The Librarian’s Guide to Graphic Novels

Presented by David S. SerchayYouth Services Librarian

Broward County (FL) Library

WHAT ARE GRAPHIC NOVELS?

Gail DeVos in her “ABCs of Graphic Novels” (2005) defines a graphic novel

as:“bound books, fiction and

nonfiction, which are created in the comic book format and

are issued an ISBN”

From Batman #244 (1972)

Who Makes a Graphic Novel?

WritersPencilers

InkersColoristsLetterers

ORIGINAL GRAPHIC NOVELS

COMIC BOOKS

WHAT SORT OF COMICS ARE THERE?

• ONGOING SERIES• LIMITED SERIES• ANNUALS• SPECIALS• ONE-SHOTS

COLLECTED WORKS • COLLECTED LIMITED SERIES

• CHRONOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS

• COLLECTED STORYLINE• THEMED COLLECTIONS

COLLECTED LIMITED SERIES

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns 1-4 (1986)

CHRONOLOIGCAL COLLECTIONS

JUSTICE LEAGUE VOLS. 1-3 AND SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA VOLS. 1-3

COLLECTED STORYLINE

Batman Annual #26 (2007)

Robin Annual #7 (2007)

Batman #670 (Dec. 2007)

Robin #168 (Jan 2008)

Nightwing #138 (Jan 2008)

Batman #671 (Jan 2008)

Robin #169 (Feb 2008)

Detective Comics #838 (Jan 2008)

Detective Comics #839 (Feb 2008)

The Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul (2008)

Nightwing #139 (Feb 2008)

THEMED COLLECTIONS

Stories set in the 1960s

Batman stories drawn by Alan Davis

X-Factor stories written by Peter David

Batman stories through the years

Stories of heroes teaming-up, over the years

Stories of how certain Heroes joined the Justice League

Christmas-themed Stories

Origin stories of various characters

MANGA AND OTHER FOREIGN WORKS

Manga Terms• Shōnen (or shounen) – Manga aimed at six-to-18 year-old boys. Plots include fighting for justice, winning

the girl, or achieving a goal despite problems. • Shōjo (or Shoujo) – Manga written for girls, especially for girls under twelve. Characteristics include

focuses on relationships (though not always romantic ones), and the stores are often more complex with more character interaction. They do however, also often have stories containing action.

• Seinen and Josei – These types of manga are aimed at a late teen or adult audience. The violence is more explicit, there is more sensual content, and the women have a more “sexualized” appearance. The stories often have adults dealing with adult concerns.

• Shōnen-ai and Yaoi – both deal with love between two male characters, though in Shōnen-ai (“Boys Love” or “BL”) the attraction is more romantic while Yaoi is more sexually explicit. These titles have a strong following among female readers. Shōjo-ai and Yuri are the female equivalent.

• Hentai – Manga with explicitly sexual and/or pornographic imagery. Definitely on the “do not buy for a juvenile collection” list (and probably on the do not buy for the adult collection either list as well).

• Manga-Ka – A creator of Manga. Some manga titles are credited not to an individual writer or artist, but artistic teams.

• Fanservice – Elements in manga that are put in only to pander to fans, and do not further the plot or develop characterization. This can include a close-up shot of a female character’s cleavage or underwear.

• Mecha: A genre that refers to all machines from real ones to giant robots.• Otaku: The Japanese equivalent to the American “fanboy.”

How to Read Manga

GRAPHIC NOVELS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

From South Korea From England From France

From Italy From Belgium From Canada

GENRES

SUPERHERO

SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY, AND HORROR

HUMOR AND MUCH, MUCH MORE

ADAPTATIONS AND LICENCED WORKS

NON-FICTION

BIOGRAPHIES AND MEMOIRS

WHY SHOULD I HAVE GRAPHIC NOVELS IN MY

LIBRARY?

