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A graphic novel is a book-length illustrated piece where the images drawn replace the descriptive text of the story, and the majority of written text is dialogue, narration, or a character's stream of consciousness. Usually the story in a graphic novel is finished in one or two volumes. They can vary from fiction to non-fiction and tend to have one consistent author and illustrator.
There are many types of graphic novels with varying visual characteristics and formats; graphic novel is an umbrella term in English for all .
Comics and comic strips are a popular format in all cultures (and go by different names around the world). Comics are shorter and usually cover one chapter, or one part of a larger and longer story. The longest running and most prolific comic series is the Detective Comics or Batman Detective Comics. It has been running since 1937 sans a brief hiatus from 2011 to 2016, with over 23,000 issues published. Once a comic or comic strip has a book-length amount of content published, they can be compiled into "trades" which are closer to graphic novel length and usually cover an entire story arc. There can be multiple authors and artists, though the tone and visuals remain consistent.
Manga [ 漫画、マンガ ] is a Japanese graphic novel that is read from right from right to left (like most of their novels), inspired by Chinese manhua. Manga can either be serialized or standalone. While graphic novels have genres like any other (fantasy, romance, biography), manga is also separated into age/gender demographics that tend to affect the visual characteristics and substance of the story. These age/gender genres appeal to traditional binary gender norms with manga for women and girls having more detailed, cutesy art styles and more romantic themes and female protagonists. Josei - manga for adult women. Shoujo - manga for young girls. Manga for men and boys tend to have more hard lines, in some ways more realistic art styles, and the subject matter is action packed, sporty, sometimes gory. Seinen - manga for adult men. Shounen - manga for young boys. This is an interesting graphic novel format as the demographic that the manga is geared toward greatly impacts the style, coloration, and story. While these stories are created for these demographic groups, readers of all backgrounds enjoy all these stories.
Webtoon [ 웹툰 ] is a wildly expanding format of graphic story. "Webtoons are a type of digital comic that originated in South Korea usually meant to be read on smartphones." (Wikipedia). Popular titles like Heartstopper and Lore Olympus started as webtoons before being compiled into graphic novel editions. The styles vary depending on the author's country of origin--some styles are cartoonish, some are stylized like manga, some are minimalist like a comic/webcomic.
Graphic novel formats from China and Korea are also rising in popularity here in the United States. Chinese manhua and Korea manwha vary in their popular titles in their own countries while historical fiction titles are more popular in the US (and in Japan!). A Japanese manga title that has skyrocketed in international readership in recent years is The Apothecary Diaries which follows a young girl who is a practicing apothecary in Tang Dynasty Imperial China. Through a series of events, she solves various mysteries for the royal court. This series is available at the BCTC Library.
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