Graphic Memoirs Come of Age

In the beginning of Graphic Memoirs Come of Age by William Bradley, he first gets into the history of the transition of comic books to the more sophisticated term graphic novels. Bradley talks about the classic comics Superman and Batman, but he does not categorize these comics as graphic novels. Even though, they are directed to an older audience and have multiple story lines and volumes in their series. Bradley then shifts his focus to what he proclaims is more of an academia comic and he refers to the term as "graphic memoir". Throughout his essay, he compares the differences and intentions of both of Alison Bechdel's graphic memoirs the Fun Home and Are You My Mother. He tries to refute the label of graphic memoir that was given to both of Alison Bechdel's works. He believes that its more in the direction of an essayistic memoir. He argues that Bechdel doesn't give enough input about her life to make it a memoir. He criticizes the critics for trying to decide which of Bechdel's works were better. The reason for this is because he is claiming that the critics are missing the whole point of what Bechdel is trying to promote. Even though they are labeled as the same type of story (graphic memoir), Bradley is trying to say that they are completely different types of stories. Many critics argued that Fun Home was better than Are You My Mother. He believes that both stories are good, but cannot be compared. Its like comparing apples and oranges. Both of Bechdel works serve for different purposes.