To celebrate Will Eisner Week and graphic novels, the Department of Creative Arts Adjunct, Ben Effler, and his students in ART 214: Comics & Narrative Art, joined the MSJ Library by participating in a Graphic Novel Petting Zoo
BAM! POW! WOW! These familiar action-packed words, or onomatopoeia, are common in superhero comics. Beyond the classic fantastical superheroes, graphic novels include more serious historical topics like the Civil Rights Movement and biographies. To celebrate Will Eisner Week and graphic novels this March, the Department of Creative Arts Adjunct, Ben Effler, and his students in ART 214: Comics & Narrative Art, joined the MSJ Library by participating in a Graphic Novel Petting Zoo. Ruth Monnier, Head of Research & Instructional Services at Mount St. Joseph University, guided students through reflective activities before they met the graphic novels at the Petting Zoo.
At the Petting Zoo, students explored graphic novels on joyous, informative, or serious topics designed for children, for teenagers,and for adults. Many of the graphic novels on display reflected variety in language and genre. Students looked, read, and compared different aspects of graphic novels, from how the creators used textual components to how they incorporated color. Students also examined the same graphic novel, but different editions, such as a reprint or a translated edition, to view the changes the creators made with each.
Ben Effler, Adjunct Professor, “The Graphic Novel Petting Zoo allows students the opportunity to explore an often overlooked medium. While comics and graphic novels are often (unfairly) relegated as a novelty in most academic circles, they have the unique ability to combine form and content by using images and words to create new levels of understanding across a variety of subjects. Every published work, regardless of its specific intention, is unique in its theme, style, and delivery. We at MSJ are very fortunate that our library and staff have not neglected the impact that the Graphic Novel has made as a mechanism of the human creative experience.
ART 214 serves as a vehicle to provide MSJ students with the ability to investigate the relationship and effective use of images and words in sequence to create a graphic story.”
The Graphic Novel Petting Zoo opened space for all students to further discover and encounter different types of styles, font choices, and topics covered in graphic novels. ART 214 students were encouraged to take notes on the traits of each novel that they liked, so they could reference them for their final project. At the end of the semester, these students will create and print their own comic. The Petting Zoo served as an opportunity to learn more and be inspired by the dozens of spectacular graphic novels in MSJ Library’s collection.
Ben Effler stated, “As a new adjunct on campus, it was nice for me to see the resources our University has to offer. I was excited for the opportunity to share this experience with my students and learn alongside them.”
In the end, ART 214 students learned that graphic novels are limitless, and there are very few rules that each one must abide by when creating a graphic novel. They combine the artistic freedom of visual arts with the narrative depth of traditional literature, removing the constraints of both and allowing for full artistic freedom.
Tori Orbegozo, Fine Arts major, “My favorite part about the Graphic Novel Petting Zoo was getting to see such a wide variety of themes, styles, and genres across the graphic novels. I plan to take inspiration from a few of them for my final comic.”