Comments

1
I'll have to pick up the new Kramer's Ergot because I like Kevin Huizenga. Jason's set high standards and I thought his new book was underwhelming. Mediocre Jason is still great, though. I loved his "autobiographical" story. What cartoonist carries a knife?
2
All texts are in "genre." "Literary" fiction is a genre. Do you mean "lowbrow marginal genres" when you say that even "literary" comics veer into "genre"? I'd argue that this is a sampling error: if you looked at the range of all books published (daily, weekly, monthly, annually) the vast majority are in that kind of "genre" (romance, science fiction, horror). Ditto comics. The overlap here ("serious" comics (defined how exactly?) tell stories that share genres with non-serious comics) I would bet is just more prominent because there are fewer comics overall, and even fewer serious ones.
3
I have nothing to add except that I really wish to thank Paul for the review. I appreciate being introduced to new comic authors, and having the form being taken seriously in this manner.

I do want to pose a question about Gilbert Hernandez: do you, or anyone here, feel that his work has contributed to expanding the genre in any way, good or bad. It seems to me that he has, in that his work started out in a fairly "straight" super-hero satire that quickly went into magical realism a la Garcia Marquez, and then ranged over into playing with time by pushing the boundaries of how comics can handle edits in his "Poison River" stories. In any case I'd be curious as to what people think.
4
Interesting theory, but I'm not sure it's correct. If by "genre" you mean "the fantastical genres," comics like Persepolis, Ghost World, Jimmy Corrigan, and the above-mentioned Love and Rockets all come instantly to mind as notable exceptions. Maus is barely genre -- the only fantastical part is the use of cats and mice to tell the story. Strangers in Paradise might be genre, but that genre is romance.

And that's all off the top of my head.

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