Made possible in part by a family literacy grant from the New York State Library, New York State Education Department

What? Why? How?

Same format as comic books Text & illustrations present information Book-length, usually contain one story Medium, not genre

Caption Panel Gutter Thought Balloon Sound Effect Dialog Balloon

Major Types Superhero

Humor

Non-Fiction

Fantasies

Adaptations or Spin-offs

Realistic Fiction

Personal Stories

Toon Books For emerging readers age 4+ Can be read to or by children Vetted by educators

A little history Comic Strip=grandfather of Graphic Novel Around since end of 1800s Originally used to draw people to Sunday paper

First comic strip Appeared in New York World: 1895 R. F. Outcault Increased sales Eventually endorsed soap-whiskey

Katzenjammer Kids 1897 Used word balloons Used multiple panels to tell story

The Comic Book 1933-reprints Initially free 1935-new comics & original characters 10 cents each

Popular comics Superman First superhero On newsstands: 1938 Superheroes big during World War II After WWII: crime, science fiction and horror comics

1950’s: comics in crisis! Frederic Wertham Comics examined by US Senate Comics banned and burned

A New Beginning Late 1950’s: Justice League of America born 1961: Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, & Spiderman 1960’s: Self-published underground comics

Milestones in the Graphic Novel World 1978-Will Eisner coins term 1986- Batman: the Dark Knight Returns 1987- The Watchmen

1992- Maus: A Survivor’s Tale wins Pulitzer 2005-”Graphix” imprint launched 2006- American Born Chinese named NBA finalist for Young People’s Literature 2007- American Born Chinese wins Printz Award for excellence in YA literature

2007 The Invention of Hugo Cabret finalist for NBA 2008 Invention wins Caldecott

2007-YALSA creates new annual booklist: “Great Graphic Novels for Teens” 2009-NYT Graphic Books Bestseller List

Conan the Barbarian comics President Obama collects both Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics

Manga

Manga history Manga=comic books Period before WWII=beginning of modern manga Mid 1990s=came to US

“God of Manga” Osamu Tezuka Hayayo Miyazaki: anime & manga Manga read by ALL

MANGA

How to read a Manga Page Unlike traditional books, Manga is read “backwards” from back-to-front Often, if you start at what looks like the front of the Manga, you will see a message like this

Panel Order & Dialog Balloons 2 3 1 4 Panel Order & Dialog Balloons 6 5 7 Panels and dialog balloons are read “reversed” 10 11 8 9

Manga Terms Shonen: teenage boys Shojo: teenage girls Shonen-ai / Yaoi=boys love

perceived as subversive=attractive! Ratings Read by? 2/3 of GN market=manga 75%=13-17 y/o girls

New Formats

Why Graphic Novels & Manga? 6.3 million secondary school students are reading below grade level. Average American age 15-24 spends only 7 minutes of daily leisure time reading. Students with access to a variety of reading materials have higher average reading scores.

Graphic Novels & Manga: Present complex material in readable text Serve as a bridge to more difficult reading Challenge readers of more traditional literature Embrace nature of multimedia world Fulfill NCTE’s “21st Century literacies” (multiple streams, simultaneous information)

Learning more about Graphic Novels! Reviews & More School Library Journal Library Journal Diamond Comics Bookshelf Cooperative Children’s Book Center

Get Graphic! First Second Books Public Square Books

Creating Comics on the Web read*write*think comic creator MakeBeliefs Comix Stripcreator