Are Comics Pictures Books?

Not unless you’re deliberately trying to confuse people.

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In my mind, comics are not picture books simply because when I think about picture books, I think about children’s books, like Scholastic or some sort, while comics have multiple panels on the same page, not just one drawing on each page like kid’s books do. While I know that kid’s can read comics that are made for them specifically, I think there is a sort of technical difference between comics and kids books. Again, this is just how I choose to associate the difference, just like how anime and cartoons are considered to be different, and how comics and Manga is even considered different. I can agree that these different things are all similar and branching from a similar idea (such as pictures on paper and animation) but they are different in specific context.

I wouldn’t consider Family Guy as anime because it’s an animation that isn’t even trying to stick to the Japanese styled drawings and animation that most animes have. I wouldn’t call Batman Rebirth Manga because it isn’t in the same format as Manga. I think it’s things like the format, style, and context that make the difference, at least to me, and I know that to many people these differences matter, especially when these forms of entertainment have been ridiculed in the past as being “childish”. I hope I explain this in a way that makes sense.

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Yes and no. They do showcase pictures, but they also showcase art. Personally, it doesn’t really matter I enjoy them and that’s what matters

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I think of picture books as simple stories, told in prose and geared towards children, with illustrations on every page, or every few pages. Dr. Seuss or The Berenstain Bears are typical examples of what I associate with the term “picture book”.

Comics to me, is a broad medium. They use a mix of prose and dialogue to tell stories, with an emphasis on dialogue. The “pictures” are an integral part of consuming these stories, kind of like watching a movie. Sure you can “read the script” if available, or just listen to the audio, but that wouldn’t have the same effect that the creative team intended for it to have. Similar to movies, comics can be geared towards children, adults, or they can be all ages family affairs.

I’m not sure if I’m reading the question right, but asking if comics are “picture books” seems to me like it’s more of a question about their validity as literary vehicles or works of art. I think it’s true that there is a general perception that comic books are for kids, or at least that they are an inferior form of storytelling compared to novels. I don’t agree that they are just for kids, obviously. Most of us here read comics, and are well aware that there’s books out there that are not meant for young ones. As far as the literary or art comparison, I kind of outright reject it. Reading Action Comics shouldn’t stop me from reading a science fiction novel by Asimov, which in turn shouldn’t stop me from enjoying a Christopher Nolan movie or checking out a Picasso in a museum. They are different mediums, different art forms, and they all have the good & the bad.

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This is reminding when someone said Barney the dinosaur is tokusatsu.

Well when people think of cartoons, they think of cartoon network and nickelodeon, that doesn’t mean adult swim’s shows are for kids. Also there are times when comics have one picture.

I’m sorry, im not following. Isn’t Captain underpants both a kids book and a comic?

I never got that, for the most part the difference is the art style and country of origin, Winx Clun is italian, Code Lyoko is French, and Ben 10 is american and they’re all consider cartoons. Death note is japanese, Padak is Korean, King’s avatar is Chinese yet they’re all called anime.

Funny because i heard most people in japan(Not sure about other parts of Asia) consider them anime and manga. I heard people consider King of the hill and the simpsons anime.

Fair point

So would naomi be a picture book since it didn’t have much dialog.

You’re reading too deep into it, I’m just asking if comics are picture books. No different(as we discussed in this thread) if animes are cartoons.

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Put these on

Soo King’s Avatar isn’t an anime?

the hot dog in its requisite bun is a sandwich, but that’s off topic.

I always thought anime was specific to Japanese animation. but to the japanese fan, Naruto is as much anime as is Spongebob or Bugs Bunny

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Nope. Donghua.

Blasphemy. And who needs a bun?

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That’s why i specified said bun. But i will forever be “it’s a sandwich; not it’s own thing”.

Without the bun, it’s just another sausage

Sorry for that. I did mention that I may be reading the question wrong :slightly_smiling_face:.

Haven’t read Naomi, so I can’t really judge it. I guess the answer to your question regarding comic books will depend on who you ask. If you ask my dad, I’m pretty sure he will agree that comics are picture books. For me, when I hear the term, I think Goodnight Moon or Where The Wild Things Are.

As for anime, all I know is when I see certain cartoons that some of my family members like to watch (Digimon, Sailor Moon, & others)… I find the art style, dialogue and humor instantly recognizable, and I believe all those are Japanese shows.

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Sir Mix-A-Lot?

Anyway, so I’m contributing something actually valuable, the claim isn’t wrong, but it’s not exactly right either. I guess you can argue that picture books aren’t the same thing as comics, but they’re in the same family. Sort of like how, say, Jacob’s Ladder and Friday the 13th are both horror movies, but they have different places in the genre and often have completely different audiences.

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shrugs In regards to king of the hill I only ever saw a handful of episodes as i spent most of my time playing video games back when it was airing never knew what time it was on and did not watch much live tv…still do not watch much live tv.

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I think a lot of people like @AlexanderKnox have already done a good job explaining it here, but I’ll just reiterate the importance of the implication/connotation surrounding certain words.

Yes, comics are technically picture books. Any book with lots of art/illustration is a picture book. That said, the phrase is more specifically implied to be juvenile and made for children. When most people think of “picture book,” they’ll think of The Cat in the Hat or Dick and Jane books. With that in mind, while it’s semantically correct to say comics are picture books, it’s not really a good representation of the medium overall since it implicates them to be far more immature and simple than they are. I’m not gonna get mad if someone says what you said, but I understand the frustration of some given the constant push to have the medium taken more seriously and considered mature.

As far as your comparison of anime, I’ll admit that I’m not very familiar with the medium overall, but it’s a bit of an apples to oranges comparison in my eyes. Anime is defined as being, “hand-drawn or computer animation originating from Japan.” It’s a specific kind of animation from a specific location. Hence why your examples of Sponge Bob or King of the Hill wouldn’t fit the definition. You could say shows like Teen Titans and Ben 10 are influenced by anime, but since they’re produced in America they, by definition, aren’t.

To tie all that back to the picture book discussion, you could definitely call any anime a “cartoon.” It’s semantically correct, but it’s far more accurate to call them “anime” as it implies a specific place of origin and style. It’s not wrong, it just doesn’t account for the general implications of the words’ meanings. Just like how a comic is technically a picture book, but that’s not very reflective of the medium overall given the implication of the word.

Hope this helps clarify your question and can maybe explain the bit of frustration people may have had towards you. Not saying anyone getting extremely mad over something like this is entirely justified, just that if you were curious as to understanding why then this is your answer! :slight_smile:

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Yes… What @OmniLad said!

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So it’s more of you didn’t really watch it.

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I like your answer the most. :slight_smile:

Ok I hate to repeat myself again and again, but the same applies when people called anime cartoons, when I was huge Weeb I used to get angry that people call anime cartoons because most cartoons were for kids and anime tends to be more teens and young adults. I thought it talking down on to anime when there are anime for kids just like there are cartoon for adults.

Also, turns out there are picture books for adults. Found one called “Go the f*ck a sleep”

Your example of how you felt when someone called anime “cartoons,” is exactly how fans feel when you call comics, “picture books.” And while, sure, there are some adult picture books, it’s not very reflective of the overall portrayal. There’s a reason why outliers tend to be ignored when talking about data representation. I mean, just look up the definition of “picture book,” on Google and it even clarifies, “especially one for children.” That’s really all I have to add to this discussion. Not much else to say.

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