The Introduction begins by considering two dominant critical approaches to the graphic novel. While prominent authors have denied the relevance of the concept, instead preferring the term comics, many scholars have sought to align the graphic novel with prestigious literature. The chapter identifies the practical and institutional resources that the term provides, tracing the evolution of book-length comics under this mantle. Section 1.1 considers the relevance of Ian Watt’s The Rise of the Novel for understanding the graphic novel and puts forward a new periodization of the latter. The first cycle, lasting from 1980 to 2000, centers on the book for the first time in US comics history. Starting in the early 2000s, integration into the literary marketplace initiates a second cycle that effects several important changes, from an increase in the use of color to a diversification of visual styles. Engaging with recent work in cultural sociology and political economy, Section 1.2 situates the aesthetic evolution of the graphic novel in the ongoing transformation of contemporary society.