On being unique: gender subversion in two graphic novels for young adults

A recent resurgence in the publication of comics and graphic narratives specifically aimed at young adults raises a range of issues about the nature of authority, and the role of the reader in negotiating the narrative and constructing meaning, and identity in and through the interplay of image and text. This paper explores the implications of this enhanced, active reader’s role for the construction of gender identity in two graphic narratives. Salem Brownstone is a hybrid noir/fantasy novel, while Skim is a high-school-set romance between a student and her teacher. I argue that each utilises key tropes from their respective genres only to subvert them, questioning the role of the gaze for both reader and character, as they raise new possibilities for the construction of both meaning and gender identity. Both were published by Walker Books Ltd in 2009.