The death knell of comics is rung several times every few years more so these past few weeks. Comic creator and educator Ramon Gil has looked deeply into the industry’s history and made some observations as well as predictions in his grad school thesis.
“Comic Books Versus Graphic Novels: The Differences, The Schizms and the Future” (StoryArk) delves into the history of comic books and follows the events that caused the industry’s rise, contraction, resurgence and the eventual birth of graphic novels as a separate industry. It talks about the changing environment that has given rise to more access and variety in genre, more diversity among characters and creators and charts a possible future for all.
“The comic industry is in upheaval. Not only is the industry changing, but the COVID pandemic has greatly affected, if not catalyzed more change.” writes Gil.
The works of Will Eisner, Stan Lee, Neal Adams, Stan Sakai, Art Spiegelman, Frank Miller, Dwayne McDuffie, Raina Telgemeier, Dav Pikey and many more are touched on as creators who have helped shape the industry.
Through three years of research and interviews with industry veterans like Chris Ryall, Andrea Colvin, John Jackson Miller, Shelly Bond, Tom Hart and Stanford Carpenter.
It even includes some direct quotes from Jack Kirby himself whom the author had a conversation with in 1992.
A Facebook post distilling his findings recently went viral and garnered comments (positive and negative) from many in the industry including Heidi MacDonald, Khary Randolph, Fabrice Sapolsky and Richard Pini.
This book, “Comic Books Versus Graphic Novels: The Differences, The Schizms and the Future” is a good roadmap for anyone who wants to be involved in making comics in the future.
“Comic Books Versus Graphic Novels: The Differences, The Schizms and the Future” is now available to order from Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Ramon Gil teaches art and comics at Yeshiva University and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. He has authored several comic books and articles and is the founder and organizer of Diversity Comic Con and the Comic Arts Workshop.
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Brett Summers
Brett founded CultFaction.com in 2014 a website and podcast that deals with cult film and tv. He also has a strong interest in grappling martial arts both as a practitioner and as a historian.
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