What Is a “Graphic Novel?”

“What is a ‘Graphic Novel?'” is a two-page condensed introduction to what comics are, how they work, and how to read them. Originally drawn by Jessica in 2002 for the site artbomb.net, it serves as great introduction for newcomers into the world of graphic novels. You can use it in your classroom or library, or even put it to personal use when giving someone the gift of their first graphic novel. Trying to convert a skeptic to appreciating comics? This is a great strip to print out and give out or link to.

If you’d like to print this strip, please go here to download high-resolution poster and handout versions, both in black and white and in color.

“What is a ‘Graphic Novel?'” is a strip Jessica drew for artbomb.net way back in 2002. It is a 2 page introduction to graphic novels and comics. It ‘s  a great guide for readers who are just getting into the comics world, helping them understand what graphic novels are. It explains basic comics elements and how to navigate a page (a thing that is still sometimes be confusing for veteran comic book readers and cartoonists). Gifting someone their first graphic novel?

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you are free to use it and edit it in whatever way you want as long as you give credit to Jessica Abel as author, you attach the Creative Commons license, and you don’t try to make money off the use. Still, we’d love to hear what you’re doing with “What is a ‘Graphic Novel?'” —please get in touch and tell us about it. We’d also appreciate a link back here, especially so that readers can find all the versions, including the high-res for printing.

 

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.