A 10 cents investment in 1938 was this week turned into a US$1million return when a simple comic changed hands between two people, neither of whom wanted to be named.
"A comic" I hear you exclaim. "Who would have thought?" However today it is recognised that comics (or graphic novels as they now prefer to be called) have much more value than just cheap pulp reading for kids after school.
Graphic novels are a great springboard for the reluctant reader. Many of these children don't even realise they are reading when they pick up an Asterix or Tin-Tin. In fact, it could be argued that they are in some ways more advanced than their counterparts as they are interpreting both words and pictures to tell the story. Of course the other side of this argument is that the children reading chapter books are using their imaginations to create the pictures, but there is value in both opinions.
I experienced this for myself during the summer reading programme this year. I had a couple of reluctant readers, but noted that one of them had drawn quite brilliant characters into the margin of his folder. With some gentle inquiry I discovered an interest in comics and animation. It was only a small step (or leap) from this to getting them interested in firstly, our non-fiction books on graphic art and drawing. And secondly, into suggesting an easy story that they could animate themselves.
Graphic novels are also a way to ease children into some of the classics, with everyone from Shakespeare to Homer and further to biographies, now appearing in graphic format to interest readers.
The trend doesn't just move from the child reader up to the teenager. It works down from adult authors as well. Diana Gabaldon revealed in Auckland earlier this year that she is working on the adventures of Claire and Jamie (Crosstitch) in graphic form, while we already hold graphic novels from well known authors Jodi Picoult, Neil Gaiman and others.
Our graphic novels are held in a separate collection at Rodney Libraries and all have the "POW" sticker on their spine. There is everything from the Green Lantern and Superman comics I grew up with, through to the new Manga and on to the darker more adult graphics. The entire graphics collection can be searched on Rodney Libraries catalogue here.
We also have non-fiction books studying the history of comics and graphic art (some of the art is truly awesome as well). Try a subject search on our catalogue for Comic Book encyclopedias or Comic Books History and Criticism.
Can you guess which comic it was that broke this record. To find out if you are right, go to this link from the Stuff website.
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