The Nominations Graphic Novel

Graphic Novels fly off the shelves--in libraries, in bookstores, and in classrooms.  It's no surprise, then, that each year, more and more Graphic Novels are being written for children as young as six years old.

Liz B. of A Chair, a Fireplace and a Tea Cozy coordinated the Graphic Novel category and presents a list of 35 titles.  Some of these titles are for very young children, while others are appropriate only for older teens.  For that reason, the Graphic Novel committee will present two awards--Graphic Novel (12 and under) and Graphic Novel (13 and up).

Here's the long list of nominated titles in both categories:

The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation
by Sid Jacobson & Ernie Colon; Hill &
Wang

Adventures in Oz
by Eric Shanower & L Frank Baum
IDW

Amelia Rules, vol. 3: Superheroes
by Jimmy Gownley
Renaissance Press

American Born Chinese
by Gene Yang
First Second

Amphigorey Again
by Edward Gorey
Harcourt

The Arrival
by Shaun Tan
Lothian Books

Babymouse: Beach Babe
by Jennifer Holm and Matt Holm
Random House

The Baby-Sitters Club: Kristy's Great Idea
by Ann Martin, Rina Telgemeier
GRAPHIX/Scholastic

Castle Waiting
by Linda Medley
Fantagraphics

Deogratias, A Tale of Rwanda
by J.P. Stassen
First Second

Dramacon Vol. 2
by Svetlana Chmakova
Tokyo Pop

Emma Volume 1
by Kaori Mori
CMX

Flight Vol. 3
by Kazu Kibuishi & others
Ballantine

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
by Alison Bechdel
Houghton Mifflin

Girl Stories
by Lauren Weinstein
Henry Holt

Gray Horses
by Hope Larson
Oni Press

The Hardy Boys
by various
Papercutz

Hercules
by Paul Storrie & Steve Kurth
Graphic Universe

Hikaru no Go Vol. 6
by Yumi Hotta
VIZ Media

Kat and Mouse
by Alex De Campi; pictures by Federica Manfredi
TokyoPop

King Arthur: Excalibur Unsheathed
by Jeff Limke and Thomas Yeates
Graphic Universe

La Perdida
by Jessica Abel
Pantheon

Line
by Yua Kotegawa
ADV Manga

Little Butterfly vol. 1
by Hinako Takanaga
Digital Manga Publishing

Mom's Cancer
by Brain Fies
Abrams Image

Nana Volume 2
by Ai Yazawa
VIZ Media

Pride of Baghdad, The
by Brian Vaughan & Niko Henrichon
Vertigo DC Comics

Return to Labyrinth
by Jake Forbes, Jim Henson & Chris Lie
Tokyo Pop

Runaways Vol. 5: Escape to New York
by Brian K Vaughan
Marvel

Sloth
by Gilbert Hernandez
DC/Vertigo

Sorcerers & Secretaries
by Amy Kim Gantner
Tokyo Pop

Soulfire
by Michael Turner
Aspen MLT

The Ticking
by Renee French
Top Shelf

To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel
by Siena Siegel and Mark Siegl
Aladdin / Simon & Schuster

Top Ten: Beyond the Farthest Precinct
by Paul DiFilippo & Jerry Ordway
Wildstorm, D C Comics

Comments

[John]

Hi

Never knew about graphic novel until now. Thanks. To read about my novel please visit http://johnwriter.com.

You have a great blog. I like it.

John

[Jennifer]

The Amelia Rules Amazon link doesn't work...when I searched for the title, the publication date was December 2005 (not that Amazon is always correct in their listings, however).

[Liz B]

I'll get the link fixed; Amelia Rules Superheroes; someone on the committee spoke with the author about the change in publisher (the old one is with the 12/05 date and went out of business and the new/real one is 8/06 at 0971216975)

[Anne]

Thanks, Liz, it's all fixed now.

[Lisa]

Hi there... I'm having fun following the progress.

There's a typo -- the list says "Prince of Baghdad" instead of "Pride of Baghdad." The link is good, however.

[Anne]

Lisa--I fixed the typo. Thanks!

[Alex de Campi]

Hi there, I'm so honoured that you guys have nominated KAT & MOUSE for a Cybil. However as a graphic novel, it's really a work by BOTH myself and the artist, Federica Manfredi. I make the words, she makes the pictures. Neither of us could do it without the other. Would you be kind enough to add her name to the listing? I feel like I'm wrongly being credited for too much of the work, just with my name up there alone. Thanks! - Alex de Campi.

[Anne]

All fixed, Alex. Thanks for letting us know!

[miranda]

Those of these that I've read are great, but honestly? The Edward Gorey book isn't a graphic novel. It's a compilation of smaller illustrated books, including what Gorey was working on when he died (very affecting: the images go from fully inked, to pencil-sketched, to blank frames where he'd intended to draw something).

I'm not really keen on the current confusion between what a graphic novel is (not just a compilation of comics, unless they work as a unified story) and what a comic is. "Fun Home" and "La Perdida" are definitely graphic novels. "Castle Waiting," while great, probably isn't, because it's not a complete and cohesive narrative. "Flight" isn't, because it's more like short stories.

I realize that "graphic novel" is the buzzword right now, Without Which Comics Cannot Be Respected, but honestly, when are we going to go back to calling a comic a comic? Some comics just aren't graphic novels... and it doesn't diminish them in any way.

[a. fortis]

Those are some great comments--very thought-provoking, and it does point to a current oversimplification of the field of sequential art, graphic literature, comics, or whatever you want to call it; but the oversimplification is currently, I think, more of a blessing than a curse--right now, anyway. It's erring in favor of inclusiveness in order to consider as wide an array of comic works as possible, which is necessary at the moment since the Cybils cover such a wide range of genres.

However, I will concede that the title "Graphic Novels" is misleading in the sense that we really have included a variety of works of comic art and graphic literature. Maybe something like "Sequential Literature" would be more accurate! The problem with getting too specific about splitting the category--in my mind, anyway--is that you then have to think about the original publication format: was it originally a graphic novel? a comic book? a comic serial in a magazine? an online comic? a series of books? We had all of these and more as nominees, but ultimately the criterion was simple--was it a print "novelization" published in 2006?

I think these are very valid comments, though, and these are definitely thoughts to take into consideration for next year's awards.