The OP's definition of "US graphic novel" is apparently a comics that has a story similar to an adult's novel. In France, a "roman graphique" also means somethi

The OP's definition of "US graphic novel" is apparently a comics that has a story similar to an adult's novel. In France, a "roman graphique" also means something akin to "film d'auteur". I thought that meaning was also present in the USA. Emblematic authors of the genre, like Eisner and Spiegelman, certainly point to this direction. If you require that a graphic novel should be a creative and personal work, I doubt the OP's choice fits. A "trashy melodrama" whose first goal was "to cash in on the rise of mass-market paperback books" did try to expand the comics genre of its time, but it was more a commercial step than an artistic novelty.