What is literature? For many, it’s something you might find on required reading lists in schools. Names like William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, and Jane Austen come to mind. These are the kinds of classic authors whose works people deem “real literature.” Rarely, if ever, will you find graphic novels or comics in this conversation. It’s as if the moment a picture slides its way between the words on the page, the story’s value is lost.
But what about all those for whom graphic novels and comics inspire a true love for reading? Think of the little kid who got their first superhero comic for Christmas. Now, instead of sitting in front of the TV all day, they spend hours upon hours leafing through these stories, learning how to be strong and vulnerable from all their favorite characters. Then there’s the student who has always had a love for reading and drawing but never known how to use their skills. They pick up a graphic novel, and suddenly, a whole new world of possibilities — maybe even careers — is open to them. There’s even a young kid with dyslexia the next county over and an adult even further away who didn’t have access to the education they should have. For these two, graphic novels and comics can be a lifeline, making reading more accessible.
The point is that the wonderful marriage of words and pictures is not a joy reserved for children and their picture books. Combining layers of text and visual storytelling can be a gateway to literacy and a lifelong love for reading. And the content of these stories doesn’t stop at superheroes and fight scenes. Many comics and graphic novels use the unique power of the medium to tackle complex and important topics.
Seeing the Bigger Picture
Reading is, in many ways, putting yourself in the shoes of others. For fiction, this can be the characters. For memoirs, maybe the authors themselves. You can imagine their struggles as your own. Now add pictures into the mix and you don’t have to imagine. The characters’ emotions are written on their face and staring right back at you. This makes emotional scenes, sad or happy, all the more impactful.
In a similar vein, graphic novels and comics allow the author to show you what they want you to see. One revolutionary graphic novel that comes to mind is Persepolis, as well as Persepolis 2, by Marjane Satrapi. You may recognize the name from a banned book list or two. Its place on these lists was earned much like many of its counterparts: by pulling back layers of stigma and telling a raw, truthful story that readers can learn from. Satrapi tells her story from childhood to adulthood as an Iranian woman experiencing the Islamic Revolution and seeking identity between Vienna and her hometown.
Satrapi illustrates what many don’t understand about graphic novels: just because there are fewer words does not mean that the content has to be sacrificed. She tells a detailed memoir, using pictures to fill in all the gaps where words fail. Full-page panels draw readers into bigger moments, from moments of cultural unity and celebration to sudden bombings and mourning. Split-screen-style panels illustrate the passage of time and how it changes Marjane and the people around her.
What’s most intriguing about Persepolis as a graphic memoir is that Satrapi invites the reader to see through her eyes. We see how she views herself through her self-portraits, as well as how she views others through how she chooses to depict them in her story. We see how her perspective on people changes as she ages. Childhood fantasies and dreamlike illustrations turn to visibly cold and isolated drawings depending on the phase of her life.
Graphic novels are one of the easiest ways for us to see the world through the eyes of others. Because of this, they can be powerful learning tools, exposing us to the diversity of experiences outside our immediate worldview.
Advocating for Literacy and Beyond
Visually told stories can also be powerful learning tools to make reading available to a wider audience. Let’s take comics as an example. Comics can introduce literacy skills, both to children and those who never learned to read as children. Stanford Professor Emerita Barbara Tversky says that comics help teach communication. “They are similar to face-to-face interactions, in which meaning is derived not solely from words, but also from gestures, intonation, facial expressions and props.” It is these exact components that help make the story more engaging and comprehensible as well.
F(r)iction is a literary anthology that knows the unique power of comics to inspire literacy. It is an imprint of Brink Literacy Project, a nonprofit dedicated to opening up the world of storytelling to underserved communities, from low-income schools to maximum-security prisons. The team behind the project uses comics in workshops to inspire their students to engage with literature and tell their own stories. As Art Spiegelman once said, “Comics are a gateway drug to literacy.”
Recently, F(r)iction released a special anthology featuring comics from past issues. The final story comes from one of their own students, Juaquin Mobley, who writes about his experiences in the prison system and forging a path for himself after release. Since leaving prison, Mobley co-teaches the very workshops he used to attend. He and Brink are bringing literacy to those still in the system.
Mobley’s story is just one of many comics in the anthology that invite readers to consider new perspectives. In the foreword, Benjamin Percy calls comics “a medium of defiance and rebellion.” They reject censorship and boundaries on all levels.
Pictures don’t decrease the value of a story. They increase it. Pictures act as little windows, adding new layers of meaning to the words on the page and showing readers everything that storytelling can be.
