The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 7 plus 4 letter word COLD COMFORT FARM
C
O
L
D
C
O
M
F
O
R
T
F
A
R
M
More clues leading to the result COLD COMFORT FARM
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "comic novel" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case comic novel = cold comfort farm.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.