Why the Push Back on Comics Categories?

[Beth]

Kasi, I totally agree with you. I enjoy comics, graphic novels, and manga. To me they tell some of the best stories and have some of the best character developments. That being said, I think its important to view them the same way as you would any other book. Just because a certain "comic" didn't sit well with someone rather its the artwork or the atory, its okay to try another! Otherwise it would be like saying you don't like books based off only a bad one that you read. Like normal prose, comics have genres too so maybe trying different ones before the final not liking comics.

[Bonnie G.]

Kasi wrote: "Beth wrote: "Kasi, I totally agree with you. I enjoy comics, graphic novels, and manga. To me they tell some of the best stories and have some of the best character developments. That being said, I..."

I don't like stories told through pictures. I may admire them, but I don't enjoy them. For instance, I have read all of the March books, I think they are of exceptional quality and tell one of the most important American stories, but I did not enjoy the experience. I like reading, I like words. Graphics are a completely different experience than text. Saying graphic and text storytelling are the same and should be equally enjoyed is like saying someone who likes music should like sculpture because both are artistic expressions of thought, feeling, or experience.

[Candace]

I thought the pushback was odd. People seem to have a strong opinion about comics and I have no idea why.

[Octavia]

I was a bit disappointed to see three comics/graphic novel tasks, but not because I don't like them! I DO like them, and though they're not my most-liked form I read them relatively regularly, and I knocked off those three tasks in fairly short order. I mean, I've a pre-existing list of them I want to read so I pretty much just picked from that.

But I like the Read Harder challenges in particular because they force me to read outside my comfort zone. Like the sports book last year, or the western this year, or the romance for that matter. Giving three similar challenges of something I already read is not reading harder - I'd be equally disappointed if there were three fantasy novel challenges, for instance, or three science fiction novels. I read all those things already! Now granted there'll always been some Read Harder tasks that play to everyone's own separate wheelhouse (e.g. for me the scifi novel written by a woman with the female protagonist), but increased variety in the task set increases the chances of having to read more broadly to complete them.

Point in favour: I read a western! First time ever. And I enjoyed it. I will be reading more! :)

[Bonnie G.]

Kasi wrote: "Bonnie wrote: "Kasi wrote: "Beth wrote: "Kasi, I totally agree with you. I enjoy comics, graphic novels, and manga. To me they tell some of the best stories and have some of the best character deve..."

I didn't mean to sound cranky, sorry if it came across that way. I was just explaining how I felt. Its a good question. I love that this challenge pushes me to read subjects matter that I would not otherwise explore (like westerns.) But graphic is not a subject, it is a format. If people want to use graphic books for any prompt they may, and I think that is great. However, if next year Book Riot again includes multiple prompts that require graphics I will switch challenges. It would be disappointing since I like Book Riot and I am sure I won't spend much time on the site if I change challenges (due to limited time, not spite), but there are a lot of challenges out there.

[Tania]

I agree with Bonnie to a certain extent, I don't get as much out of reading pictures as I do out of reading words, so comics are not my go-to medium. I end up either skipping over the pictures to read the story, then coming back to look at pictures, or not really following the story closely if I try to read it the way it's meant. Even so, I don't mind reading comics or graphic novels so much as I really hate having to select my books based on details about the authors or publishers. All 3 of the comics prompts are about the author or the publisher, and they aren't even written in a way that would encourage diversity - I could have chosen 3 volumes from Attack on Titan, and checked off all 3 prompts. If you are going to make me go out of my comfort zone to read comics, shouldn't you take it one step further and make them 3 different kinds of comics? JMHO

[Deb]

Bonnie wrote: "I don't like stories told through pictures...I like reading, I like words. Graphics are a completely different experience than text. Saying graphic and text storytelling are the same and should be equally enjoyed is like saying someone who likes music should like sculpture because both are artistic expressions of thought, feeling, or experience."

This. I don't like the experience of reading graphic formats. It just doesn't give me pleasure. Maybe others who are disappointed to see comics on a reading challenge are just the same as me. People have preferences. Not liking something - whether it's a certain format or writing style or a certain kind of music - doesn't have to mean you just haven't tried enough of it yet - it can mean you just don't like it. I don't like comics. I'm not big on space opera or Mantovani or the taste of ginger or the smell of tea tree oil either. Fortunately there are lots of other options available. :)

[Amanda]

I was surprised there were three prompts for comics, seems a little over-the-top. I don't prefer reading comics, the style is too much for me, it's overwhelming. I have to read them in small doses. Even though these prompts have encouraged me to look into reading more comics, it was just the fact there was three prompts that is kind of agitating.

