Comics  and Graphic Novels – They’re Not Just for (Super)Heroes Anymore

Why promote any comic book or graphic novel for use in a classroom? They’re popular, they’re a great platform to launch a story, and if the story happens to have a moral or life lesson that students learn, isn’t that the idea? Another argument in favor of teaching quality graphic novels: they’re easily and quickly read. For a generation that has grown up with instant media gratification, doesn’t it make sense that they would embrace a type of literature with the same sort of instant gratification? As Bucher and Hinton point out, contemporary young adults have become comfortable communicating using a visual format (319). In addition, a large portion of these kinds of books end on a cliffhanger – how’s that for planned, built-in return business? Another point to be made – so many “old” stories are enjoying a

Marvel movies have grossed over $4 billion since 2010

resurgence. Look at the Marvel Universe and what has happened with the likes of Captain America, Iron Man and even Thor (while Marvel films still have Chris Hemsworth, Marvel Comics recast Thor as a female). These books have good, solid stories. They are told in a concise manner. The panels offer an immediate visual appeal for the reader. That’s not to say that this genre stifles the imagination – on the contrary. The panels provide a visual context for the dialogue and oftentimes slyly inserts hints of actions to come, as well as fleshing out the story/setting. The illustrations may even be used as a vehicle to drop in Easter eggs (an intentional joke or hidden message). One of my favorite Easter eggs comes from Raiders of the Lost Ark (hidden among the hieroglyphics of the well of souls are a pair of familiar characters R2-D2 and C-3P0). This adds another component to a graphic novel, or any book, for that matter: it encourages the reader to look beyond just the words. Wouldn’t this help fulfill a Common Core objective of creating analytical and critical thinkers? Plus, aren’t we, as educators, looking for ways to motivate students to read? We shouldn’t equate the genre as another word for substandard – snobbishness and condescension comes in all forms.

          Contained within the frames of graphic novels are themes worthy of any serious, academic discourse. For example, Art Spiegelman’s 1991 graphic novel Maus was the first graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize. The subject of the novel? In his memoir, Spiegelman

tells the story of his family during and after the 
Holocaust, depicting Jews as mice, Nazis as cats and Poles as pigs (Przybys). In Watchmen, themes of power and its abuse, personal accountability/responsibility, and the superhero concept as an extension of Nietzsche's idea of the Ubermensch, a race of supermen, are explored. Its title refers to "Who watches the watchmen?" – unbeknownst to Watchmen writer Alan Moore at the time he published the graphic novel, Quis custodiet ipsos custodies, a Latin phrase found in the work of the Roman poet Juvenal, translates to "Who will guard the guards themselves?" (Wikipedia). Superman has themes of immigration, abandonment and alienation. These are but a few of the examples of important themes explored in graphic novels.

          But not all graphic novels have a dark or somber edge, and not all of them have been appropriated by mid-western America. Some may be seen as agents promoting social change, as they offer an easily-accessible milieu for such issues. Take Ms. Marvel – Kamala Khan, a teenage Pakistani American from Jersey City with shapeshifting abilities. Its themes of stereotyping, issues of acceptance, personal growth, assimilation, family and religion are important to young adults (Bucher and Hinton 332). And while Ms. Marvel has been lauded critically (it won the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story / Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal), its sales figures confirm its widespread popularity with the reading populace. It was the best-selling graphic novel in October 2014, and by November 2014, it reached #2 on The New York Times Best Seller List of paperback graphic books (Wikipedia).

          None of this would mean a thing, though, if the story didn’t hold. There’s action, drama, fight scenes, weird robotic spiders with laser beams, a gadget guy with a penchant for science, pop culture references (i.e. Easter eggs), and oh yes . . . a supervillain! Kamala, whose name means perfection, suffers the “trials and tribulations” of most teenage girls: loving/helicopter parents, the need to find her own voice and identity, high school cliques, etc. But labels don’t define Kamala – and that’s an idea that stretches to the genre: they’re both a fusion of their strengths and weaknesses, so don’t underestimate the impact each can have on the world.

          Integration of graphic novels into curricula, especially in the areas of English, science, social studies, history and art, can be boon to educators and students alike. Besides, if not for comics and graphic novels, how many people knew enough of Norse mythology to identify Thor, much less his family!

Works Cited

Bucher, Katherine, and KaaVonia Hinton. Young Adult Literature: Exploration, Evaluation, and Appreciation. 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson, 2014. Print.

Przybys, John. “Graphic novels: Storytelling grows up in themes, images.” Las Vegas Review-Journal. Las Vegas Review-Journal. 31 July 2013. Web. 15 June 2016.

Wikipedia contributors. "Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 25 May. 2016. Web. 16 Jun. 2016.

---. "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 5 May. 2016. Web. 15 Jun. 2016.

Wilson, G. Willow, writer.  Ms. Marvel.  Art by Adrian Alphona.  New York: Marvel Worldwide, 2014.  Print.