Graphic Novels

(Originally published in the Ohio University Post, March 5)

"Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach. This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face."

So begins Watchmen, the 1986 graphic novel by writer Alan Moore and artist David Gibbons that was a landmark publication for the comic book industry.

Along with Maus, a graphic novel by Art Spiegelman that also came out in '86, Watchmen was the first comic to launch comic books into the mainstream literary dialogue, said Kevin Haworth, visiting professor of English at Ohio University who teaches a course about graphic novels.

"(Maus and Watchmen are) not really aesthetically connected," Haworth said, "but I think we would not be where we are now without both of them simultaneously."

Tomorrow, a film version of Watchmen, directed by Zack Snyder (300), opens nationwide, and the film's premiere coincides with increased academic uses of the graphic novel at OU.

Graphic novels combine the fundamentals of a comic - images, bubble dialogue, gridlock space - with the ambitious length and sprawl of a novel. Watchmen is an example of this dichotomy, Haworth said.

"The reason Watchmen was so interesting when it came out was because it was a graphic novel that was also a comic," he said. "It used the characters and trappings of a comic: the superheroes, the flat, bright colors, all the sorts of things you associate with the kind of semi-disposable comic. But it used all these things to create a work of scale and ambition that asked people to think about what comics were really about."

Some industry experts credit A Contract with God by Will Eisner as the first graphic novel, because he was one of the first who imagined selling comics like books, meaning in bookstores on shelves as opposed to comic book shops in cardboard boxes. Eisner, who also wrote The Spirit, has been credited for coining the term "graphic novel," Haworth said.

Graphic novels in academia

Haley Duschinski and Loren Lybarger, professors of anthropology and religion at OU, respectively, both use graphic novels in their courses.

Duschinski uses Maus, which focuses on the Holocaust, and Palestine, a 1996 graphic novel by journalist Joe Sacco about his experiences in the West Bank, for her Anthropology of Violence and Peace course. She said the graphic novel format helps her students better understand the cultures they study.

"They give the reader a different kind of entry point into the cultural context," Duschinski said. "It gives you a different kind of way of identifying with people who are living in situations of violence or people who are victims of violence."

Stefan Barber, a senior studying political science, is a student in Duschinski's class. Barber said the use of Palestine offered a new perspective on the region with its use of images.

"You actually get to witness (Sacco's) experience," Barber said, "rather than through a text-based piece where you just get to hear about it, where the story is told to you."

Lybarger uses Persepolis, a graphic novel about the Iranian revolution, in his Intro to Islam course. Lybarger said it helps him humanize Muslims and the Islamic faith.

"Those of us who ... teach Islam in the post-9/11 context, our fundamental objective is to humanize Muslims," Lybarger said. "The overwhelming starting point, at least in the popular media discourse, is that Muslims are a threat."

"Anything that will convey to my students that Muslims are human beings ... is for me grist for my mill. I will use it," Lybarger said.

In addition to Persepolis, Lybarger said he has considered using Palestine for future courses. Lybarger met the book's author while living in Gaza and makes a cameo appearance in the graphic novel as the character Larry.

From page to screen

Persepolis was originally published in 2000, and the 2007 film adaptation won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Though the Persepolis film experienced rapid production and acclaim, the literary accomplishments of Watchmen did not translate to immediate celluloid success. Broiled in development problems for almost 20 years, the graphic novel's filming came after a long line of producers, actors and directors dropped out of past projects. Celebrities like Terry Gilliam, Darren Aronofsky, Paul Greengrass, Jude Law and Daniel Craig had been mentioned in past Watchmen proposals.

Despite the film's long-awaited completion, though, some fans still remain skeptical.

Kevin Brown, a senior studying electrical engineering, is an employee at Universe of Superheroes, a comic book store in Athens. Brown said he is hesitant about the Watchmen film.

"Generally, the movies are not as good as the comic book," Brown said. "A comic book like Watchmen I couldn't see being put in a movie well."

Haworth said he is skeptical of how the themes in Watchmen will translate on the big screen.

"I think it's reasonable to ask, 'What's the point other than making a lot of money?'" Haworth said, referencing writer Alan Moore's disdain for the film.

"Part of the reason why Watchmen is important is because it uses the medium that it's critiquing. It's critiquing the superhero comic in the form of a comic. Critiquing the superhero comic in the form of a movie is ... much less intellectually significant."