Prose v comics - or an unholy friendship
Created | Updated Nov 27, 2008
My wife hates comics. She doesn't like cartoons either. So, like many people, she is often put off by an illustration in an otherwise prose-only book.
I love comics; have done since I was a kid back in the 50s and 60s. Funnily enough I was also a bit of a prose purest and hated seeing illustrations in prose books. But currently there seems to be a trend in introducing illustrations to books, and I am now all for it.
There are some amazing graphic novels available too. Many have won top aawards. "V for Vendetta" (now a film) and "Watchmen" (to be released as a film in 2009) to name two.
Until recently it seemed that comics were dying and comic shops were going out of business on a regular basis, but there appears to a be a resurgence. In the UK "The DFC" (http://www.thedfc.co.uk/) has been running as a weekly subscription-only comic with some success and the new hybrid comics/straight-prose quarterly "Murky Depths" (http://www.murkydepths.com/) is also surprising many people with it's high quality production and boldness. The former appeals to a young audience whereas "Murky Depths" has a "mature content" tag.
Should comics be comics and prose be prose, or can the two work side by side? And do comics have the same literary merit as prose?
I love comics; have done since I was a kid back in the 50s and 60s. Funnily enough I was also a bit of a prose purest and hated seeing illustrations in prose books. But currently there seems to be a trend in introducing illustrations to books, and I am now all for it.
There are some amazing graphic novels available too. Many have won top aawards. "V for Vendetta" (now a film) and "Watchmen" (to be released as a film in 2009) to name two.
Until recently it seemed that comics were dying and comic shops were going out of business on a regular basis, but there appears to a be a resurgence. In the UK "The DFC" (http://www.thedfc.co.uk/) has been running as a weekly subscription-only comic with some success and the new hybrid comics/straight-prose quarterly "Murky Depths" (http://www.murkydepths.com/) is also surprising many people with it's high quality production and boldness. The former appeals to a young audience whereas "Murky Depths" has a "mature content" tag.
Should comics be comics and prose be prose, or can the two work side by side? And do comics have the same literary merit as prose?
