I’m
not a graphic novel reader and my expose didn’t begin until required texts (mostly
Neil Gaiman) for my library degree. I
decided to give Blankets a chance
because it was not in the fantasy genre of graphic novels and I feel in order
to because a well-rounded librarian I need to have a diverse knowledge of
literature, including genre I normally don’t read. While I am usually impressed by the artwork,
every graphic novel I have read in its entirety, Blankets being the third (The others: Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 by Stephenie Meyer and The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger), I feel I’m missing the “guts” of the
story. I understand that the artwork
helps tell the story and is there to provide the insight, but my literary brain
needs and craves more. My take is that
graphic novels only provide a synopsis of the true story. This was especially true for me while reading Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 (Young
Kim’s artwork was amazing), but that may be because I had read the full novel
and new there were plenty of crucial details missing in the graphic version.
With
that being said, I would never discourage teens (or adults) from reading
graphic novels, anime, or manga. While
there is definitely literature that can be considered better quality and
educational; I am a true believer than any reading is better than no reading at
all. I also believe that readers of
graphic novels may become so absorbed with a storyline that there is a good
possibly they will ask for other books on the same topic. And further believes, that the more one reads
the more likely they will continue to read more and continue to diversify their
reading base. I have explained this
belief to parents who have insisting their child read quality literature and
not “comic books”. However, I have also
suggested titles of full novels to teens that have to obey their parent(s) insistence. Being a mother myself, I understand that as
well.
In
the end, Every Reader has his/her Book and Every Book has his/her Reader. My rating of 3 stars of Blankets by Craig Thompson was definitely directly related to my lack of interest in graphic novels and the desire for more detail of the story. I am positive that a fan of graphic novels will rate this story much higher.
