Many denounce the graphic novel as a glorified comic book. However, reading Frank Miller’s Sin City: The Hard Goodbye reveals several aspects that are unique to the graphic novel format and contribute to the appeal of this literary genre. The most distinctive feature of the graphic novel is the visual aspect. The visual emphasis changes the whole landscape of the literature, which Miller employs in an indispensable manner. The drawings of the characters and the city, the stylized heavy inking, and the negative and spotlight effects would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to convey through traditional literary description. For example, part of what gives Sin City its singular film noir appeal is the extreme visual contrast. Miller uses little to no gray, and he employs the technique of negative-reverse coloration. This look is essential to the style and to the reader’s emotional response to the novel as a whole. It is difficult to imagine how Miller could create the same atmosphere through pure description. The description would not have the same immediate force of impact as the stark images. It is believed that the imagination produces better visual representations than most artwork included in a novel. However, the drawings of Kevin, with his white-out lenses, evoke a much more disturbing response. The visual aspect of the graphic novel affects the establishment of atmosphere as well. Miller’s choice to make the novel purely black and white contributes heavily to the extreme feeling of film noir and acts as a commentary on the city and its denizens; everything and everyone in the city lives in a black and white world with no gray spaces. The graphic novel also influences the narrative style. A description of the setting and the action is unnecessary. Therefore, personal descriptions are free to take on an almost poetic style. Miller, freed of visual descriptive needs, is open to writing inner monologues about how Marv feels, rather than having to interpose his thoughts with a description of the action or the setting. This inward focus is a good vehicle for creating lyrical inner monologues. In this way, Miller is free to show the audience that Marv, despite his constant insistence that "he’s not too bright," has quite a few poignant thoughts: "The wind is warm on my face and everything’s simple and clear. I can’t help smiling." The unique format of the graphic novel is put to good use in Frank Miller’s Sin City: The Hard Goodbye. Miller deftly exemplifies the literary capacity of the genre, showing that the graphic novel is indeed a form of literature; one with its own stylistic and conventional attributes that establish it as legitimate as prose, drama, or poetry. arrange the statements according to their function to chart the structure of the passage. Tiles The description of a setting and action is unnecessary in a graphic novel. The graphic novel is not a glorified comic book. Inner monologues are also part of a graphic novel. The graphic novel has its own conventions and stylistic attributes. Visual descriptions in a graphic novel affect the atmosphere. Then arrange the statements according to their function to chart the structure of the passage.
Tiles
The description of a setting and action is unnecessary in a graphic novel.
The graphic novel is not a glorified comic book.
Inner monologues are also part of a graphic novel.
The graphic novel has its own conventions and stylistic attributes.
Visual descriptions in a graphic novel affect the atmosphere.