Britain is leader in Graphic Novels?

[Ray McCarthy]

Maybe in a sense, but surely in sales Japan (manga related) & USA (DC, Marvell & Superhero type stuff?).

I HAVE bought and read modern British Graphic Novels.

Still
The British are leaders in graphic novels so why do we not take the art form more seriously?

There used to be a Forbidden Planet here, it was mostly USA & Japanese.
We still have (or till recently had) a Games Workshop, which does (or did) Graphic Novels. Hardly any in the regular book shops, even of the Asian or American kinds.

 

[maeda]

That's a bold statement i'm not sure i agree with, it shifts
Hogarth started it, and i have nothing but respect for British authors, but to sweep aside all Franco-Belgian, south&north American schools..
There was a time of Alan Moore that i remember vividly, and Vertigo line
Yesterday i was revisiting one of my favorite 'us-author' comics and found this introduction from Brian K. Vaughan

 

[Brian G Turner]

Wagner/Grant - the hugely prolific UK writers behind much of the content in 2000AD comic, over decades, not least Judge Dredd.

 

[Matteo]

Here in Belgium there are (large) shops dedicated to the French/Belgian output so I'd have to concur with Maeda/Arzach.

 

[hitmouse]

The discussion is a little bit silly really, and one has to distinguish between comic serials which are then collected in novel-sized lumps, and graphic novels per se, which is a bit academic. Some of the seminal graphic novels which got the genre noticed by "serious" critics, were British (Watchmen, for example) but have a vast debt to US strips. There is some pretty phenominal stuff coming out of the US (Jimmy Corrigan, Bone etc.)

I would argue that 2000AD is equally influential, but it is not a graphic novel, it is a comic that schoolkids bought with their pocket money.

When it comes to Bandes Desinees, the Belgians and French are the ones who regard this as a serious artform, with decent sections in even modest general bookshops.

 

[Judderman]

The article says the British are leaders, not the leader. A minor difference perhaps but it isn't necessarily saying Brits are clearly the best at it. Could be amongst a group of leading countries..