"Kovacs and Nite Owl entered the window of Kovacs' former residence in search of his extra clothing and of course, his face. Nite Owl simply reclined in the open window, and impatiently inquired as to why they were even there. 'Exactly what, uh, personal effect were you looking for?' Kovacs patiently began to relay the message, as his former landlady walked in with her frightened children in tow. Kovacs simply got up from his position on the floor, and methodically approached her to a chorus of 'Oh God!' She quickly took a step back from the approaching figure, but seemed unable to move more than a step or two; the most she could do to stop the inevitable fight was to beg for no more trouble. 'Mrs. Shairp, long time no see' Kovacs uttered cooly, 'told press I'd made sexual advances to you. Not true.' A look of complete horror took the place of the confused fear on her face, and once again all she could do was continue to clutch her children and shout that it was merely a misquote on the newspaper's part. Kovacs continued staring at her with a blank face full of contempt and righteousness, and asked her a question he knew would cut her to the quick: 'How much did they pay out to lie about me, whore?' One could nearly hear her heart crumple upon having her dirty secret uttered in front of her children, and by a man ask vicious as Rorshach. 'Please don't sy that. Not in front of my kids...please they... they don't know.' It was the plea of a broken woman, and with that Kovacs called to his partner, and stated that he had what he came for. The two left the same way they came, leaving Mrs. Shairp in a sobbing pile on the floor thankful that her plea reached his ears. However, it wasn't her pitiful statement that caused Kovacs heart to defrost, but the look upon her son's face at the mention of his mother's profession.... if the eyes are the window to the soul, the look that Kovacs had when seeing that young boy would have been one of pitiable sorrow." ('written' from page 6 of Chap. 10)
OR!!!!
(sorry the picture didn't come out that great.. but again, this is page 6 of Chap.10)What took me numerous sentences to do, Moore and Gibbons accomplished in 9 panels. Of course these panels were intricately drawn and dialogued, but it still achieved what took a long time to write. So what this "proves" is that graphic novels offer not only a beautifully designed visual interpretation, but it also allows information to be presented in a very quick way. However, with the above paragraph (which I wrote based off this page) visual WORD imagery was incorporated to allow a person to create that same sad far-off look in Rorshach's eyes. In graphic novels the story quite literally unfolds in front of your eyes, and by seeing that imagery and reading the dialogue that follows one can nearly put themselves in that story, and live along side the characters. That is also possible in written novels. By reading and interpreting the character's appearances, the sound of their voice, their surroundings, even their pets, the reader can gain an intimate relationship with the story, and (once again) find themselves living alongside those characters.
In the end, this really was rhetorical question, but I did want to at least put it out there in Cyberland because it's a valid question to consider. Remember, graphic novels vie for the respect that literature boasts, but the reader gets the same destination, they just must make a slightly different journey to get there. And with that, Ta for now!
***so this was obviously a more morbid set of panels within this book, but there are two reasons why I chose this for my post: 1.) this was a really good section to rewrite as an example of the "novel form," and 2.) I really like Rorshach, and this little bit of humanity he shows just makes me love his character more!..nuff said.
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