The Prince and the Dressmaker

[andyg0404]

Hi,

This graphic novel is reviewed in the Sunday Times Book Review section.

https://tinyurl.com/yaszr9rw

Here are a bunch of illustrations for it.

https://www.avclub.com/this-the-prince-and-the-dressmaker-exclusive-begins-a-g-1822800195

Andy G.

[Betty]

It looks interesting. Oddly long at 288 pages though for what is essentially a comic book.

They say it's targeted at teens 14 & up. That's also odd. When I was a kid, almost all of us kids were reading stuff much more advanced than comic books & picture cartoon books by 10 to 12 years old. So it's a bit steep at $16.95 to $24.95 for a cartoon picture book targeted for teens.

I'll give it a few months to a year & that price will come down to about a dollar for a PDF of it, google play version, or download it for free from some libraries & archives by then.

[andyg0404]

Hi Betty,

Comic books have changed since we were kids, for one thing they're much darker. And this is what's called a graphic novel, many of which are aimed at adults. Wikipedia has a long explanation of what they are. You'll also see that many in the comics trade agree that they are really just fancy comic books. But they have definitely entered into the mainstream. When comics came out in the 30’s they were definitely aimed at kids but during the second world war plenty of soldiers read them as well. The army was responsible for ten percent of Superman’s circulation in the early 40’s which was well over a million a month. In the early 50’s comic books were attacked as causing juvenile delinquency, led by Fredric Wertham’s book, Seduction of the Innocent.  The attitude during this era was that if an adult read comic books he was an idiot. You can see this in the character of Gomer Pyle whose favorite expression was Shazam. Shazam was the acronymic code word that Billy Batson said out loud to turn him into Captain Marvel. The uproar caused an implosion in the industry and killed most of the publishers aside from DC and Atlas, Marvel’s name during this era. It wasn’t until the early 60’s when Marvel brought out the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man that comics started to become relevant again as college students got into them.  I remember the first time I saw serious articles on comics, not the POW BAM kind from when the television Batman series appeared, but actual reviews in the New York Times. In the Sunday Times Book Review section they sometimes have a best seller list for Graphic Novels. Forgive my rambling on like this but I’ve collected comics since I was a pre-teen and still buy a few every month.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphic_novel

Andy G.

[Betty]

I like some of the comics in the weekend newspapers. We even share our favorites on Facebook. I'll get a kick out of some classic cartoon animation like a Bullwinkle, Bugs Bunny, rare Beanie & Cecile, etc.  or more adult toons like Ren & Stimpy, or Rocko's Modern Life. But I wouldn't buy a whole book of cartoons or a comic book. I haven't a bought a picture book, cartoon book, or comic book since I was 9 or 10. I have not read one through since I was 12.

In these modern days I think more teens would be interested in a video game, movie, or TV show of the cartoon. Teens that do any real reading, just won't get around to paying that much for this.

Kids don't mind hitting up parents for a new computer, phone, or video game, or working some part time to get them, but would not want to stress those resources on a $16.95-$24.95 picture book.

This will probably be more an interest to people of all ages who crossdress for various reasons, or are close to someone who does. We would get it for the interesting crossdressing story, but most teens will skip over this at that price tag... until it come down to a dollar or less next year, or turns up on the torrents.

It's only been out for a month. That price will come down when it's not new, & not freshly reviewed anymore.

It's like whatever is in the cinema for $16 a ticket today, you can probably download or stream from Amazon or some other service next year for 69 cents to $5.