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Teaching and Learning

Teaching and Learning Publications

University of Iowa 11-2008

Image, Text, and Story: Comics and

Graphic Novels in the Classroom

Rachel Marie-Crane WilliamsUniversity of Iowa, [email protected]

Author Posting. Copyright c2008 Reprinted with permission from The National ArtEducation Association, Reston, VA USA. www.arteducators.org

This paper is posted at Iowa Research Online.

http://ir.uiowa.edu/tl pubs/1


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BY RACHEL MARIE-CRANE WILLIAMS

C omics an d graphic novels are powerful teachingtools; reading and making comics encouragesstudents to become more skilled at criticallyconsuming and creating texts that examine complexconcepts (Frey & Fischer, 2004; Morrison, Bryan, & Chilcoat,2002; Berkowitz & Packer, 2001). Students and teachers can usecomics to examine personal experiences in the form ofnarratives related to empowerment and empathy. Brent Wilson(2005) agreed that embracing comics is one way to blur theboundaries between visual culture, the classroom, and thepractice of contemporary studio artists. In this article, I presenta rationale for comics in the classroom, discuss the connectionbetween comics and the "Art" world, and share informationabout my experience teaching comics. Finally, I make a case forwhy comics are the perfect medium fnrcyies,creating empathy, and educating stud artisticproduction and consumption ofpowerful

[ EEL.Why Comics?

There are at least three reasons why comics an d graphic novels areuseful teaching tools: (1) there is a great deal of student interest inthis genre; (2) they are inexpensive to obtain; and (3) the vocabularyis no t difficult so they are easy to read (Wright & Sherman, 1999).Most important in the art room, comics create opportunities forteachers to engage students in meaningful discussions about visualperception, drawing an d design, art history, an d content on m ultiplelevels (Berkowitz &Packer, 2001).

Teachers who skillfully use comics an d graphic novels in theircurriculum present numerous opportunities for students to decon-struct these texts on multiple levels. This layered deconstruction mayinclude examining the story; the creator's intention, characters, andcontext; as well as the relationship between the design, words, andimages. While words, images, layout, and story are all elements inthese texts, none dominate the act of "reading.' Students are usuallycomfortable decoding (reading) the visual system of letters andwords. Pairing visual images with words is an easy way to helpstudents develop stronger visual literacy. Comics offer an opportunityfor students to scrutinize ho w interdependent images an d words cancreate a strong sequential narrative. These texts do not dictate whatstudents notice first, ho w or what they "read." Like scanning a workof art, the reader can decide where to begin an d ho w long to look.Readers can choose to look at the words or the images first, or takethe page in all at once as an integrated design.

Pairing visual images with wordsisan easy way to help studentsdevelop stronger visual literacy.Comics offer an opportunityfor students to scrutinize howinterdependent images andwords can create a strong

rrative.

Story:Comics andGraphic Novelsin heClassroom

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Comics, Visual Culture andWilson's Three Cultural Sites

In most classrooms there is a gap betweenthe work of artists in the contemporary artworld, popular culture/art, and the curric-ulum taught in typical K- 12 ar t classroomand at the post-secondary level (Gude, 2000,2007). Comics are one way to enter whatBrent Wilson categorized as space betweenthe school an d the realms of contemporaryar t and popular visual culture: a para-sitealongside the main site (Wilson, 2005). "Inthis site students would be encouraged toplay intertextually between the conventionalcontent of their ar t classes and the things thatinterest them from popular visual culture"(Wilson, 2003, p. 225). According to Wilson,teaching visual culture provides a bridgebetween the traditional ar t classroom and theworld of images in which children are gladlysubmerged. This art/literary form presents anopportunity for students to explore stories,art, time, design, aesthetics, culture, history,and manual an d computer techniques forimage making (Frey &Fisher, 2004).Comics, the Classroom,and the "Art"World

While it seems obvious that comics andgraphic novels are suitable fodder for anyclassroom, including the ar t room, to boostliteracy, there is some resistance by educatorsand critics to acknowledging comics aslegitimate ar t or literature (Groensteen, 2000;Thompson, 2007). According to ThierryGroensteen (2000), comics have existed forover 150 years, an d the resistance tolegitimizing comics is historical an d appliedby educational policy makers in some arenasand the ar t world in others. Many well-known artists such as Trenton DoyleHancock, William Kentridge, ElizabethMurray, Arturo Herrera, Roy Lichtenstein,an d Philip Guston crossed between the worldof high ar t and popular culture through thecreation of work that draws heavily on theinfluence of comics (Strickland, 2003).

Historically, comics were marginalized inthe art world, bu t they are getting morecritical attention in current an d contempo-rary media. Why are comics positioned onthe fringe? Roger Sabin (1996), a noted artsscholar from the UK , stated that historically,"They are perceived as intrinsically 'commer-cial: mass produced for the lowest-common-denominator audience, and therefore

automatically outside the notions of artisticcredibility" (p. 8). Thierry Groensteen, acomics scholar, states four reasons thatcomics were once "condemned to artisticinsignificance:" (1) they are a hybrid formcombining words and images; (2) the literaryaspect of comics is seen as sub-par in termsof quality; (3) comics are perceived as closelyconnected to the "low" ar t of caricature; and(4) comics are associated with a regression tochildhood pleasures (Groensteen, 2000, p.34). Ironically, the past relegation to theworld of low art is,at times, advantageous forcomics. Roger Sabin (1996) wrote

The comic's exclusion from the artestablishment enables it to eschew thedampening appraisal of ar t criticism.Moreover, its association with streetculture gives it a certain edge, whichmany contemporary artists have vainlyattempted to transfer to the gallery.Whereas fine ar t can only send shocksthrough the art world, comics-availableto a far broader audience-are stillregarded as dangerous enough to beclamped down on intermittently. (p. 236)

The most notable clamp on comics was inthe late 1940s and early 1950s. BradfordWright (2001) presents a brilliant account ofthe controversy that surrounded comicsduring the 20th century. He explains that in1950, Dr. Fredric Wertham, the author ofSeduction of he Innocents, in an attempt tointroduce legislation to censor comics,testified in front of the United States SenateSubcommittee to Investigate Crime inInterstate Commerce. Dr. Wertham believedwhole-heartedly that comics contributeddirectly to juvenile delinquency (Wright,2001). The comics industry reacted byself-regulating the industry and creating thenow infamous Comics Code (Wright, 2001).Ironically, this regulation spawned theunderground comix movement, whichbirthed some of the most notable comiccreators in this century.

