I once heard the artist Peter Howson say that the most significant artistic development in the twentieth century was the graphic novel. Whether this is true or not it is certainly the case that comics (which is what we used to call graphic novels) have come a long way in the last fifty or so years.
One of my primary school teachers whenever she found a comic in your desk would pick it up by the tips of her thumb and forefinger, display it before the class with a look of intense disgust, and then drop it in the bin. The message was that this object was not just disagreeable it was actually harmful. The UK parliament of 1955 apparently agreed, to some extent at least. The Home Secretary of the time, Gwilym Lloyd George, introduced The Children’s and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act 1955 in response to concerns expressed by teachers and clergy at the possible effects of horror comics on children. The real issue was the amount of violence and cruelty and ‘incidents of a repulsive or horrible nature’ which were depicted but it is fair to say that comics in general were not regarded as a good thing.
Now graphic novels are regularly reviewed in the Guardian and the New York Times, and are written by the likes of Ian Rankin, Denis Mina and Neil Gaiman. The comic is no longer part of the junk heap of our culture. Anyone in any doubt about this should read Craig Thompson’s ‘Blankets’. This is a tour de force of 582 pages which Thompson has drawn as well as scripted. It is a story of love and its loss and faith and its loss conveyed in a way which would not be possible with words alone. It manages to be poignant and funny but sometimes disturbing. This is one of the problems with the graphic novel. It is capable of dealing with serious, ‘adult‘ issues but anything with pictures is always going to be attractive to children. As with films, books, TV programs, there are some graphic novels that are decidedly not suitable for children. But there is no doubt that the genre has produced much to be valued and much that will endure.
