The Comic BookEven though comics, graphic novels and manga were not first created with teens in mind, these publications have been popular with people all ages since their very beginnings. In the United States, the first comic appeared in the New York World in 1895. Outcault's "Hogan's Alley" which was a "single-panel humor cartoon" started the inclusion of comic strips in newspapers (Petty, n.d., The Pioneer (1883-1938), Victorian (1828-1883), and Platinum(1883-1938) Ages section, para. 1). However, it is in 1938 with Action Comic # 1 where we see Superman for the first time and it is with this comic that the comic book industry official begins (Petty, n.d., The Golden Age 1938-1949 section, para. 2). Soon after, other superheroes were born: Captain America, Wonder Woman, The Human Torch, Batman, among others. Superhero comics were very popular, specially during WWII. The Birth of the Graphic Novel Once the war was over, superhero stories suffered a decline and crime, horror and science fiction genres replaced them. These stories were considered a bad influence for teens due to their explicit and gruesome content. This resulted in the creation of the Comics Code Authority which regulated the content that was published, thus banning the comics these people considered bad for society. Due to this restriction, superheroes regained their popularity (Petty, n.d., The Atomic Age 1949-14956 section, para. 7-11). The Comics Code Authority didn't just place superheroes back in the front lines, it also made way to the creation of the graphic novel. The banning and restrictions in comic storylines paved the way for the Underground Comix group that self-published their works on all the topics that the Code banned. "The creative freedom afforded by Underground Comix and changes in distribution that allowed material without the Comics Code seal of approval to find an audience, opened the door for the graphic novel to emerge. The term 'graphic novel' was popularized by Will Eisner's 1978 short story collection, A Contract With God" (The National Coalition Against Censorship, 2006, p. 3). Comics and the graphic novelIn 1961, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby at Marvel Comic introduced the Fantastic 4 to the world. Soon after, Spider-Man, X-Men, Thor, Hulk and Iron Man made their debut. In the meantime, the graphic novel became stronger and in the 1990s with the reprint of Neil Gainman's Sandman and Art Spiegelman's MAUS: A Survivor's Tale (Petty, n.d. The Modern Age CA. 1980-Present section, para. 3-4). Comics and graphic novels continue to evolve and have retained their popularity among teens. In the 1990s we see many classics turned into graphic novels targeted to teens and by the 21st century we have authors like Gene Luen Yang and Kazu Kibuishi publishing original stories about teens in this new literary form. Manga But comics and graphic novels are not the only forms of story-telling that combine images with text that are popular among teens. The Japanese comic better known as manga are very popular. There is a debate on when did manga originate. Some state that "[t]he earliest examples of pre-manga artwork that influenced the development of modern Japanese comics are commonly attributed to Toba Sojo, an 11th century painter-priest" who would make animal scroll paintings (choju giga) satirizing Buddhist priesthood. These drawings didn't include words but they did show a sequence of events and they were read from right to left (Aoki, n.d., Section Toba's Choju giga: Telling Stories with Scrolls, para. 1-2). Even if there is no consensus on that front, many agree that Katsushika Hokusai's (1760-1849) manga made him the "ancestor of manga" even though his publication was not really considered a manga (in the modern sense) because it was a drawing manual for his students (History of Japanese Manga Comics, Development of Manga section, para. 3). Japan had a long tradition of telling stories through drawings, however, the idea of telling a narrative story using sequential images was something Japan adopted from the western culture in the 19th century (History of Japanese Manga Comics, Manga-Japanese comics section, para. 1, Aiko, n.d. Political Satire: Kibvoshi to The Japan Punch section, para. 2). Between 1857 and 1887 European and American comic style magazines began to be published in Japan. Charles Wirgman (British journalist) created The Japan Punch and George Bigot (French art teacher) created the Toba-e magazine for Europeans and Americans residing in Japan, however, many Japanese read these magazines and artists began to merge their traditions with some western characterisitics (Aiko, n.d., Political Satire: Kibyoshi to The Japan Punch section, para. 2-3). Manga, just like comics, were used by government as propaganda during WWII and were also censored when they criticized government and the society of the time. But censorship didn't last long for manga either, and soon this storytelling form gathered forces and continued to grow. After WWII Japan went through a reconstruction process that left many families struggling economically. People could not afford to buy manga so new trends were born in order to make them accessible: kami-shiba which was a traveling theater that told stories using drawings; the kashi-bonya which were rental libraries where people would pay a small fee to have access to a vast collection of manga (this trend is the father of the manga cafes in Japan) and the publication of akabon (red books), these cheaper, small-sized manga used red ink to add tone to the black and white drawings gave people the opportunity to read their favorite manga (Aoki, 2016, Post-War: Red Books and Rental Libraries section, para. 3-6). Osa mu Tezuka (1929-1989) was one of the artists that flourished in the res book market. He revolutionized manga by drawing big eyes to highlight the expression of emotions and through the creation of compelling stories for different ages. Now-a-days, manga are very popular, not just in Asia but also in Europe and America. There are manga for all age groups but they are especially popular among young adult readers. Their stories are complex, fresh, daring and -just like YA fiction - their protagonists face challenges that will help them define who they are and what is their place in the world they live in while they challenge the status quo. Reference Action Comics 1 [digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Comics_1 Aoki, D. (n.d.). Early Origins of Japanese Comics. About.com. Retrieved from http://manga.about.com/od/historyofmanga/a/mangahistory1.htm Aoki, D. (2016, May 31). History of Manga – Manga Goes to War: Comics in Pre-War, World War II and Post-War Japan 1920-1949. About.com. Retrieved from http://manga.about.com/od/historyofmanga/ a/mangahistory2.htm History of Japanese Manga Comics. (n.d.). Japanese Gallery. Retrieve from http://www.japanesegallery.co.uk/default.php?Sel=manga&Submenu=4 Manga café [digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://moshmoshjapan.blogspot.com/ Petty, J. (n.d.). A Brief History of Comic Books. n.p.: Heritage Auction Galleries.Retrieved from https://www1.heritagestatic.com/comics/d/history-of-comics.pdf Spider-Man 1st Issue [digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.popartuk.com/childrens/spider-man-1st-issue-ppr40094-art-print.asp The National Coalition Against Censorship The American Library Association & The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. (2006). Graphic Novels: Suggestions for Librarians. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/offices/sites/ala.org.offices/files/ content/oif/ifissues/graphicnovels_1.pdf The Stonekeeper [digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Stonekeeper-Amulet-1-Kazu-Kibuishi/dp/0439846811 Tobae [digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Georges_Ferdinand_Bigot Note: I wrote this article as a Libguide project for one of my MS Drexel courses and I decided I wanted to share with you so I'm posting it here with very minor changes. - Vilmarie Torres, Librarian
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Young Adult fiction tell the story of teens facing situations that make them question who they are and what is their role in the world they live in. These stories are told through the perspective of teens in a variety of genres. For the following weeks we'll be posting articles on the history of YA fiction, comics, graphic novels and manga. We'll also look at different popular genre and suggested titles for each one.
