Image from David Mazzucchelli's Asterios Polyp
Fresh off Asterios Polyp day, I noted a few interesting pieces about graphic novels:
- Teaching the Graphic Novel - For all the bellyaching about fiction MFA programs and the question many love to ask again and again ("Can writing be taught?"), I found it interesting to think more specifically about how/if writing a graphic novel can be taught. In this great post, Alexander Chee talks about his graphic novel course at Amherst.
- Ink Plots: The Tradition of the Graphic Novel - Publisher's Weekly XYZ blog pointed me to this exhibit that celebrates the work coming out of Manhattan's School of Visual Arts. A quick scan of current and past faculty for the program demonstrates the depth of learning possible: Sal Amendola, R. O. Blechman, Sue Coe, Will Eisner, Tom Gill, Edward Gorey, Burne Hogarth, Klaus Janson, Frances Jetter, Ben Katchor, Peter Kuper, Harvey Kurtzman, Keith Mayerson, David Mazzucchelli, Jerry Moriarty, Mark Newgarden, Gary Panter, Jerry Robinson, David Sandlin, Walter Simonson and Art Spiegelman. Should be a fantastic exhibit if you're in NYC, definitely try to see this.
- Lit Graphic: The World of the Graphic Novel - A piece last week in The Morning Call pointed me to the Lit Graphic exhibit at the James A. Michener Art Museum that celebrates - you guessed it - the graphic novel.
All this graphic novel coverage got me thinking about the online search volume surrounding graphic novels - has it really increased or am I just noticing the coverage more?
Here's what the data looks like for a search on "graphic novel":
And here's what the data looks like for a search on "graphic novels":
What does all this say to me? It tells me that there actually has been a slight increase in searches for graphic novels. Yet, search volume in total is up from 2004 so that's hardly surprising. I also believe that the outlets for discussion - particularly blogs and social media - have increased the awareness of graphic novels in general. The Hollywood-ification of graphic novels has increased awareness as well. A scan of the charts for each search shows Scott Pilgrim, Twilight, Watchmen and 300 search volume increasing as movie-versions of the graphic novels were released. It follows, then, that my own awareness of graphic novels has increased as a result. Truth be told, I only really started getting into them in a larger way after reading the five LA Times Book Award Graphic Novel finalists earlier this year.
So searches are slightly up...but has the actual output of graphic novels increased? Are more being published now than before? Are more being purchased than ever before? In print? In digital format? Milton Griepp and his team at ICv2.com conducted analysis of the comic book and graphic novel market for 2010. Results are partial because the year is not yet over, but they found there was a 20% drop in graphic novel sales when compared with 2009.
Griepp also mentioned the Hollywood-ificiation of graphic novels and comics as having a specific impact in previous sales years and how that affects the "20% drop" in 2010 sales:
"Graphic novel trends were dominated by a sharp bookstore decline where sales are dropping off much worse than in comic shops. Griepp returned to his frequent pulling out of sales numbers for DC's "Watchmen" which has been a major driver in bookstores since the buildup to the film adaptation in 2008. The decline of "Watchmen" sales in 2010 counts for 50% of all bookstore decline, and Griepp noted that we might have seem bigger overall declines last year if not for "Watchmen." However, it wasn't only bookstores that lost graphic novels sales over the past nine months. Comic shops were down 9% in the category in the first half of 2010, compared to bookstores being down 30%."
Not an answer to all of my questions and this is by no means an exhaustive audit that looks at total coverage trends, subject matter trends, social media reach/push of coverage, publishing data and so on. I'm barely scratching the surface here with an initial search volume query, but it's certainly a start and it has my mind going in twenty different directions about larger trends. I'm now down the rabbit-hole to investigate further and answer the bigger question that's been nagging at me: has the output of graphic novels increased or just the buzz? Stay tuned.
