Arts and Leisure: The big battle - It's edge versus respectability as graphic novels go mainstream

by Peter Rowe: Look, on the horizon! Is that a bird ... a plane ... or perhaps the final comics crisis? Is this Armageddon for artists, Gotterdammerung for graphic novelists? GRAPHICS AND CULTURE - Graphic novels -- essentially comic books with an extended narrative -- are continuing to gain fans, and respectability. CNS Photo by Laura Embry. In the 20th century, comic books endured congressional hearings and parental condemnation. The industry, like Plastic Man, always bounced back. The 21st century, though, has ushered in a relentless new foe: Respectability. "We need some of that air of disrepute," said Tom Spurgeon, editor of The Comics Reporter, an online site. "I think that it retains a little bit of a cool factor that way." Bad news, then. Graphic novels - essentially comic books that tell an extended narrative - continue to gain fans. Even among, alas, the cultural elite. [More]