Savannah Welsh - (Comics/Graphic Novels/Tintin)

Do you think comics are a children’s or adult genre/media? How does Farr (1991) justify Tintin’s appeal to adults? Does Varnum (2001) define the difference between a cartoon, comics, and graphic novel? According to Varnum, what distinguishes comics from other media? How and why are comics becoming more accepted as an art form? Can/should they be regarded as a literary genre? 

I don’t think comics belong only as a children's or adult genre, I think they can be read and enjoyed by all ages depending on the comic. Tintin I believe all ages can read and love as it includes a mystery/adventure and comedy that children enjoy, but also the storylines and deeper meaning and discussions make it enjoyable for adults as well. For example in Tintin and The Blue Lotus, the ongoing conversations as to whether it is racist is something that draws adults to the comic as well as other political issues and settings etc such as the scenes set in an opium den which relates to the opium wars in China. These are reasons that have made adults attracted to the Tintin stories. Farr (1991), states that the Tintin books totalled over 120 million sales and were translated into more than fifty languages which also shows the diversity of people that like Tintin.

Farr (1991) justifies Tintin’s appeal to adults when he explains Tintin was aimed at “all young people aged from seven to seventy-seven”. He tells us how each reader finds their own understanding and appreciation and that people read Tintin at a young age and continue to read it while growing older as it is said they still find something new in the stories. They then often pass Tintin down generation by generation. Farr (1991) says that children are gripped by the comedy and excitement of Tintin, and adults by the political satire, parody, puns, and prescience. 

Varnum (2011), does not directly define the difference between a cartoon, comics, or graphic novel and says they all bear family resemblances to one another. “While none of the family members share one feature in common with all the others, two share common features”.  However according to Varnum (2011), comics are different to other media as they include both image as well as written words. Comics are a mix of both and are arranged side by side in space and are apprehended all at once. Whereas other media is spoken or written one word after the other and is apprehended sequentially. Therefore I also think comics can/should be considered a literary genre as even though comics are mostly made up of drawing, it does involve written word and it still consists of character, setting, and context that creates a storyline. All medias have this and narrative so why shouldn’t comic be considered a literary genre?

References:

Farr, Michael. (1991). Introduction. In Tintin: the complete companion (pp.8-9). London: John Murray. 

Varnum, R. & Gibbons, C. (Eds.). (2001). Introduction. In The Language of Comics: word and image (pp.ix-xix). Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.