Comic and Graphic Novel-inspired Movies and TV Shows in 2014

• X-Men: Days of Future Past

• Captain America: The Winter Soldier

• Amazing Spider-Man 2• Snowpiercer• Guardians of the Galaxy• Big Hero Six• Sin City: A Dame to Kill

For• Constantine *• Izombie *

• Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD *• The Walking Dead *• Gotham *• The Flash *• Arrow *• Agent Carter *• 300: Rise of an Empire• Teenage Mutant Ninja

Turtles

* TELEVISION PROGRAM

Educational Reasons

“If educators ever find out what constitutes the fantastic motivating power of comic books, I hope they bottle it and sprinkle it around classrooms” -- Kay Haugaard, “Comic Books: Conduits to Culture” (1973)

Words found in “Marvel Universe Avengers: United” (2012)

CourierIllustriousElectrochemicalCapacityParticlesSophisticated Prototypes HierarchyCoordinatesCamouflaged RegenerationPhysiology

Disproportionate ToxinMembraneFlawlessly Mutagenic CraniumContingencyAbomination SovereigntyMegalomaniacalPetulant

MULTI-LINGUAL GRAPHIC NOVELS

Hellboy: Semilla de Destruccion/ Hellboy: Seed of Destruction Bone: Lejos De Bonville/Bone: Out From Boneville

Tintin -- L’Oreille Cassee/La Oreja Rota/The Broken Ear

“There are good books which are only for adults, because their comprehension presupposed adult experiences, but there are no good books which are only for children.” -- W. H. Auden

PURCHASING GRAPHIC NOVELS

FOR YOUR LIBRARY

ONLINE RESOURCESComiclist: The New Comic Book Release List -- www.comiclist.com/index.php (also available via e-mail)

Collected Edition Release Schedule -- www.collectedcomicslibrary.com/collected-edition-release-schedule/

Newsarama – www.newsarama.com

Comic Book Resources – www.comicbookresources.com

The Beat – www.comicbeat.com

Diamond Comic Distributors – www.diamondcomics.com

GNLIB-L: Graphic Novels in Libraries -- groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/gn4lib/info

SOME OF THE PUBLISHERS OF GRAPHIC NOVELS

DC Marvel Abdo Spotlight Adhouse Books AiT/PlanetLar Alfred A. Knopf Amulet Books Amrhyl Entertaiment Antarctic Annick Press Ltd Ape Entertainment Archaia Entertainment Archie Comics Atheneum Books for Young Readers Automatic Picture Publishing Avatar Press Bloomsbury Blue Sky Bongo Boom/KaBoom Burlyman Entertainment Campfire Candlewick Press Capstone Press Cinebook Dark Horse Comics

Del Rey Devil’s Due Dial Books for Young Readers Disney-Hyperion Drawn & Quarterly Dynamite Entertainment Eureka Productions Fantagraphics Books Farrar Straus & Giroux Inc First Second Books G P Putnam's Sons Gen Manga Entertainment Graphic Universe GRAPHIX Harpercollins Hill and Wang Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Humanoids Publishing Hyperion IDW Publishing Image Comics Kids Can Press Kodansha Comics Little Brown Books for Young Readers NBM/ Comics Lit Oni Press

Orion Pantheon Books Papercutz Perfect Square Random House Inc Seven Seas Scholastic SLG Publishing Titan Publishing Top Shelf Productions Toon Books/Raw Tor Books Udon Entertainment Valiant Entertainment Vertical Viz Yen Press Zenescope

HOW TO PURCHASE

GRAPHIC NOVELS

COMIC BOOK STORES

The Award Winning Night Flight Comics in Salt Lake City, Utah located in Library Square

CHOOSING WHAT TO BUY

Walking Dead #1-48

Walking Dead #1-48

Walking Dead #1-48

MOST OF THE STORIES HERE:

CAN ALSO BE FOUND HERE

The same issues collected In these

Are also collected in the regular collected volumes of four different ongoing series.

So what should you purchase? The complete story, the next volume of the series? Or both?

Captain America Through the Years

Vol. 1 (1968-1996)*

Vol. 2 (1996-1997)

Vol. 3 (1998-2002)

Vol. 4 (2002-2004)

Vol. 5 (2005-2011) **

Vol. 6 (2011-2012)

*Vol. 1 continued from Tales of Suspense** Vol. 5 continued under various titles until 2013*** Vol. 7 followed by All-New Captain America #1

Vol. 7 (2013-2014)***

NEW AND UPCOMING GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY TITLES

Guardians of the Galaxy by Abnett & Lanning: The Complete Collection Vol. 1On sale 8/14. Collects 1-12 of the 2008 series

Guardians of the Galaxy by Jim Valentino Volume 2On Sale 7/29. Collects 8-20 of the 1990 series

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3: Guardians Disassembled On sale 11/25. Collects 14-16 of The 2013 series (plus extras)

Contains stories from 1938, 1940, 1942, 1948, 1952, 1958-61, 1972, 1983-85, 1987, 1993, 2001, 2003, 2011-2012

The Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Men

Peter Parker, the original

Peter Parker, Ultimate version

Peter Parker, television version

Dr. Octopus in the body of Peter Parker.

