The Graphic Novel or the Book?

November 15, 2012

In these days, who has time to read? You’re either running to work, shuffling yourself off to class, getting to kenpo classes just-on-time, hopping to campus club meetings and activities, or a million other things. Or, you may be a more normal person with a still hectic schedule of work, kids, kids' activities, gym, and family time. There just seems to be too little time for fun reading (or even reading that you have to do for class, in my case), and as staff member in a Library, that just seems silly, but it’s true.

So what does one do? We could talk about all the fun things we don’t get to do or have time to do all day, but I’ve got a much better solution. Graphic novels.

I know, X-Men and the Hulk may not be your thing, but many authors these days are starting to make graphic novel versions of their stories or characters. Ray Bradbury had Tim Hamilton turn his novel, which does condemn comics, into a graphic novel. I'm actually writing about this for my English capstone class, but that's another blog for another day.

Stephen King has turned his Dark Tower series into graphic novels. I've been meaning to read that series for some time now, but just never had the time until I realized there was a graphic novel version. He has also rendered The Stand as a graphic novel, too.

Janet Evanovich has written Troublemaker: A Barnaby and Hooker Graphic Novel. This novel features Alex Barnaby's and Sam Hooker's search for a missing man in Florida, where they have to survive Voodoo encounters, explosions, and swamp chases! Another fast-paced, action-packed tale from Evanovich!

Dean Koontz has turned his Prodigal Son, about a Detective Carson O'Connor' and her partner Michael Maddison's search to find a serial killer, in a re-working of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, and Fear Nothing, featuring his Christopher Snow's dangerous venture to solve a mystery of disturbing proportions, into this visual format. And, he has also made several Odd Thomas graphic novel books.

Reading the graphic novel version may not be the exact same experience as reading the actual novel, but it is, at least, a gist of the story. And maybe it will entice you to find the time to read the whole thing! But even if you don't read the original novel, you get an interesting story told with the visual representations that the graphic novel portrays to make up for the lack of written descriptions. The novel and graphic novel are like a book and its movie version. They're two completely different artistic works meant to be appreciated for their own merits. I love all formats (books, graphic novels, and movies) because I get to see the same story retold from various perspectives with various elements supplied or implied for me.

What stories would you recommend to read as a graphic novel or see made into a graphic novel?

~Cody C.
Parkville Branch