Help! I can't read cartoons!

My boyfriend and I have been dating for four years now. Before meeting him, I didn’t watch movies, I didn’t know my Seinfeld episodes and I didn’t read graphic novels. Uh, correction, I still don’t read graphic novels. Matt has tried time and time again to sway me into the world of visual art, and I’ll admit, I’ve tried – but I can’t do it. Do you know how embarrassing it is to have to tell people you can’t read cartoons?

Don’t get me wrong, I want to read graphic novels – I do think they’re cool and I certainly think they can be beneficial. My fundamentals of literary studies class, last year at the University of Winnipeg, required me to read Frank Miller’s graphic novel, 300, and I still don’t know what that book is about. Uh, correction again, I do know what it’s about. It’s about the Battle of Thermopylae – but I only know this because I looked it up on Wikipedia two minutes before class started, panicking the professor would think I hadn’t read it. Sure enough, when he asked someone to describe the book I immediately shot my hand up, said the Battle of Thermopylae, smiled and shut up for the rest of the class – confident I had made it obvious I read the book, and certain I wouldn’t be called into questioning again.

I do think that people who can and have the patience to read graphic novels have a talent. I want to be like them. So I’ve compiled a list as to why I don’t understand graphic novels; perhaps you can help me out.

1. Graphic novels require visual literacy. The idea of linking images to words in order to create a meaning is mind-boggling to me. Where do I start?
2. Graphic novels have a reading pattern I don't understand. Yes, I know, left to right, top to bottom. But what happens when the boxes change shape? Is it up...or down...or zigzagged? Man I'm confused.
3. You're supposed to read the pictures too, right? How do I know when I'm done?
4. Books give me in-depth character development, a concrete timeline and a sense of imagination -- how do I get that out of a graphic novel?
5. Graphic novels paint the picture for you. In which part do I get to imagine?
   

The Update

For those of you who read my blog yesterday and are wondering whether or not my lunch reservations at Monticchio's ran smoothly: it did.

Lunch was served quickly and was more than a generous portion of salad that kept me full throughout the remaining IPP presentation's that afternoon.

However, interestingly enough the "discount" listed in our IPP brochure for Monticchio's says we can get a bruschetta sandwich and side salad for $6.99 -- great that's cheap right? Well the bruschetta sandwich and side salad is a dollar cheaper in the actual menu! Some "discount" they offered.

Nevertheless, the entire lunch menu is very inexpensive, between $5-8, the service is friendly and, yes, it ended up being quick despite the kerfuffle the day before.

A Quick Tiff

The second-year Creative Communications students from Red River College are currently hosting the Independent Professional Project Presentations (IPPP) at the Park Theatre in Osborne Village. The two organizers have arranged discounts at a few restaurants for anyone attending the IPPPs which is great.

However, yesterday on our one hour lunch break a group of about 10 of us headed down to Monticchio's to cash in our coupons.Already the place was starting to fill up with CreComm's who had the same idea. No big deal. But after 20 minutes of waiting at our table with no sign of a waitress we started to get worried we weren't going to be able to eat in time to get back to the presentations at 1 (it was 12:25 already).

After looking around I couldn't help but notice they had one server on and when she finally did come to our table I asked if we were going to be able to eat on time. She explained, very nicely, that there was only one cook on so it was unlikely.

Hold on.

You mean the restaurant you work for voluntarily offered a discount for those at the IPPPs and was well aware that Monticchio's could potentially have 100 people in the restaurant between 12-1 and you have 2 people working? Huge problem.

Needless to say, we could not stay for lunch yesterday, but we did make a reservation for this afternoon. The waitress promised us that this way we'd be first to get our food.

So stay tuned and I'll let you know how smoothly things run today and whether or not they've decided to staff accordingly.