Miles Morales, successor to the late Peter Parker (Ultimate)

original

Graphic Novel RatingsDC COMICS RATINGS E - EVERYONE Appropriate for readers of all ages. May contain cartoon violence and/or some comic mischief. T – TEEN Appropriate for readers age 12 and older. May contain mild violence, language and/or suggestive themes. T+ - TEEN PLUS Appropriate for readers age 15 and older. May contain moderate violence, mild profanity, graphic imagery and/or suggestive themes. M – MATURE Appropriate for readers age 17 and older. May contain intense violence, extensive profanity, nudity, sexual themes and other content suitable only for older readers.

Marvel Comics Ratings ALL AGES - Appropriate for all ages. T - Appropriate for most readers, but parents are advised that they might want to read before or with younger children. T+ TEENS AND UP - Appropriate for teens 13 and above. PARENTAL ADVISORY - Appropriate for older teens. Similar to T+, but featuring more mature themes and/or more graphic imagery. Recommended for teen and adult readers. EXPLICIT CONTENT - 18+ years. Includes MAX titles.

Viz Comics Ratings ALL AGES. May be suitable for readers or consumers of any age. For example, may contain mild language and fantasy violence but no swearing or nudity. TEEN. May be suitable for early teens and older. For example, may contain violence, infrequent use of strong language, suggestive themes or situations, crude humor, alcohol and/or tobacco use. TEEN PLUS. May be suitable for older teens and adults. For example, may contain intense and/or gory violence, sexual content, frequent strong language, alcohol, tobacco and/or other substance use. MATURE. Suitable for adults only. May contain extreme violence, mature themes and graphic depictions.

What Else is There to Purchase?

NOW THAT I HAVE THEM,

WHAT DO I DO WITH THEM?

DEWEY NUMBER BY COUNTRY

741.

5942 - England 5944 – France 5945 – Italy 59493 – Belgium 59519 – South Korea 5952 - Japan 5971 - Canada 5973 – United States

ULTIMATE X-MEN CATALOGED BY AUTHOR

Vols. 7-8 741.5973 BE or FIC Bendis

Vol. 19 741.5973 CO or FIC Coleite

Vols. 1-6 741.5973 MI or FIC Millar

Vols. 14-18 741.5973 KI or FIC Kirkman

Vols. 9-13 741.5973 VA or FIC Vaughan

SHELVING YOUR GRAPHIC NOVELS

ALA POSTERS AND BOOKMARKS

Weeding and Replacing

WEEDING AND REPLACING

Potential Problems

ALA’s Guide to Dealing With Graphic Novel Challenges http://www.ala.org/offices/oif/ifissues/graphicnovels

CBLDF Downloadable Banned Books Week Handbook -- http://cbldf.org/librarian-tools/cbldf-banned-books-week-handbook/

CBLDF Banned Books Week Pamphlet -- http://cbldf.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/bbw-pamphlet.pdf

CHALLENGES, THE COMIC BOOK LEGAL DEFENSE FUND, AND BANNED BOOKS WEEK

GRAPHIC NOVEL PROGRAMS AND

ACTIVITIES

Disclaimer

ALL IMAGES OF BOOK COVERS, BOOKMARKS, POSTERS, ETC. INCLUDED IN THIS PRESENTATION ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE

RESPECTIVE COPYRIGHT AND TRADEMARK HOLDERS.

COVER IMAGES TAKEN FROM VARIOUS SOURCES INCLUDING THE GRAND COMIC DATABASE AT WWW.COMICS.ORG AND THE CARL

CATALOG USED BY THE BROWARD COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM.

Contact Information

DAVIDSERCHAY@YAHOO.COM