Blankets, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Graphic Novels (and Comic Books)

Yes, I stole the title from a movie, but you'll all get over it.  I'm in a weird mood, and taking a break from my grad school final (paper and presentation for Thursday) to update my blog.  I'm currently sitting at the wine store, because I find coming here an hour or two before my scheduled shift and grabbing coffee, I get a lot more done.  Change of scenery, perhaps; maybe Andrew's iTunes jazz selections, or just a nice surface to spread out with, whatever the reason, on slower days in town I like to come in to get work done.  It's less distracting from being at home -- plus, this non-fat pumpkin chai latte is soothing my soul.  What will I do when pumpkin season is over?  And when does that even end?  Why haven't I even gotten to the actual point of this post?

Okay, so although it's been some time since my last post -- I ate myself into a turkey induced coma, if you must know my whereabouts -- I've been reading.  And by reading, I mean reading.  I've sailed through a few books, some for class, others for pleasure, but Blankets is the one I feel most drawn to, and what I think will make the most interesting topic.
I didn't get into graphic novels or comic books until college, really; the summer reading for incoming freshmen at McDaniel College my first year as a peer mentor was Persepolis, an autobiographical graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi.  As a peer mentor, it was expected that I would participate, and the nerd in me happily agreed.  Plus, they gave us copies of the summer reading for free, so what wasn't to like?  I wasn't sure what to expect, but I don't think I realized until that point how engaging -- and literary -- graphic novels could be.  I was used to seeing Manga (I almost typed 'mango,' how embarrassing that would have been) and didn't really see any literary merit in them, but Persepolis was interesting and well-written, even with the use of graphics to tell part of the story.  It was done completely in black and white, which added another level of analysis to the plot. It turned a political situation -- the story takes place in Iran during the Islamic Revolution -- into a backdrop to a traditional, relatable, and well-told coming-of-age story.  I was hooked.

Don't you remember what this was like?

A year late I had to read American Born Chinese for my Young Adult Literature class, and again, I was pulled into a multi-layered analysis of a story.  And last year, in my Memoirs class, we read 100 Demons, which was another excellent graphic autobiography.
And now we come to Blankets, a Craig Thompson coming-of-age graphic novel, also done in black and white.  Although there are several plot lines to follow, it is essentially a beautiful rendition of falling in love for the first time, and the heart break that comes with it.  There is also family drama, and questioning of faith and religious belief, which to anyone who was ever 15, much of that is a true part of growing up.  The thing I loved most about Blankets was how long it was; the book is around 600 pages long, but I read the entire thing in about 45 minutes.  Ahhh, the beauty of illustrations.

At least it's better than that green monster with bolts in his neck...

I've discovered that I do, actually, truly, really enjoy graphic novels.  There are a number of graphic novels that have gone on to make really excellent and successful movies and TV series (The Walking Dead, anyone?) and a few TV series and movies turned into spin-off graphic novels.  Coheed and Cambria has a series of graphic novels/comics that parallel the stories they tell in each album, which is another reason why I love that band.  Classic literature, canonical literature, has been turned into graphic novels; Poe and Shakespeare seem to be the most popular, but other works by Dickens (vommm) and, for my weirdo English friends out there, Frankenstein, and there are companies that specialize in creating graphic novels out of classics, presumably to be used in a classroom setting.  After all, don't all kids want to read books with pictures?
In theory.  In theory, graphic novels should be regularly used in the classroom, but the problem is the lack of thought put into these publications.  A true graphic novel should have illustrations that can be analyzed and add to the story, instead of just illustrating what's happening.  Really, they just need to have a point.  And that point should not be because kids would rather read a picture book.  When an author uses illustrations, it's like a director of a film making choices about camera angles and lighting, the editor choosing what can stay or go.  It's all significant.  Or it should be.  If it's not, what's the point?

Remember, if you want to join our International Reading Club, we're currently reading One Day and our first discussions will start December 10th.  Join us!