Hollywood has always mined comic books for ready-made characters with instant audience recognition. Some of the resultant films were good – think of Superman and the spiritual darkness of Batman – most less so. Some directors are mining graphic novels to better effect. Quentin Tarantino used anime, the two-dimensional animation style derived from Japanese manga comic books, for scenes in his film Kill Bill. Back on the printed page, however, the graphic novel form is evolving. Authors and artists now use the literary form as witness to recent events, for polemics, for coming-of-age stories and for tender tales of family life.

Graphic novels often demand three readings: once for the text, once for the drawings and once to bring the two together. Authors play with the possibilities, using the graphics to tell a different tale to the text. In Jimmy Corrigan: the Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware, an estranged father and son are pictured in a dinner scene reminiscent of Edward Hopper’s painting Nighthawks. It is only later, when they realize that they have had their car stolen, that the reader turns back to see the thief clearly outlined by the light from the dinner window. Ware varies his frame sizes too, adjusting the emphasis of each and, on some pages, creating a collage of images that illuminate the story. Other authors use whole pages to create the dramatic impact of a film close-up.