Moving into the mainstream? The Houston Chronicle uses the release of Art Spiegelman's In the Shadow of No Towers and Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis 2 as an opportunity to trace the rise of the graphic novel:

"The near-simultaneous arrival of these two important books invites a look at the emerging art form. For years graphic novels have been seeping out of the comic-book ghetto and into the mainstream, and now the current seems to be picking up speed."

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Daily News -- via the Memphis Commercial Appeal (registration required) -- chats with Satrapi, Glen David Gold, Jonathan Lethem and Sean Howe about the "acceptability of comics."