11/27/17 - Graphic Novels in the Classroom

Graphic novels are nothing new in literature. Something of the sort has always existed. What has changed, however, is how we interpret the medium in modern times. Most people view graphic novels like this only as comic books. That’s all graphic novels are to them and that’s all they will ever be. Yet something is happening as of late – that graphic novels are becoming more and more acceptable in the literature community. Take the graphic novel The Watchmen: it wasn’t just a comic meant to go on and sell as many copies as it could for as long as it could until the company could no longer drain any money out of it. Rather, it was a story about the nature of mankind and its tendencies toward depravity – that only lies ever united humanity and that’s just the way we were. Many graphic novels still fit the criteria of children’s comics, but some are legitimately fantastic stories now given new life through this medium.

Heck, sometimes the stories in these graphic novels aren’t original works, but recent adaptations of older ones. Over the last week, our class read the Frankenstein adaptation by Jason Cobley and Declan Shalvey. It was fantastic! As someone who has never read Frankenstein, this graphic novel is pushing me toward reading the original book, which is probably at least part its intention. This method of adapting older texts to graphic novel form gives the book a much wider audience. Our current generation of students are aware of classic novels, but don’t actually give them a chance because they are older texts. Like, students know the basic premise of Moby Dick, Lord of the Flies, Pride and Prejudice, and many other books simply because they are part of the cultural consciousness. Adapting them in part to a graphic novel would easily create interest in these classics.