Back in 2020 I commenced a “supporting genres” Monday Musings subseries, although some of the posts have been more form- than genre-based. Today’s is one of those, and has been inspired, as many of you will have guessed, by a graphic novel winning this year’s Stella Prize. And, as most of you will also know, graphic novels span genres. There is also graphic nonfiction. Art Speigelman’s Maus is the go-to example, but Australia has many creators in this space, like Mandy Ord, for example. Here, though, my focus is novels, so no nonfiction today.

As usual, I’ll start with definitions – and, of course, I went first to Wikipedia. It cites Merriam-Webster, which defines the graphic novel as “a fictional story that is presented in comic-strip format and published as a book”. This is a simple, formal definition, but there are many greys, and bookshops and libraries in particular accept the greys. Comics (which do not contain a single story) and graphic nonfiction published in book form are frequently shelved together with the “purer” versions of the form.

But, defining what is and isn’t a graphic novel isn’t the only grey area. There is the term itself. Not all agree it is necessary, and Wikipedia shares some of the criticisms. Many of these are made by the creators themselves who see it as a marketing – or even a snooty literary – term for comics. Wikpedia says that the

writer Neil Gaiman, responding to a claim that he does not write comic books but graphic novels, said the commenter “meant it as a compliment, I suppose. But all of a sudden I felt like someone who’d been informed that she wasn’t actually a hooker; that in fact she was a lady of the evening”.

Good one. Given graphic novels tend to be at the more subversive, disruptive end of creating and publishing, it’s not surprising that there are bones of contention. Richard Watts explores the complexities in 2022 at ArtsHub. He traverses similar ground. He talks of the inaccurate use of the term

to describe a collection of individual comic books bound together in a single volume – think Alan Moore’s The Watchmen (an episodic story in 12 parts) or Neil Gaiman’s collected volumes of Sandman (75 individual issues in its original run).

Watts says these collections are “certainly epic in scope and remarkable acts of imagination” but “weren’t necessarily imagined as novels per se“. They were “written as monthly instalments, not as a sustained, focused and finite narrative”. Hmm, this is tricky territory, because as we know many novels in the past – including by Dickens and Edith Wharton, to name an English and an American example – were initially published in instalments. Also Watts admits that the book that is “generally recognised as the world’s first ‘graphic novel’, was a collection of short stories in comic book form”. He agrees that “graphic novel” is a marketing term aimed at getting comics to be taken just as seriously as ‘real literature’”, but he also says that as “long-form comic books that embrace the potential of their artform”, graphic novels do exist. Then, turning back again, he suggests that “we should probably just call them comic books – emphasis on the books”*. Make up your mind!

I’ll leave it here, because of course there is no answer. Whether we call them “comic book”, “comic-strip novel”, “illustrated novel”, or “graphic novel”, my subject here is those standalone graphical stories that are published in a book format, and I think most of us will understand – well enough – what that means.

Graphic novels can be found across genres and audiences, and any lists I found included a goodly number of graphic novels for children, younger readers and young adults, as well as for adults. Adult novels cross all areas, but speculative fiction and dystopias, stories about social issues (including queer and First Nations stories) and mythic retellings do seem to loom largest.

Awards

There are not many awards in Australia specifically for graphic novels, but, as fiction, they are submitted for – and occasionally get shortlisted for, or win – fiction wards. However, in 2008, the Aurealis awards, which the website says are “for works of original speculative fiction by authors, editors and illustrators”, added a category for Best Illustrated Book or Graphic Novel. In its analysis of those awards, Wikipedia says that Shaun Tan has won three times, with Justin Randall, Tom Taylor and James Brouwer having won it twice. Tan also holds the record for most nominations, with four to his name. Check out the link if you are interested in the names of some well-regarded creators in this form, but a telling thing is just how many of those names are redlinks, meaning they do not have a dedicated Wikipedia article. You do not find this preponderance of redlinks in, for example, Wikipedia’s lists for the big literary awards like Miles Franklin or the various state prizes.

Australian writers have also been recognised in international graphic novel awards, such as the Ignatz Awards in the USA.

Publishers

Graphic novels, like poetry I’d say, tend to struggle to find publishers, because of their niche audience. Some bigger publishers do publish them, though. The above-linked list of Aurealis awards and nominations provide a reasonable overview of who does publish this form. Allen & Unwin pops up with some frequency, albeit many of its books are for young adult and younger readers, and some of the small, brave independent publishers we know appear. But, there are also many unknown-to-me publishers. If you look at the Aurealis list, you will see that the point I made about redlinks for authors also holds true for publishers!

Select list, and a few more

This is a very short list aimed at providing a taste of what is happening:

• Chris Gooch, Under-Earth (2020, Penguin, Aurealis AwardBest Illustrated Book or Graphic Novel): a dystopian work that references, says Watts, Australia’s colonial origins, except here prisoners are dumped underground, “rather than an isolated continent on the far side of the world”.
• Lee Lai, Cannon (2025, Giramondo, Stella Prize Winner, on my TBR) and Stone fruit (2021): navigates queer relationships as they move from youth to adult relationships, and takes in issues like chosen family, and mental health.
• Bruce Mutard, The sacrifice (2008, Allen & Unwin): “an ambitious exploration of the Australian experience in WWII”, says Watts, and the first of a trilogy. Set in Melbourne, it concerns the ethical dilemma of pacifism.
• Tommi Parrish, Men I trust (2022, Fantagraphics): one of many books covering queer life and love by this Melbourne-born trans Australian cartoonist and painter who currently lives in the USA.
• Shaun Tan, The arrival (2006, Hodder): a wordless work about the immigrant experience, capturing the bewilderment and wonder of arriving in a strange, new world; won multiple awards in Australia and internationally. Technically, a children’s book but, like many of Tan’s books, it crosses over to adult readers.

There are many Children’s and Young Adult graphic novels. One example of absolutely many is Ubby’s Underdogs by Brenton E. McKenna. I singled it out because, according to Magabala Books, McKenna “is a respected Yawuru artist based out of Broome, WA, who is the first ever published Indigenous graphic novel author in Australia”. This story is part of “a vibrant, action-packed series set in 1940s Broome” which “features an ethnically diverse cast of kids and Indigenous folklore, deeply rooted in the culture of Northwestern Australia”.

The Australian Library and Information Association has a special interest group, the ALIA Graphic Novels and Comics group, which aims to be “a resource and network for library and information professionals who are responsible for and/or interested in comics and graphic novels”. This includes helping with “all aspects of collection development, advocacy and programming related to graphic novels and comics”. Clicking on their link will take you to a list of posts, including some listing notable graphic novels for specific years.

Graphic novels and me

I am intrigued by graphic novels. I enjoy interesting art and I love the sense of subversiveness that is never far from this form. But, I am a textually-focused person and I find marrying text with image as I read a challenge. Consequently, I have only reviewed three graphic novels here to date, none Australian, though I have reviewed Shaun Tan’s story Eric. However, I have been tempted by writers like Mandy Ord; I have a son who loved comics/graphic novels/manga though his teens and twenties; and I have bought Cannon! I am interested … so will keep working on my skills.

What about you? Do you like graphic novels and, if so, care to share why?

Previous supporting genre posts: 1. Historical fiction; 2. Short stories; 3. Biography; 4. Literary nonfiction; 5. Crime; 6. Novellas; 7. Poetry; 8. Science Fiction; 9. Romance novels

* For the librarians among us, this article in the National Library of New Zealand’s blog makes interesting reading.