Jonathan R. Aubin
Graphic novels have their origins in the cave paintings of Lascaux, the hieroglyphs of Ancient Egypt and the petroglyphs of the American Southwest. The pictogram pre–dates all other systems of written language. As long as man has had the tools, he has been compelled to depict his world visually. We are born with the instinct to re–create reality and, in the process, create alternative universes projected from the artist's imagination. We draw for the same reason we press our hands in freshly poured concrete or write on restroom walls. It shows we were here. We existed.
In an era that has produced such masterworks as R. Crumb's
Book of Genesis
, Art Spiegelman's
Maus
, Marjane Satrapi's
Persepolis
and Joe Sacco's
Palestine
, it is difficult to argue graphic novelists haven't proven capable of wrestling with the themes of the literary novel while cutting word count down to its essence, and is there anything more intimidating to a struggling reader than a text–heavy book that can be used as a doorstop? The following is a guide to combining your students' words and pictures. Embedded within these fun lessons on creating graphic sequential narratives, or, as the layman insists on calling them, comic books, you will find a serious curriculum regarding the role, responsibility, and reliability of the biographer. The learning objectives of these lessons are tied to the Common Core state standards. However, beyond satisfying these rigorous academic requirements, I hope this unit's lessons will instill confidence in the struggling reader, give the class artist (or class clown) an outlet, and provide a break from the daily drudgery of preparing for standardized tests. I want these lessons to unlock the artist hidden inside, silence its critics, and open a portal to a hidden universe.
The readings used to illustrate the concepts taught in this unit were chosen based on their school–appropriateness, subject matter, as well as the age of their protagonists. The majority of these readings focus on adolescents, making them more relatable to high school freshman. Instructors may want to substitute these readings for their own choices (in the case of lessons employing single panel comics, painted portraits, and Golden Age Sunday comics, this is highly encouraged), but it is worth noting that a lot of thought and research went into these selections.
Before World War II, American families gathered around their radios to listen to their favorite programs. They had words, but not pictures, to go along with their favorite soap operas and serials. In 1948, broadcast television was introduced in America, and by 1950, more than ten million American homes had TVs where the radio once stood, now relegated to the basement or garage, like the VCRs of today.
2
The age of radio was in swift decline because television took radio's platform and added pictures. The graphic novel is a relatively young art. The term "graphic novel" did not come into widespread use until the 1970s when works like Will Eisner's
A Contract with God
erased previous boundaries between the comic book and the literary novel.
3
Today, the graphic novel is more popular than ever thanks to an explosion of new artists who are redefining what the form is capable of expressing. Surely great novelists will continue to write great works of literature. A few of them will dare to add pictures to their work at the risk of being considered (at best) children's literature by the literary establishment. The age of the Great American Novelist may not yet be over, but the age of the Great American Graphic Novelist has only begun.