This paper looks at the transformation of comics into graphic novels, a term that has evolved over the last 40 years as comic artists have sought and, sometimes attained, the status of literary auteurs. Analyzing shifts in the literary marketplace has long been an area of study for cultural historians such as James West, Sarah Gardner, and James English. My analysis will trace the career of Art Spiegelman, whose graphic memoir Maus was the first comic book to be awarded a Pulitzer prize in 1992. In Spiegelman’s words, his ambition as an artist, editor, and teacher has been for “comics to find their way into libraries, bookstores, universities, and museums.” I aim to show how Spiegelman’s goals, and those of a generation of comics authors active since the 1970s and 1980s, were aided by the institutional and political dynamics of English departments. Despite becoming increasingly pluralistic in the wake of feminist and poststructuralist theory, their scholarship remained tied to literary notions of cultural value. This analysis will combine qualitative and quantitative approaches, tracing institutional and aesthetic developments with the help of sociological data on book production as well as computational image and text analysis. While graphic novels have accrued prestige with the help of literary awards, scholarly selection, and effective marketing strategies, this mixed methodology also provides evidence for the aesthetic changes that have ensued. Thus, graphic novels today distinguish themselves from traditional comics books in their emulation of literary tone, their choice of historical settings, and a more restrained visual style.
