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9 February 2024

Exposed Magazine

Graphic novels might have their own section in Waterstones these days, but this genre of long-form art has struggled to be taken seriously in the UK.

However, they have growing fanbases globally – in France and Belgium they are referred to as the ‘Ninth Art’, and Manga Reading Cafes are everywhere in Japan. 

Mark Perkins, never one to shy away from declaring his devotion to the world of comics, has found someone in Sheffield who shares his passion. He sat down with Gabi Putnoki, who runs the Graphic Novel Reading Room events, about her mission to spread her love of graphic novel reading.

You’ve been running your Graphic Novel Reading Rooms for some time now. How did it all start?

I came to Sheffield to escape London in September 2020, and I guess I had in my mind that I’d like to do something for the community, and this idea had been percolating in my head for quite some time.

The timing wasn’t good though. Just as I was researching possible places to hold it, the ‘six-person’ rule came in. I ran a couple of private events with friends, just to tease out the concept, and then in late 2021 I finally got started with the first public Graphic Novel Reading Room.

The Showroom gave me some free space initially, and then I moved to Sheffield Library. I’d displayed one of my posters at the Treehouse Boardgame Cafe, and Ruth, one of the owners, came along and then invited me to run an event there. They’ve created a very special place, and I was very pleased to be invited. The environment there is very much what I’m into. Colourful, calm, living plants, lighting and space; it works well.

I imagine you started reading comics when you were young?

Yes, they were around when I was a child in Budapest. It was communist times; most of the comics were Hungarian comics, with a few translations, but no superhero stuff. Asterix was one of the ones I clearly remember. Then I forgot about them. 

When I was living in East London, there was a comic art festival, ELCAF, where I went in 2013 around the time independent comics became more popular and mainstream. I picked up a bunch of my core collection there, and I’ve been adding to it ever since.

I try to support the independent shops. I wanted to be a librarian as a kid, so I created my own library experience. I’ve been to the Hay Festival, which has a wonderful vibe: massive marquees and a space in the middle, with free deck chairs, where people can just sit around and read books. And then there are the bookshop cafes.

I spent many an hour in Foyle’s bookshop upstairs reading. That experience of being able to read a book in one sitting – I just blended it all together when I was developing the idea of the Graphic Novel Reading Room.

I suppose we should talk about how we define what makes something a graphic novel?

Well, the whole term is so contested. If you go to the Sheffield Comic Fair, their graphic novels are mainly floppies bound together in one anthology edition. I use the terms graphic novel and comic interchangeably.

If you talk to people who haven’t read them, comics have a certain connotation, mainly around kids and superheroes. The term ‘graphic’ leads some people to assume they are explicitly violent or sexual. These types of books exist, but that’s not what the term means. People don’t really understand, so it is tricky. In other countries, it’s much more of a neutral term. It just describes what it is. 

So, they’ve tried all sorts of terms such as sequential storytelling or sequential art, but none of it has really caught on, and it’s why people like us need to spend time educating people about what they actually are.

Comics have changed. They’ve moved on from superheroes, and there’s just so much more out there. The medium attracts a diverse group of artists, telling stories in so many ways so it attracts different groups of readers.

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I’ve been to several of your events, and the thing I appreciate the most is the atmosphere you create for people to just sit quietly and read.

Since Covid, the more mainstream nature of neurodiversity has meant that if you’re in an environment where there’s a lot happening and a lot of stimulation, it’s a good idea to have a space like a quiet, breakout room where you can just sit and recharge

There are three pillars to what I’m trying to create: introducing more people to more comics, collaborating with the comics industry providing a space for people to positively recharge, a space where people can just be, sitting and reading. It’s not just a specific kind of person or age – it’s universal.

Over half the people who come to the Reading Room events come on their own, which I think is quite special. There aren’t many social events where people feel at ease to go on their own and be on their own. I like to think I’ve created the sort of space which is my happy place. 

Where do you see the future of the Reading Room?

Ideally, I’d like the collection to have a more permanent home, that’s not my living room. It is constantly growing, which means I need more space and have more boxes to carry around, so the natural next step would be for it to be based somewhere.

I’m looking into semi-permanent or permanent ways of making it a bit more like the Boardgame Cafe, but instead a comics cafe. Anyone who has been to Japan will know how popular Manga Cafes are there, and also in Europe, but here, they don’t really exist. I currently run sessions for two schools at Sheffield University, for their staff and students. They use the event as a well-being space, that doesn’t involve drinking, and potentially people who are socially anxious, single, or quiet can come.

In the future, I’d like to get an invite to the literature and the art departments. There’s a comic art festival in Hungary which organises comic sessions which have live drawing to music and it would be wonderful to combine art forms that can be done in parallel. If there are organisations that are interested in hosting a Reading Room, I’d love people to get in touch. 

GABI’S TOP 5 GRAPHIC NOVELS

  • The Nao of Brown by Glyn Dillon
  • Barking by Lucy Sullivan
  • A Frog in the Fall (and Later On) by Linnea Sterte
  • Giant Days by John Allison et al (set in Sheffield)
  • Domu: The Dreams of Children by Katsuhiro Otomo

For more information on the Graphic Novel Reading Room, click here.