Graphic Novel

Ah, now there is a term that is heard more often than not in the comic book industry. The ambiguity it presents has ensured that there is no definite definition agreed upon yet for the term.
The term is widely used so much so that you’ll find compilations or trades of American comics like superman and other (underpants –over – the –pants) heroes under the section Graphic Novels. Thus a collection of five superman adventures becomes a graphic novel. And these days one can find even European comics like Lucky Luke and Spirou in the graphic novel section. Why, the spirou and fantasio albums themselves refer to themselves as graphic novel!
That leaves us with one mystery? Where have all the comic books gone?
To me the term graphic novel is like a new logo that a company adopts to market it better. As asterix and tintin are cult, there is no apparent need to encapsulate them under the much more adult sounding term graphic novel. The term comics would do!
But if ultimately you are going to be reading the same thing whether one calls them a graphic novel or a comic, why this sudden rechristening?
When Will Eisner came up with the graphic novel, A contract with god, he called it a graphic novel to distinguish it from comics as his work did not display any of the characteristics attributed to comics. The content was mature, the narrative was mature and the target audience was mature.
But the name caught on. What followed was a spate of comic books referring to themselves as graphic novels not without reason.
Comic books are like chocolate. They are addictive. Once you taste them, you’ll never let go of them. And there are so many different flavors and types available that one lifetime is not quite enough.
At some point the publishers understood that comics books are being taken for granted and that it had percolated to the subconscious of the mass. And that is bad for business. It must stay in the consciousness of the mass. Also to admit that one is reading a comic book was not a very pleasant experience for a grown up.
The result was the much more literal and direct and more importantly adult sounding term “Graphic Novel”.

Now all this is really fine if you are merely rechristening a genre. But then what happens to the real Graphic Novel? What happens to Watchmen and the ilk?
Comic books as a medium is still struggling hard to connect with the adults. Once one leaves behind his teenage years, a majority grows out of comic books even though a minority still cling on to the old habit. One of the reasons is the pre supposition that comic books are meant for children. But more importantly as the comics are aimed at the younger generation, an adult would fail to identify with it.
But on the other hand an adult would identify with the issues portrayed in an original graphic novel. It would be like reading a novel narrated using pictures as well.
Thus a Graphic novel is essentially a novel graphically told! Now isn’t that the simplest definition? Thus Persepolis, Watchmen, The Quitter etc are truly graphic novels in every sense of the word. (But the way the term is misused you can soon expect another name for these kind of format).
Superman, Archie etc whether published in the form of anthologies are in no way graphic novels. But that doesn’t mean these can’t be turned into graphic novel format. The only trouble then would be that these characters wouldn’t be the superman and the Archie that we know of. A graphic novel must contain adult stuff. That doesn’t mean sex! It simply means that the subject should be more adult; the rendition should be more adult.
Don’t fool yourself; there is a really thick line between comic books and graphic novels.
One of the comic books that sort of straddled the fence was Sin City. Sin City is a murky take on the early crime comics with certain elements that might make them more appealing to adults than to kids. 
Apart from original stuff there are also other media invasions that end up ender the graphic novel section. The most widely seen here are Biggles and Agatha Christie. They can be best described as Illustrated Novels. Sounds a bit daft. But then that’s the truth.
So next time your friends ask what you are reading say proudly “a Comic Book!” (after all graphic novels are simply put adult comics!)
They are culture, they are a philosophy, they are art, and they are above all very funny!