January 23, 2006

Hello everyone, and welcome to Pantheon's newly spiffed-up Graphic Novel web site. Many thanks to the beautiful and talented Mr. John Kuramoto for making it look so peachy, and to the Random House New Media group for constructing it so keenly. Likewise to Farah Miller for overseeing the whole shebang with aplomb (Hmmm--that sounds naughty, sorry).

My, my. MUCH has happened concerning the subject of Sequential Art since we launched this little site more than half a decade ago. Countless articles in estimable newspapers and magazines across the country (and the globe), segments on 60 Minutes, interest in comic art from "serious" museums, appearances on bestseller lists, bath soap shaped like Tobey Maguire, etc. Clearly, there are steadily growing numbers of civilians who want to learn more about comics and read them, which is great.

That's a big part of what this site is for. And not just for civvies, but for our jolly inquisitive friends in the media, too. In the past three years or so, nary a week has gone by that I haven't been approached to grant an interview or sit on a panel regarding the "recent Graphic Novel boom/craze/phenomenon/
explosion/apocalypse/orgasmapalooza." Yes, things have changed.

But the perception and understanding of comics still has a long way to go before a lot of the artists and their work get the respect they deserve. To this end, I will cite a quote from my friend Neil Gaiman (How's THAT for megaton name-dropping? Shameless!). In a conversation we had a few months ago, he succinctly summed up in a single sentence the hurdle cartoonists continue to face in the quest to have their art taken seriously as literature: "The problem is (and always has been): comics is a MEDIUM that is mistaken for a GENRE."

Exactly. Reread that please, until it makes sense to you. Go ahead. I'll wait.

In the meantime, allow me to say that as an editor, I'm in the enviable position of only publishing work I love. And I think I speak for the other comics editors here when I say the same goes for them, too. Sappy as it sounds, it's true. There are no quotas to meet. I still feel like we're making it up as we go along here, and I think that's for the best. But the difference between now and six years ago is our backlist. Which I think I can safely say is by far the best in trade book publishing. And there will be more where that came from.

So, will the "boom" end? Has it already? In some ways, frankly, I hope so. That is to say: if a "boom" means watching every book publisher on the planet madly scramble to start a Graphic Novel imprint regardless of love for (or understanding of) the medium, and paying over-inflated prices for substandard work—simply because they heard it's the "hot new thing that all the kids are into"—well then, yes.

For me, that boom can't flare and dissipate quickly enough. Because hopefully when the smoke clears, readers can get back to what started all this in the first place, and focus their attention on really great comics.

Which is also what this site is for.

So please get a load of us, and let us know what you think. Unless you don't like it. In which case I redirect you to The Comics Journal Message Board.

Oh, and lastly—if you're here to do research for another article on graphic novels, that's fine, but I hereby declare it illegal for you to give it the title "BIFF!! POW!! COMICS AREN'T JUST FOR KIDS ANYMORE!!" It's been done, sweeties. Try it and we'll sic the The Legion of Doom on you.

To be continued...

—CK, NYC