Hmm, can't say. I've never 'looked' at one. The story makes a connection between graphic novels as literature and the legitimacy of reading comic books. I suppose if the former can be considered actual literature, the latter can as well. So what do you think about using comics to get kids reading, then?

There is no thief like a bad book
--Italian Proverb

Wait, are you kidding? I'm not sure you could have been more offensive to people who read comics and manga if you had called us all stupid.

Reading graphic novels, manga and comics is reading. Full stop, period, no appeals and reasons why is it required. Your statement smacks of personal bias seems pretty uninformed about the various collections and types of this fiction that's out right now. I read plenty of manga/comics that I have to read that is not simple to engage with by any means. Readers still have to consume and still have to think; it's a combination of reading and art interpretation. This statement makes it sound like these types of fiction are "shut off" types of entertainment that a kid would never deviate from because they've grown into "lazy" readers. It's never as simple as that; media preferences change and grow as people age.

Also, re: your statement about comics, television and video games: all of them are equal forms of media, equally rewarding in different ways. None of them should be required to "interest" people in another type...basically lead people by the nose from one form or another. The onus should be on that particular piece of media to engage the person with its content and the people educating children (like teachers and parents) to show kids everything that's available and encourage them to sample all of it and not just stagnant in one media type because it's become comfortable.

I'm with bookninja on this one. People who consider comics inferior to written fiction are uninformed and I used to be one of them. Probably because Marvel equalled comics to me, and Marvel's comics are very conventional. There's a world of graphic media out there that deserves a Nobel prize of its own. A book that really opened my eyes to the world of comics is Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud. Read that book, then tell me again that comics aren't literature!

I'm with bookninja on this one, too.

There's a huge bias in our culture towards books, where we see books as a more legitimate form of art/storytelling/literature than the other types of media. This is pretty much utter nonsense, and being insulting on top of it isn't really helping you state your case.

Why do we read? We read to get information, to hear stories, to appreciate well-crafted writing. Reading CAN, if the reader CHOOSES to engage with the material, help us develop our imagination and intellectual faculties (the part that usually interests educators), give us something to interpret and think about, and touch our hearts to evoke emotion. Comics, graphic novels, and manga — along with plays, musicals, operas, movies, TV shows, video games, and whatever other media will emerge in the future — are legitimate media for doing all the same things books can do. All of these media can convey information, tell stories, and help us exercise our minds — if they are executed well enough and if we, in turn, put in the effort to engage with the material.

(Games in particular are an interesting case because of the interactivity, which can often dominate over any storytelling that could have been going on, but that's a different debate — for now the point is that it is possible to do all of the above-mentioned things with a game.)

Of course there are some pretty awful comics, movies, TV shows, and games out there. All of these media are still young. Notice that plays, musicals, and opera especially get a lot more respect (although film is catching up, and sequential art of all kinds is, as this article says, also on the rise). A lot of that comes because of how old theatre as a form of art and storytelling is, and how much cultural weight lies behind it (including the connotations of wealth/education that come with certain leisure activities). Another part is that the art that goes into making these media — writing, composing music, singing, acting — are old and respected disciplines. This helps film out quite a bit, but we're still learning to recognize that skills like panel layout or balancing words and pictures (not to mention the actual darawing and writing) are just as difficult to do well and can produce results just as magical. Same goes for, say, being able to balance interactivity with storytelling in a game, or being able to break a story into equal-length episodes and write good dialogue for a TV show.

But just like there are some godawful, empty-headed comics, games, etc., there are some godawful, empty-headed books, plays, etc. out there. The point is that all the other media mentioned here are still new, still finding a niche in society and figuring out what works. That doesn't mean they're somehow less than books in any way.

Comics/graphic novels in particular are great because they do promote literacy. You do, after all, have to be able to read to understand what's going on. That's the point of trying them in the classroom. To kids and teens, reading can seem like such a dull chore — the idea is to show them that words can give them stories that they enjoy. If you can just get them to enjoy reading for reading's sake, once you can see what kinds of stories or styles of writing they enjoy, you can steer them towards other media with the same kind of content, including books. You can encourage them to engage with the material, to think about what they're reading/watching/playing. And that's the goal, isn't it? To get kids to (a) read and (b) engage.

The other media aren't quite as convenient because they largely don't have the added literacy bonus — but each medium involves doing interpretive work . Each has its equivalent of "trash lit" or "beach books", most are still maturing, and both of those are just fine.

And I also agree with bookninja that no medium should be valued in terms of another. Each has its strengths and weaknesses.

Sorry this got long. I don't mean to ump on you about your opinions — you're free to enjoy whatever media you like best, and that's no business of mine — but the value judgment you make here and the somewhat insulting way you demeaned the work involved in both producing and (pending reader choice, of course) reading good comics and graphic novels didn't sit well with me.