Well, I talked about it enough, so I guess I'd better do it. For awhile now I've been thinking about teaching a class on the graphic novel. I think it would be good for me to think about novels in a different way. Mainly I'm a word person; images mean little to nothing to me. The only things I really "see" in my head are sentences and phrases; sometimes I diagram them while I'm thinking or saying them (don't tell anybody). This class idea comes from, I suppose, knowing smart (really smart) people like Carlen Donovan who really like graphic novels and people like Anthony Ford who has created Laura Jones, Suck On This. My background with the graphic novel is scant, at best. So, I'll need some help with a reading list. I'll include Persepolis and if I can decide whether or not J. Lethem's graphic stuff is comic book, I'll include one of his.
Speaking of comic books, Clark, I'm thinking this endeavor takes me onto a slippery slope. How far away from the "real thing" (print only "literature" -- keep the pictures out of it) are we moving when we teach a course on the graphic novel? Am I gonna be sitting in a room with a bunch of 19 year old dudes in Superman t shirts and Spiderman costumes? Maybe I should just stay a stuffy old English teacher.
D not only wants me to teach the course, he wants me to do a curriculum action to get the graphic novel as a distinct course, not just a version of the current novel course. He says it would appeal to a different population. I can only imagine what that population is.
So, if you have any suggestions for graphic novels/comic books (cause that's what they really are, right?) and/or criticism, let me know. I'm swimming in some murky waters here.
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Sandman.
ReplyDeleteWatchmen.
Um, those are all I've got.
Neil Gaiman's Death: The High Cost of Living
ReplyDeleteJhonen Vasquez's Johnny the Homicidal Maniac
Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell (manga)
Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis
ReplyDeleteAnd Maus! How could I forget Maus! (By Art Spiegelman)
ReplyDeleteI'd agree about Maus. It's sufficiently "literary" to pass muster with most of the stuffed shirts, and it may, just may, keep you off the slippery slope.
ReplyDeleteI'm no expert, to be sure. More of a dabbler, really. There's a history of comic books that might give you some background-- The Ten-Cent Plague by David Hajdu. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clary gives some context, too, and is a fun read.
Actually, I think the answer to the slippery slope question depends on what kind of flak you're likely to get from folks in your department. But then, heck, you have tenure so what do you care?
No flak, no department. I'm have two other doctors with English degrees, but we're not part of a department. I just don't want to get a bunch of comic book geeks (no offense, and btw when did you become a comic book reader?) sitting there waiting for me to invoke my superpowers. I save those for other venues.
ReplyDeleteI think I want to re-enroll in SUNYIT just to take a course on the graphic novel... you know me, I need help with my reading material anyway and this would be something completely new to me.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the cred on Laura.
ReplyDeleteI second the inclusion of 'The Watchmen', because I think it pulls in enough allegory and philosophy to be thoughtful.
Also Neil Gaiman's work is top-notch... how about taking a look at some of his more illustrated children's books?