A bunch of prominent graphic novel creators and advocates, and me, were asked to give our so-called elevator pitch as to why we think skeptical parents, teachers, librarians, and other non-true-believers should at least consider encouraging people to...well, at least consider reading graphic novels.
The results are in Diamond's "Graphic Novel Outreach: A BookShelf Roundtable", and unlike many times I'm quoted, I don't have many second thoughts on how I would say it better. It helps that I didn't have to come up with it in an elevator, of course, but now that I have this thing I hope I get to use it someday. Or even better, that I don't, and that the conversation goes more along the lines of "Oh, you make graphic novels? I loved the one I just finished. It was about..."
The results are in Diamond's "Graphic Novel Outreach: A BookShelf Roundtable", and unlike many times I'm quoted, I don't have many second thoughts on how I would say it better. It helps that I didn't have to come up with it in an elevator, of course, but now that I have this thing I hope I get to use it someday. Or even better, that I don't, and that the conversation goes more along the lines of "Oh, you make graphic novels? I loved the one I just finished. It was about..."
This was great, Jim. Thanks for linking to it. I really liked all the comments, yours especially. It's exactly the point I've tried to make when promoting comics to people. Well said.
Excellent.
Although... too many people do "watch" comics.
(I was of that blessed generation who was encouraged by the Electric Company to read. I still have my copy of "Spidey Super Stories #4, kept in mylar, because it's priceless.)
It's amazing how kids can handle abstraction. "What is blue?" Comics are an abstraction which helps new readers learn to understand greater abstractions, whether that abstraction is "C-A-T equals a small domesticated carnivore" or "good intentions can create evil results" or "terry cloth = motherly love".