This post will only be of interest to funnybook industry watchers.
It has been my contention for some time and I've mentioned it once or twice, though to my knowledge nobody has commented, that since the Dewey Decimal System gave a number to the so-called 'graphic novel' and it was instantly welcomed with open arms by the Library Association, that the concept has come to be widely perceived as a 'young readers' genre. In support of this I offer the following, an email received from Amazon.com this morning, identifying me as one who has previously purchased 'books for teens.' 
It may well be that everybody with an email address got the same (in which case I'll remove this post in embarrassment), but let us proceed for now on the assumption that the sending of it was based upon my buying habits related to the decimal identifications of the book types. Here is my list of purchases in the last year. There are a couple of DVDs and a couple of childrens books ordered by someone else in the house, but see If you can see any correlation between this list and the concept of 'teen.' The only comic strip items are archival collections.
1 of: The Rockford Files: Season Five Sold by: Amazon.com, LLC
1 of: Making It New: The Art and Style of Sara and Gerald Murphy
1 of: Molter: 6 Clarinet Concerti [Audio CD] Wolfgang Meyer; Molter, Johann Melchior
1 of: Stuart Davis: American Painter by Sims, Lowery Stokes
1 of: The Rockford Files: Season Four
1 of: The Rockford Files - Season Three
1 of: The Rockford Files - Season Two
1 of: The Violin Music of Arthur Foote
1 of: THE POSY SIMMONDS BEAR BOOK. [Paperback] by
1 of: Roy Lichtenstein by Waldman, Diane
1 of: Graphic Witness: Four Wordless Graphic Novels by Frans Masereel, Lynd Ward, Giacomo Patri and Laurence Hyde
1 of: The Early Years of MUTT & JEFF (Forever Nuts: Classic Screwball Strips)
1 of: Batman The World's Finest Comics Archives, Vol. 1 (DC Archive Editions)
1 of: Cock-a-Doodle Dudley by Bill Peet
1 of: Huge Harold by Bill Peet
1 of: James Dean (DVD)
1 of: OLYMPIA -The LENI RIEFENSTAHL Archival Collection
1 of: Flyboys (Dvd Widescreen Edition)
1 of: Father of the Comic Strip: Rodolphe Topffer (Great Comics Artists Series)
1 of: Rodolphe Topffer: The Complete Comic Strips
1 of: The Journey is the Destination: The Journals of Dan Eldon
1 of: City of Laughter: Sex and Satire in Eighteenth-Century London
Labels: comics crit 1
posted by Eddie Campbell at
21:32
13 Comments:
Oh don't get me started! My public library just expanded and they have room called "Teenspace" which is the only place you can find the bulk of the "graphic novels" in the library except for Blankets, Maus and the Bronze Age. I guess those are too "serious" for teens
The Brooklyn Public Library blessedly files the stuff where it goes--novels with novels, short stories with short stories, humor with humor, young-adult with young-adult, history with history, etc.
It's wonderful, but also disorienting after being so used to just going to that same corner in the bookshop for all the "comics."
The last one would be a good guess. Educational material, that is...
At the Grange library in Brisbane, the ‘graphic novels’ have recently moved from the ‘teen’ section over to a space next to the main dors, in front of the counter, a sort of no mans land’ as far as the collection goes.
I’ve been told that the movement has been made ‘to increase the profile’ of the novels, and hurrah for that, but part of me is kinda glad that the collection has been moved.
I’m no prude and a collector from way back, but the new-parent in me is wondering how long it would have been before the preteens discovered the copy of The Sandman: Endless Nights’ (not to single this out, but I cant for the life of me remember the other examples that was on display).
Brisbane City Councils collection also includes copies of Acme Novelty Library (listed for the ‘ Young Adult Fiction’ section) so I don’t know how I’d explain the latest issue to a 12 year old.
Stick the kiddie Manga in the teen section but put the grownup stuff with the grownup books.
Oh, and what self respecting teen doesn’t want to watch The Rockford Files
I have bought comics from Amazon (USA version), but I'm not getting their teen recommendations.
Hey Eddie,
Good choice on the Journals of Dan Eldon, part of a short-lived, I think, trend of multimedia-like journals being published. Interesting and beautiful experiments. If you like that one, a second book was assembled by his mother of his journals.
I understand the affection for James Garner, because I like Victor, Victoria and Murphy's Romance tons... but the Rockford Files? How in the wonderful world of Disney did you fall in love with Rockford, and not Star Trek?
;)
Wayne
Hey Eddie,
FLYBOYS? Got to be a purchase for the girls, right?
Wayne
The second book on Dan Eldon was co-written by Jennifer New. It has art that wasn't in the first volume.
I wish they'd release a third.
Jennifer New also has another interesting book that she did on ALL kinds of journals called Drawing from Life.
Another one that was good along that realm was Candy Jernigan's Evidence.
I think it was the clarinet concerti that tipped them off.
Yep, if I want to read a copy of one of the sin city comics by frank miller I go straight to the teen section of the Ipswich library (rather cutely called the young adult section)and hunt for it there. And if I wish to get a copy of a Posy Simmonds book (can't remember the title) I go to the drawing and graphic design section of the library. On second thoughts, maybe it isn't too wierd to find the Frank miller stuff in the teen section...
Sounds like this could be "Beamer's last post".
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