On November 14, 2017, the School of Visual Arts hosted Women in Animation's presentation by Rich Johnson.
Johnson is a former Vice President of Book Trade Sales at DC Comics who has been credited with popularizing the graphic novel genre in mainstream bookstores and libraries. During his tenure, DC Comics had their first New York Times Bestseller with Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman: Endless Nights. He also co-founded and was Co-Publishing Director for Yen Press and co-founded the magazine Yen Plus.
Johnson is now the Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Business Development for Lion Forge Comics. He was the Co-Founder and Co-Publishing Director for Yen Press, the graphic novel and manga imprint for Hachette Book Group.Johnson gave an informative presentation about the history of the graphic novel. Here are my takeaways:
1. The only difference between a graphic novel and a comic is the binding. A comic is stapled (saddle stitched) and a graphic novel is perfect bound.
2. The first example of sequential art telling a single story is English artist William Hogarth's "A Harlot's Progress" from 1732. It's a series of six paintings and engravings that shows the story of a young woman, M. Hackabout, who arrives in London from the country and becomes a prostitute.
3. As a result of the unfavorable press following the 1954 United States Senate comic book hearings, comics publishers chose to self-censor. This explains why many 50's comics are goofy.
4. Neal Adams made comics more realistic in 1969 with his "Hard-Traveling Heroes" era of the team of Green Lantern and Green Arrow.
5. The father of the graphic memoir is Harvey Pekar.
6. Book stores sell more graphic novels than comic book stores.
7. Neil Gaiman's alternating between graphic novels and prose books contributed to the legitimacy of graphic novels.
8. The industry forgot that comics are for kids. The industry is now moving more toward teens.
JUST.
DO.
IT!
Johnson is a former Vice President of Book Trade Sales at DC Comics who has been credited with popularizing the graphic novel genre in mainstream bookstores and libraries. During his tenure, DC Comics had their first New York Times Bestseller with Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman: Endless Nights. He also co-founded and was Co-Publishing Director for Yen Press and co-founded the magazine Yen Plus.
Johnson is now the Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Business Development for Lion Forge Comics. He was the Co-Founder and Co-Publishing Director for Yen Press, the graphic novel and manga imprint for Hachette Book Group.Johnson gave an informative presentation about the history of the graphic novel. Here are my takeaways:
2. The first example of sequential art telling a single story is English artist William Hogarth's "A Harlot's Progress" from 1732. It's a series of six paintings and engravings that shows the story of a young woman, M. Hackabout, who arrives in London from the country and becomes a prostitute.
3. As a result of the unfavorable press following the 1954 United States Senate comic book hearings, comics publishers chose to self-censor. This explains why many 50's comics are goofy.
4. Neal Adams made comics more realistic in 1969 with his "Hard-Traveling Heroes" era of the team of Green Lantern and Green Arrow.
5. The father of the graphic memoir is Harvey Pekar.
6. Book stores sell more graphic novels than comic book stores.
7. Neil Gaiman's alternating between graphic novels and prose books contributed to the legitimacy of graphic novels.
8. The industry forgot that comics are for kids. The industry is now moving more toward teens.
JUST.
DO.
IT!