[Bonnie G.]

DebsD wrote: "Bonnie wrote: "I don't like stories told through pictures...I like reading, I like words. Graphics are a completely different experience than text. Saying graphic and text storytelling are the same..."

We will have to agree to disagree on the ginger issue, but otherwise we can hang.

[Teresa]

I also dislike choosing books based on the author or publisher. Last year I chose not to do 2 of the prompts due to this issue.
I've read probably 10 graphic novels over the past 3 years, of various subjects, visual types, etc. I don't enjoy it because it hurts my eyes and I develop headaches, even when I enjoy the subject matter.
Reading outside my comfort zone is why I do multiple challenges every year. I decided I will no longer participate in reading tasks that cause me anger, disgust or physical pain.
As always, ymmv.

[Jeff]

Bonnie wrote: "I don't like stories told through pictures...I like reading, I like words. Graphics are a completely different experience than text."

I agreed with this point of view coming into this challenge. However, my POV has changed a bit. Even though I had read "Fun Home" several years ago, I was thinking of manga and superheroes when I saw "Graphic Novels". It ends up that I have read two really captivating stories, "Lena Finkle's Magic Barrel" and "The Best We Could Do"; the first as a hard-copy, the second as an e-book. While I love the flow of the words, the art made me unknowingly pause to ponder what I just read before turning the page.

So I'm looking forward to the third prompt and in the future seeing what else my library has of this nature.

[Beth]

Amanda wrote: "I was surprised there were three prompts for comics, seems a little over-the-top. I don't prefer reading comics, the style is too much for me, it's overwhelming. I have to read them in small doses...."

I do agree that having three is a lot. This being my first year doing a challenge, I'm just learning how this works. I'm also not calling anyone out, I hope that's not how I came across in my original post since that's not my intention. All I mean to do, is show that like normal print books, comics have genres too. I get not everyone will like them, there are certain styles I don't like myself. My main thing is there is only one comic that's not up to someone's taste and they decided that comics are awful. I just don't believe that to be fair is all.

Are comics hard to read? They can be. I tend to read superhero, manga, and graphic novels and the designs for each of those three are different and it takes me time to read the format especially if I spent time reading manga for a few weeks and go to a Marvel comic. It can be difficult.

[Octavia]

I think maybe for some people they might be hard to read because of the size of the text? I read a print copy of March: Book One by John Lewis last year and it was fantastic, but I must be getting ooooold because I also wanted a magnifying glass to stop squinting at it so much, lol.

If you're reading comics electronically (thanks, Comixology!) you can always zoom in, and I do, but maybe people who prefer to read hard copies find it more difficult to locate comics or graphic novels that have larger print... That might be an interesting list for BookRiot to do! The ten best large print graphic novels, or something.

[Megan]

Because it just doesn't interest me.

[Kate]

I am like others, I don't like "reading" pictures. It takes me longer to read a comic than a traditional book and I don't enjoy the experience as much. I have trouble parsing images, especially in superhero-style comics where it's all a lot of POW BAM action scenes and then I'm left confused about what actually happened.

I didn't grow up reading comic books and don't really enjoy them as an adult. There are exceptions, as always (Cece Bell's El Deafo is a wonderful example - there's a story that would never have had the same impact if it were told in text only), but overall I will always choose a text-only book over a graphic novel. There's nothing wrong with people not liking comics and I always resent it a little when people tell me I "just haven't tried the right comic" or "saying you don't like comics is like saying you don't like movies."

[Teresa]

I really hope Large Print books are never made into a challenge category. There are a limited number of books available in large print at libraries. They exist for people who cannot read typical size print in books. It's like going to a museum, zoo, or grocery store and using all the available rental wheelchairs for the 'experience', leaving none for those that require them.

[Bonnie G.]

Teresa wrote: "I really hope Large Print books are never made into a challenge category. There are a limited number of books available in large print at libraries. They exist for people who cannot read typical si..."

Also, I hate reading large print. Format is just not a good category determinant. Genre, length, year of publication, subject, author identification, country of origin, these all make sense.

[Judith]

I am not a comic reader on the whole and have groaned every year when I see the increase in comic/GN tasks.

However, I've found that doing this challenge over the last 3 years, some of my favourite reads have been the graphic novels, which was a real surprise.

That, I suppose, is the point of the challenge!

[Bonnie G.]

Judith wrote: "I am not a comic reader on the whole and have groaned every year when I see the increase in comic/GN tasks.

