/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.6677193]

Which graphic novels are high enough quality that they could be considered on par with literature?

I've read Watchmen, Maus, and The Dark Knight Returns (the last of which I found uncomfortably edgy and gratuitously overrated) and I'm currently reading Volume 1 of Saga of the Swamp Thing, which is purty good.

Bear in mind I'm not speaking in terms of drawing or artwork. Just literary/writing merit only, for the sake of this thread and board.

[Anonymous No.6677200]

>>6677193
>i can only read books with pictures

[Anonymous No.6677206]

>>6677193
Only:

From Hell

[Anonymous No.6677222]

>>6677193
None of them.
>>>/co/

[Anonymous No.6677254]

Wouldn't put it on the same level but

Y the last man
Preacher
Transmetropolitan

[Anonymous No.6677260]

>>6677254
Noooope.

[Anonymous No.6677275]

we've had this thread enough times
check the fucking archive
no one's going to say anything new

[Anonymous No.6677282]

Sandman

/thread

[Anonymous No.6677296]

Cerebus but only about four of the sixteen volumes

[Anonymous No.6677379]

>>6677193
>Bear in mind I'm not speaking in terms of drawing or artwork. Just literary/writing merit only, for the sake of this thread and board

The drawing and coloring is incredibly important for the composition of a good comic book. If all you are looking for is the writing you should stick to novels.

The best comic book writers are either very involved in explaining to the artist how the pages should look (Alan Moore), or do the art as well (Frank Miller).

If you aren't appreciating how the art effects the writing you aren't appreciating comics.

tl;dr Art is as important as writing for comics, stay pleb.

[Anonymous No.6677417]

>graphic novels
>on par with literature

You can't be fucking serious. None of them you dolt.

[Anonymous No.6677427]

>>6677193
None.

[Anonymous No.6677431]

>>6677200
>>6677222
>>6677417
>>6677427
Prove it.

[Anonymous No.6677435]

>>6677193
read more alan moore. The first issue of providence just came out ["our society has become far too comfortable with cthulhu"] Miracleman was also neil gaiman's first big comic gig after Moore left. Sandman's good, lucifer's pretty good, invisibles is good

[Anonymous No.6677506]

>>6677193
You're stupid.

>Hey /lit/, which cars are high enough quality that they could be considered on par with literature?

Convince me that that's more stupid than what you wrote.

If you want to know which comic books I like I particularly enjoyed Torpedo, Berserk and Meme for Vendetta.

[Anonymous No.6677716]

I love hellboy and fables and whilst they are p good, and I would recommend them to anyone who likes comics, they aren't literary I guess

[Anonymous No.6677723]

>>6677417
Ah, americans

[Anonymous No.6677729]

>>6677723

[Anonymous No.6677735]

[Anonymous No.6677737]

>>6677735

[Anonymous No.6677755]

[Anonymous No.6677758]

[Anonymous No.6677763]

[Anonymous No.6677775]

[Anonymous No.6677780]

>>6677506

Cars don't contain a written plot, dialogue, prose, poetry nor are they printed into books and read, nor are they available on ebooks. You're a dipshit if you can't see why this discussion happens.

Graphic novels are just that, novels with graphics.

[Anonymous No.6677807]

>>6677193
>Bear in mind I'm not speaking in terms of drawing or artwork. Just literary/writing merit only, for the sake of this thread and board.
So you're asking which comic book has prose as good as great literature? I don't think any does, but even if they do, it won't be much because there is hardly any prose in comic books compared to novels or plays.

[Anonymous No.6677945]

>>6677193
>reading comic books just literary/writing merit only
This is stupid, pictures are huge part of the appeal. You dont watch movies solely for the plot and dialogues, do you?

[Anonymous No.6677956]

>>6677193
>Which graphic novels are high enough quality that they could be considered on par with literature?
I don't enjoy graphic novels at all, but it's pretty clear that graphic novels should be discussed in an entirely separate, but no lesser discourse to standard literaturea. Also, pretending that there is some kindof objective qualitative ruling can be made is just asinine.

[spider jerusalem No.6677986]

[Anonymous No.6678018]

>>6677986
As much as I love transmet, it's not comparable with "literature". Hitchhiker's Guide level maybe.

>>6677254
>Y the last man
You're a fucking moron if you think this is a good comic, let alone literature. Post-apocalyptic escapist garbage.

[Anonymous No.6678026]

>>6677282
Nooop

[Anonymous No.6678110]

I enjoyed Batman Earth One, though it's not on par with literature of course.
I like Batman in general, but it's so hard to find at least somewhat grounded stories without other faggy superheroes

[Anonymous No.6678170]

>>6677193

I've tried getting into comics for a while now, and I think I just don't like the format. My primary interests are representational art and literature. Comics seem like something I should have a natural appreciation for since they exist in a space where those two interests overlap.

I don't like them all that much though. I think it's because the format compromises both writing and drawing for the sake of making them work together. I find I either skim over images faster than I would like to, or that the images themselves are underdeveloped and not really worth lingering over. The writing is necessarily stripped down, and lacks the richness of prose where exposition, dialogue, description, and the internal lives of characters are all interwoven. I've read the page by page treatments writers have provided for artists, and I find those are often more engaging than what makes it into the final comic

[Anonymous No.6678199]

>>6677193
>Bear in mind I'm not speaking in terms of drawing or artwork. Just literary/writing merit only, for the sake of this thread and board.
Separating the images from the writing in a comic book is like going to the cinema wearing a blindfold.
A good comic will take advantage of its medium. The best example would be Arkham Asylum. Don't worry, it is nothing like your average capeshit.

[Anonymous No.6678461]

The visual part is how the narrative and story is told in the best comic books. The writing, like the actual prose - should be always secondary unless you are a bad comic book artist.

[Anonymous No.6678464]

>>6678461
>implying the artist and the writer are the same person
It happens but is rare.

[Anonymous No.6678473]

>>6678464
I am not implying that, but you are implying the writer doesn't give input on how to make a panel which is just completely false.

[Anonymous No.6678483]

>>6677296
You mean the part with all the pseudo-philosophy?

[Anonymous No.6678513]

Probably Eisner award bait like Maus, Persepolis, etc. would be the closest to something with actual merit.

Anything with tights and capes is definitely out of the question.

[Anonymous No.6678517]

>>6678513
>All of that prejudice against superhero comics.
rofl, definitely fedora post.

[Anonymous No.6678616]

>>6678517
>muh Miller
>muh Morrison

Alan Moore is right. It's shit for 4 year olds. Stop being manchiildren.

[Anonymous No.6678658]

>>6677780
You still said 'on par with literature'. Doesn't that sound disgustingly general to you? Are you asking if there has ever been a comic book which somebody enjoyed as much as a book? Are you saying that there's an objective scale for measuring writing, let alone media of any kind which allows them to be compared accurately?

People on this board can hardly agree to put one book ahead of another, throw things that aren't books into that and how do you expect a sensible answer?

Maybe if you were talking just about writing quality we could almost get somewhere. Even then they're written in a different way because they work together with a visual element that books don't have.

My example might have seemed extreme but to me comparing books and comic books is about as sensible as comparing cars and comic books. They're different.

[Anonymous No.6678767]

>>6678616
Parroting two of the most popular writers, that both are American and both are borderline trash really doesn't strengthen your argument.

[Anonymous No.6678804]

>>6678767
Parroting fuck I meant namedropping orlfmao

[Anonymous No.6678815]

>>6678767
Morrison is scottish

[Anonymous No.6678819]

>>6678815
I thought he was Brit.