Do we want [graphic-novel] as a separate tag, or should it be made a synonym of [comics]?

Question

Yesterday, I proposed to synonymise graphic-novel and comics (just like that, without consulting anyone). Afterwards, it's been pointed out to me that collecting the two may not be the best idea, since clearly graphic novels (whatever they are defined as) are somehow different from other comics.

This is not a discussion on what is a graphic novel and what is not. Let's leave that for the main site. My concern is that of practicality and usage in general.

• The tag will have to have a usage guidance to be applied consistently. What would the usage guidance say (i.e. where do we draw the line between comics and graphic novels)?

  Some works have been named "graphic novels" almost unanimously by readers and critics. Others - not so much. What one considers a graphic novel - others may not (e.g. I call Sunstone a graphic novel, but I haven't heard of other who do so, mainly because it was originally a webcomic).

• "Attracting experts" - the lists of "top-100 graphic novels" are all pretty much the same, typically starring some or all of the following novels on top: Watchmen, V for Vendetta, The Sandman, Saga, Maus, The Killing Joke, The Dark Knight Returns.

  My point is, when one hears "graphic novels", one expects a certain list of works that have been branded as graphic novels by countless readers and critics. From that perspective, there may be people who only read comics that are graphic novels, and this tag may prove useful to them, especially given that all the comics questions on this Stack so far have been about graphic novels.

• Ergonomics - will graphic-novels make search easier? I guess it will, because sometimes people forget to mention that the work in question is a graphic novel (guilty!).

  On the other hand, will it be used with comics or completely separately? If the former, we have the problem of the tag count - maximum 5. author tag + title tag + comics + graphic novel makes 4, which leaves only 1 tag for symbolism or plot or whatever. And what if the question asks to compare two works? Too many tags.

Those are some of the aspects that I think should be taken into consideration when deciding the course of action.

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I see three possible solutions:

1. Having graphic-novel as a separate tag doesn't do much good - it should be made a synonym of comics.

2. Graphic novels deserve their own tag because they're a genuine subculture of comics. graphic-novel should be a separate tag, used without comics.

3. Graphic novels deserve their own tag because they're a genuine subculture of comics. graphic-novel should be a separate tag, but used with the comics tag.

Answer 1

I foresee that people will use these tags in slightly different ways depending on contextual factors we don't have the power to circumscribe. It's true that there's a difference in the way they're used in practice, but it's not clear what that distinction is, and it's not really feasible for us to divine that in advance of how it's used.

We do, however, have the ability to classify. This isn't a totally satisfying answer, but I propose a fourth option:

4. We keep both tags, and proscribe little distinguishing usage guidance - for now. At least until we have more to look at.

In order to understand how these tags are eventually used, we need to see... how they're used. Right now, we have one question under graphic-novel, and it overlaps with comics. It could be the case that in practice there's basically total overlap, but right now... we don't know.

So I think we should wait and see, and revisit this later if we can spot patterns in how they're used in practice.