Keep posted. When did YA fiction begin? The answer is not certain. Some say it started in the late 1800s and others say it started during WWII. In either case, we start seeing stories about and for young people since the 1860s with the publication of books like Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. By the beginning of the 20th century we see many series come to life, such as: Anne of Green Gables (series published from 1908 to 1921) by Lucy Maud Montgomery; Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and Tom Swift all published in the 1920s by Edward Stratemever; Sue Barton Senior Nurse series (1936-1952) by Helen Dore Boylston, to name a few. In spite of the fact that we have a number of titles for teens before WWII, it is said that YA fiction really began during this period because it is then that teens are "given their own distinction as a social demographic" and Maureen Daly's Seventeenth Summer (1942) "is considered to be the first book written and published for teenagers" mostly because her character has an authentic teenage voice since she was actually 17 when she wrote the novel (Strickland, 2015, The very beginning section, para. 1). The term "young adult" (which was coined in the 1960s) was used to refern to people ages 12 to 18. It is titles like The Outsiders (1967), The Contender (1967), and The Pigman (1968) that initiated what is considered the modern young adult fiction (Gallo, 2003, p. 115, Talley, 2011, p.230). S. E. Hinton, Robert Lipsyte and Paul Zinder wrote about "mature contemporary realism directed to adolescents. The focus on culture and serious themes in young adult fiction paved the way for authors to write with more candor about teen issues in the 1970s, Cart said" (Stickland, 2015, The very beginning section, para. 2). The 1st Golden Age in YA fiction starts in the 1970s when authors start exploring different genres and project authentic voices as they narrate the stories. This is the decade of genres such as: 1. Horror and Mystery:
2. Realistic fiction:
In the late 1990s we have the first publication of authors that continue to publish books to this day and that are very popular, not just with teens, but adults too. Some of these authors are:
With the popularization of MTV in the 1990s, came the "crossover" trend in YA fiction which is fiction that targets audience ages 15 to 25. Even though MTV is not what is used to be anymore, the "crossover" trend is still alive in YA fiction (Gallo, 2003, p. 115). NoteThe 21st century has seen an incredible boom in YA fiction, teens and adults alike read these stories that are filled with emotion and intellectually stimulating ideas. Genres like Fantasy, Science Fiction, Dystopian fiction, and Realistic fiction have become really popular thanks to stories like:
Young Adult writers tell stories where teens have the potential of transforming themselves and the world around them in a wide spectrum of genres and sub-genres that catch the attention of people of all ages. Here are our library we have a growing collection of YA fiction that you can check out. References Gallo, D., & Cart, M. (2003). A place of energy, activity, and art. English Journal, 93(1), 113-116. Retrieved from http://www.library.drexel.edu/cgi-bin/r.cgi/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/ docview/237301148?accountid=10559 Little Women [digital image]. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.englishmuse.com/2012/05/what-im-currently-reading.html/little-women-book-cover-2 The Bad Beginning [digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://snicket.wikia.com/wiki/A_Series_of_Unfortunate_Events The Chocolate War [digital image]. (2013, May 14). Retrieved from http://stackedbooks.org/2013/05/the-chocolate-war-cover-retrospective.html The Hunger Games [digital image]. (2016, June 10). Retrieved from http://www.playbuzz.com/maximumpop10/hot-or-not-hunger-games-book-edition Talley, L. A. (2011). Young Adult. In P. Nel & L. Paul (Eds.), Keywords for Children's Literature (pp. 228-232). [Adobe Digital Editions version]. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qg46g.53 Strickland, A. (2015, April 15). A brief history of young adult literature. CNN. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/15/living/young-adult-fiction-evolution/ "How to Deal" with Y. A. Literature [Documentary]. (2003). In William Telter and Erica Huggins (Producers), How to Deal. California: Radar Pictures. Note: I wrote this article as a Libguide project for one of my MS Drexel courses and I decided I wanted to share with you so I'm posting it here with very minor changes. - Vilmarie Torres, Librarian I'm really happy with the new YA titles we bought this semester. Here is a display of most of the YA titles. Come, visit the library and check out our new titles!
“There’s no knowing how others are feeling unless you ask them. And your feelings can’t get through to others unless you tell them directly.” |
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