However, I've found that doing this challenge over the last 3 years, some of my favourit..."

It is the point, I have expanded my reading as a result of this challenge which is great. But one graphic challenge would take care of that.

[Cendaquenta]

I really like graphic novels and comics, plus I have a backlog of them on my TBR, so personally I appreciate those tasks. :)

[Rachel]

I always had the impression that most of the push-back was because there were several prompts requiring comics, not because of the comics themselves. I thought people were upset because 3 of the prompts required them, and therefore seemed too similar to each other when you see the initial list. Those who don't like comics or graphic novels anyway would be annoyed about being "forced" to read three, and if you already like them, it's not much of a challenge.

[Cheryl]

I'm not a fan of them. I don't like reading bubble to bubble. It's cumbersome. I read a food memoir that I mostly liked.

[Susan]

my problem with graphic novels is entirely visual. I read ebooks exclusively due to poor vision and the ability to modify font size and style. graphic novels do not translate well to ebook format i.e. you cannot enlarge the images and text sufficiently. all three of the graphic novel challenges are a no-go for me

[willaful]

Along similar lines, I was just talking to a blind twitter friend who mentioned that the comics prompts makes this challenge unworkable for her. I hope that Book Riot will take accessibility into account next time.

[Gina]

willaful wrote: "Along similar lines, I was just talking to a blind twitter friend who mentioned that the comics prompts makes this challenge unworkable for her. I hope that Book Riot will take accessibility into a..."

This weekend I was looking for audiobooks for my nephew and I to listen to over the summer and I found The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World (the audiobook version) Would that work in this case? It is the same basic story just without the graphics, I believe. I know it doesn't work for all of the items but it would at least be a start...

[Krista]

Oh, my, I see I've missed a good discussion that I'd like to weigh in on . . .
I was a comic hater back in my teens and 20s, but I was also a voracious read of Star Wars Extended Universe stuff. Like, a book was released and I bought and read it right away. There were always these references to Luke turning to the dark side and training with the resurrected Emperor. Grrrr WHEN??? I've read everything! Then I discovered it was a graphic novel. I resisted FOR YEARS reading it just because of that. Here was a book series I could not get enough of, with plots that kept me hooked, and I was skipping a crucial storyline because of the format. My husband broke me of that habit. He bought the graphic novels for me (I think there were two). Now I no longer hate them. But I understand.

I'm not stranger to them, but I still have confusion here and there about which panel to go to next, and will get confused. It means sometimes I have to restart the page so I can read the panels in order.

Kasi, you'd written something above that confused me a bit:
"I wish, on average, they gave us the option to read whatever format we wanted for the challenges. I would like to be able to read Graphic Novels or Comics where I am told to read Novels sometimes."
I came in late to the first Read Harder back in 2015. I'd read then, and again in 2016, that people were doing ALL the topics with comics/graphic novels. (I tried to get my husband to join the challenge, but it didn't work). But other than the ones that specify "comic", I think you could certainly read a comic for topic.

I know last year on 30 Dec, I was struggling seriously with a book I'd chosen for one of the topics. I just could not do it. My husband found a graphic novel for it, and I enjoyed it much more.

I totally do not do westerns either. But I used a comic to fulfill that category this year too.

I think doing this challenge is about opening yourself up to new reading, and if you've only ever read a book you hold in your hand that doesn't have pictures, then it's doing its job when it prompts you to read an ebook, comic book, audiobook, or a genre you've never touched.

[Krista]

And for anyone strugging to fulfill the three comics on the 2018 list, my husband pointed out one of his favorites meets all three. So if you're OK with "Double Dipping":

Try some Usagi Yojimbo comics by Stan Sakai.

These are published by Fantagraphics or Dark Horse (Task #18, comic that isn't published by Marvel, DC, or Image).
Stan Sakai was born in Kyoto Japan, educated in Hawaii, and now lives in California (Task #8, comic written or illustrated by a person of color), and he does all the writing and illustrations himself (Task #4, comic written and illustrated by the same person).

[Karen]

Krista wrote: "Oh, my, I see I've missed a good discussion that I'd like to weigh in on . . .
I was a comic hater back in my teens and 20s, but I was also a voracious read of Star Wars Extended Universe stuff. L..."

I totally agree with you! Since 2016 I have done the Challenge twice -- once with books and once with graphic novels. I only started reading graphic novels with the 2015 Challenge and have been totally hooked since then. Sometimes the challenge of finding graphic novels for each of the items is tough but, in the end, great fun and I have found some astounding graphic novels!!