I’m going to try switch this round. BvS is a hit for lots of reasons (No. 1 being that it’s brilliant), & I think it’s separately tapping into the same energy & sense of anarchy as Dog Man that kids get. But I think that we need to broaden - why are Telgemeier and Oseman hitting older readers too? - ThreadSky

markbradley.bsky.social • 16 days ago

I’m going to try switch this round.

BvS is a hit for lots of reasons (No. 1 being that it’s brilliant), & I think it’s separately tapping into the same energy & sense of anarchy as Dog Man that kids get.

But I think that we need to broaden - why are Telgemeier and Oseman hitting older readers too?

Reposted from Louie Stowell

Morning thoughts about #KidLitUK: I've been thinking about uk middle grade comics/gns in the wake of Smart's huge success. I don't think we can have another hit like THAT, it's an outlier...but I'd love to see publishers following up that success by understanding WHY it hits hard.

Comments

louiestowell.bsky.social•15 days ago

But the sweetness, and the manga-ish style for a generation who read more manga than comics too. And obv the queerness. Queerness that's not defined by suffering! Queer joy!

louiestowell.bsky.social•15 days ago

Anarchy is really under-served in children's publishing and it's the drum I bang in the faces of everyone close enough. Re older books...I didn't know tegelmeier had done well here, interesting! Re Heartstopper it has that Phoenix thing of building a fanbase first of course.

helentamblyn.bsky.social•15 days ago

The theory of the carnivalesque! Children *love* chaos and anarchy and comics as a medium can explore this and do so much!

Sorry just wading in as I always enjoy what you're both saying so much.

louiestowell.bsky.social•15 days ago

Turning the ordinary upside down is very my bag. Also adults being forced into humiliating roles.

markbradley.bsky.social•15 days ago

Sorry - I didn’t phrase that well. As far as I’m aware Telgemeier hasn’t done been huge here like the US, but I like to draw the Smart/Oseman & Pilkey/Telgemeier comparison because I think it’s useful (people forget that Telgemeier’s was a webcomic, same as Oseman). I also think that people forget

markbradley.bsky.social•16 days ago

And that goes to my favourite topic: We raise children as visual readers with picture books. We give ourselves some of the most beautiful books we’ll ever experience when we’re young, teach ourselves to read images, then gradually take that away. It’s insane - we don’t do that with any other media.

markbradley.bsky.social•16 days ago

Yet we act surprised that children respond to stories told through images?

Comics are beyond popular with kids, so long as you get them to them. They’re adept visual readers.The Beano was selling 1-2 million copies a week at its peak. Pilkey, Smart, Telgemeier & Oseman top the charts now.

markbradley.bsky.social•16 days ago

The question has never been ‘Why are comics/graphic novels so popular now?’

It should always historically have been ‘Why are the big publishers ignoring the popularity of comics?’

markbradley.bsky.social•16 days ago

And if we want to go deeper still, I think the big question we should ask is ‘Why are we forcing adept visual readers into solely reading prose?’

I think then we get to the real reason why comics - which big publishers are only now making accessible again - are proving popular.

helentamblyn.bsky.social•15 days ago

That first bit of this.

Mark for Education Minister.

markbradley.bsky.social•16 days ago

Mainstream publishing isn’t doing something right when they publish comics now. They’re correcting a historic mistake.

emmaillustrate.bsky.social•15 days ago

ALL OF THIIIIS

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