The Graphic Novel An Introduction [Paperback]

This introduction provides a historical overview of the graphic novel, with a strong focus on its international significance.This book provides both students and scholars with a critical and historical introduction to the graphic novel and an extended analysis of key graphic novels, with a strong focus on their international significance. Through their analysis of the works of many well-known graphic novelists  including Bechdel, Clowes, Spiegelman and Ware  Jan Baetens and Hugo Frey discuss all the visual and literary features that make the graphic novel so noteworthy. They also pay special attention to the cultural context of the graphic novel since its rise to prominence half a century ago.This book provides both students and scholars with a critical and historical introduction to the graphic novel and an extended analysis of key graphic novels, with a strong focus on their international significance. Through their analysis of the works of many well-known graphic novelists  including Bechdel, Clowes, Spiegelman and Ware  Jan Baetens and Hugo Frey discuss all the visual and literary features that make the graphic novel so noteworthy. They also pay special attention to the cultural context of the graphic novel since its rise to prominence half a century ago.This book provides both students and scholars with a critical and historical introduction to the graphic novel. Jan Baetens and Hugo Frey explore this exciting form of visual and literary communication, showing readers how to situate and analyze graphic novels since their rise to prominence half a century ago. Several key questions are addressed: What is the graphic novel? How do we read graphic novels as narrative forms? Why is page design and publishing format so significant? What theories are developing to explain the genre? How is this form blurring the categories of high and popular literature? Why are graphic novelists nostalgic for the old comics? The authors address these and many other questions rail#,