On Friday I stopped by the Hawthorn branch of the Madison Public Library, and was unable to resist the pull of their amazing graphic novel collection. By the time I checked out, I had acquired a stack of 17 of them, including several volumes of Terry Moore's wonderful Strangers in Paradise. I've spent much of this weekend sitting in the sunshine in my living room, reading.
I'm currently reading After the Snooter by Eddie Campbell and enjoying it thoroughly. It is a comic artist's memoir...in comic form. Intimate little vingnettes on family life, the world of comics and self-publishing, growing up, and more. Other well known figures such as Will Eisner, Alan Moore, and Neil Gaiman make cameo appearances.
If you are a reader of comics, you may very well enjoy reading this one if you ever come across it.
funny, i was in the downtown milwaukee borders (which, by the way, is the worst borders i've ever been in), and i found it odd that it had both a "graphic novel" and "comic book" section. my inability to tell the difference between the two means i am old? or just not as dorky as i thought i was?
Were the comics individual issues? If they were than that was the difference. If not, then it just meant that the Borders people are pretensious and ignorant.
Comic books are the small, pamphlet-style magazines in individual issues. Graphic novels are either collections of comic books that have been republished in book form (often grouped together by a storyline) or a long-form comic book that was never published in individual issues but reaches book-length on its own.
Well, at least that is my definition of it. YMMV.