ABSTRACT
Here are two almost simultaneous books, each offering to give an introduction to, and set an agenda for thinking about, the transformation of a medium: from comics (meaning: funny, childish, low-grade ‘entertainment’) to graphic novels (meaning: serious, dark, complex, adult ‘cultural meanings’). Two books which manage to have almost nothing in common, in materials covered, in style, in conceptualization and in arguments. As more people try to come to terms with this increasingly visible sector of cultural production, what’s to choose between them? Cards on the table at the beginning: without a shade of reservation, I recommend Sabin every time. If we treat the books as a pair, it is almost as if McCue produces a series of overexcited juvenile judgements, for Sabin to reduce them judiciously to rubble; Sabin’s book stands as a gentle admonition to McCue’s, which is dreadfully flatulent.
