What do the words “comic book” or “graphic novel” conjure up for you? Do they awaken nostalgic memories of comic strips you enjoyed as a child, or do you read them here and now? Maybe you are contributing to the recent boom in comic books and graphic novels. All the time they’re becoming more varied and more successful, for all age groups. As I share art for wellbeing, I always like exploring different ways in which visual arts can enrich life and improve mental health, so I’m intrigued by the growth of graphic novels.
The graphic novel was born about 200 years ago, and during those two centuries has ebbed and flowed. Although known as novels, they’ve also diversified to cover non-fiction. Usually graphic novels will be longer, while comic books come to 32 pages at most. So thriving is the graphic and comic scene that there are many comic conventions (known as cons) across the UK, such as The Lakes International Comic Art Festival and MCM Expo) and the world.
What I think stands out about the genre is the way comic and graphic novels combine & interweave word and image, or make art the main or only driver. Book illustration has a long and wonderful history, but in many illustrated books, words build the narrative while illustration becomes an add-on. Comic or graphic novels level the playing field, or dispense with words altogether so that visual art alone becomes narrative. It’s a powerful storyteller! And while I enjoy most book genres, I don’t like long digressions or descriptions. Graphic novels cut through all this, never losing momentum.
What particularly interests me about comic strips or books and graphic novels is how central they could be to art for wellbeing – a perfect space for expressing thoughts and feelings or for exploring an experience, real or imaginary, through visual art. They could help as an activity – creating your own sequential art, as it is known – or as a stimulus – reading a comic book that delves into an issue important to you.
It was Roy Lichtenstein’s Pop Art masterpieces that first set me wondering about using comic strip style within art for wellbeing. Enjoying the bold line art, I came to see how Lichtenstein was using the genre to explore diverse experiences, like family conflict or growing up. So why not use comic art to express personal feelings too? I’ve started out, and would like to do more.
Comic art is so exact, clean, everything in its place, yet it captures brilliantly the messiness of life, the little everyday dramas. It raises the personal or individual to stand alone, to become a narrative that has something to say to everyone. Reducing thoughts or experiences to a handful of words to fit a speech bubble, or to a few lines of drawing, helps you sum up how you feel and highlight what matters most. Every word or stroke of the pen counts. It’s also a useful tool for visualization, picturing how a scenario might develop, taking it in different directions.
Comic books and graphic novels have developed far beyond the superhero story or children’s comedy – although these themselves can also be useful wellbeing tools. Sit down with a blank sheet of paper, forget rules or traditions, and improvise. It might just become another creative way to think, and to unravel those thoughts.
Medley 