Industry Growth Brings Newfound Respect for Comic Books

KPBS | By KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published July 26, 2007 at 9:36 AM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

Should comic books be considered literature? What's the difference between a comic book and a graphic novel? Is Superman more powerful than Batman? Are we now living in what will be known as the "Gold

Tom Fudge: Comic-Con is the American comic book industry's premiere convention. And it's now taking place in San Diego. Comics have been around for a long time, and they've never gotten that much respect as art. But somehow, the coming of the graphic novel has changed that. Suddenly, magazines like The New Yorker are reviewing comics, provided they come bound as graphic novels. This, of course, gets a mixed review from comic book enthusiasts. They're a group that consider themselves outsiders, and they don't necessarily like being put in a spot where they're trying to please critics.

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Douglas Wolk , author of Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean . Douglas writes about comics and music for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Rolling Stone .