Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles) were published they would be considered graphic novels instead of comic books because they are self-contained stories that exist in their own universe and don't have an impact on the canon of the ongoing series? However The Death of Superman and Days of Future Past are in fact comic books that are dressed up as graphic novels for marketing purposes?

[–] AndyKing1967 (38136) 2 years ago

Yes, exactly. As I said earlier both The Death of Superman and Days of Future Past were collected into Graphic Novels because those particular storylines within the comic books had proved to be so popular.

[–] Kowalski (75537) 2 years ago

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