Post on graphic novels

See "Drawing Power, By Bob Thompson, Washington Post Staff Writer, Sunday, August 24, 2008; M01.

It begins

NEW YORK -- I've wandered into an alternative universe, and I'm trying to decide if I want to stay. The setting is the lovely, old-fashioned library of the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, in midtown Manhattan. The event is a gathering called "SPLAT! A Graphic Novel Symposium." I'm here because the organizers have promised to lay out, in the course of a single day, "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Graphic Novels."

What I want to know is: How did this formerly ghettoized medium became one of the rare publishing categories that's actually expanding these days?

I've got a great idea for a better title - "Pow! Zap! Bam! Comics aren't for kids anymore!"