200612220135As y’all probably heard, Alison Bechdel’s FUN HOME, which has been named Graphic Novel of the Year by many people, was selected by Time Magazine as the top BOOK of the year. It’s a stunning achievement for Bechdel, and a nice little cherry on top for the year which saw our graphic literature accepted, respected and even read. What’s nicest about it is that Bechdel has been plying her craft for a long time, to a loyal (and sizable) audience, but with only the barest minimum of recognition from comics’ “mainstream.” Turns out she knew what she was doing all along.

Gay People’s Chronicle catches up with Bechdel for her reaction to the honor:

“I don’t know quite what to say about the Time magazine thing,” she admitted. “I guess I’m a bit speechless.”

“I’m very happy about it, obviously,” Bechdel continued. “It’s a great thing for queer stories, and for graphic novels, to get that kind of mainstream recognition.”

She is, however, still surprised.

“I’m still a bit flummoxed by it. I mean, Fun Home is an odd little book,” she concluded. “Go figure.”

1 COMMENT

  2. I couldn’t be happier about all the recognition Fun Home has gotten. I’ve been a fan of Bechdel for so long, and it’s just fantastic to see everyone else finally catch up.

  3. As an aging gay fan of cartoon, I’ve been watching the reaction to this book with – I admit it – the smug satisfaction of One Who Knows. Kinda like when Howard Cruse’s Stuck Rubber Baby was released: “This is going to be really good,” I said to straight and/or comix-ignorant friends who’d never heard of the guy. And I got to look like a brilliant judge of “unknown” talent. Recently I’ve said the same thing about Fun Home to het (and gay male {sigh}) friends who were unfamiliar with DTWOF. And I’m right again. {cocky grin} That it’s this good is no surprise to me… but I can certainly see why so many people – including the author – are surprised that so many people noticed.