Many creators of contemporary comicsand graphic novels feel that it is advanta-geous not to be recognized by the ar t worldas legitimate artists practicing a legitimate artform. In 1993, Art Spiegelman, the well-known creator ofMaus I& II said, "Comicsfly below the critical radar" (Sabin, 1996, p.9). Since Spiegelman's comment, comics andgraphic novel readership dramaticallyincreased. Comics and graphic novels are agenre in which creators explore seriousthemes an d write amazing short stories(Allen, 2006). In 2004, in response to thequestion of whether comics had gained anew level of acceptance, Spiegelman said,

It's a done deal. There are museumshows that will include comics withoutblinking an eye. An d bookstores all havetheir sections for comics or graphicnovels or whatever they're calling them.Universities are teaching comics. It's nowpart of the culture without having to besomething to apologize for. (inFischer, 2004, p.5E)Spiegelman is right. Currently, there are

three academic peer reviewed journals thatdeal with nothing but comics. There are alsoa number of universities that offer coursesrelated to comics and graphic novels andwell over one hundred dissertations writtenon the subject (http://www.comicsresearch.org/ComicsDissertations.html). In the USthere are six art museums devoted entirelyto comic book art and cartoons. In 2006,$330 million dollars worth of graphic novels,comic books, and manga were sold in the US,up from $245 million in 2005 (Reid, 2007).

Stephen Weiner (2003) a comics scholaran d library director, believed that there arefour reasons for their rise in popularity: (1) anumber of recent movies were based ongraphic novels; (2) publishing housesproduced a large number of literary graphicnovels; (3) novelists broke into the industryan d used the medium to explore seriousliterary novels; and (4) journalists drewattention to the growing field.

AR T EDUCATION / NOVEMBER 2008

Most students had avery limited idea of what comics/graphicnovels ca n look like. What helped to liberate students from theirfear was encouragement from their peers and seeing a largenumber of examples.


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Comics and Graphicto Explore Empathy,and Story

As a teacher, I see firsthand ho w the use ofan d graphic novels can present occasionsr students to explore multiple disciplines thattheir artmaking process. These texts alsoaid students in exploring important socialGraphic novels, like a compelling workor a well-crafted piece of writing, havee potential to generate a sense of empathyd human connectedness among students. Forin Maus I by Art Spiegelman (1986),by Marjane Satrapi (2004), or PalestineJoe Sacco (2002), it is impossible for readersto feel some sense of empathy with thecharacters an d the conflicts they endured witness. Readers watch characters wrestle

history and their personal and surprisingto events. Empathy is one of the mosttopics generated by this type ofArt allows viewers to step into the eyesanother an d consider a different point of view.Jesse Stout, a professor at Ohio Statestated, "It is the aesthetic experi-that makes possible 'privileged moments'which students can live new experiencesd move beyond the limitations of self" (Stout,p. 34).within a Learning

I use comics as part of my curriculum inthe university setting and in a secondarysetting. The learning objectives arein each setting. Image, Text, Story:Comics and Graphic Novels is awhere students explore various genrescomics, deconstruct the production ofusing Scott McCloud's (2006) Makingand produce their ow n graphic novella.e first two objectives, exploring an d decon-comics, were enjoyable for students.when students were asked to create theircomic/graphic novel they were suddenly

by self-doubt. Some students wereover the idea of drawing, others aboutthe story. Most students had a veryidea of what comics/graphic novels canlike. What helped to liberate students fromfear was encouragement from their peersd seeing a large number of examples. In spitethis, self-doubt was difficult to overcome.I had to work hard to erase students' stereo-even more so to erase their ideas aboutcomic drawing styles including

Figure 1.Joe Sacco, How ILoved the War inNotes from a Defeatist,2003, FantagraphicBooks, Seattle, WA (page 188). Courtesy of Fantagraphics Comics.

realism, hyperanatomical depictions of muscularsuperheroes and heroines, and Manga/Anime-inspired illustrations. By showing them a widevariety of work by accomplished comics artistssuch as Joel Priddy, Ester Pearl Watson, AileenKominsky Crumb, Lynda Barry, Joe Sacco, ChrisWare, and John Porcellino, we hoped to helpthem ignore the demon on their shouldershouting, "Is this good? Does this suck?" (Figure1). We also introduced them to the computerprogram Comic Life by PLASQ.

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Initially,many students had a greatconcept, but flagged when they had tomove from a concept to a story arc. I gavestudents several exercises to help them entertheir story in different ways, through thecreation of a character, the creation of aspace, through found stories from covertobservation, to personal stories taken fromexperiences and journal writing. Another

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Figure 2.Onion Jack. Joel Priddy, 2006. Courtesy of the artist.

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approach involved patterning a story after afavorite text by following conventions of thegenre to which the text belongs. Smallworking groups were useful to help students"workshop" their graphic novellas withtrusted peers wh o were involved in the sameendeavor.

In another course, I asked preservice artteachers to create a comic about a personalexperience. These experienced artists foundthe assignment of creating a short comicstrip difficult but rewarding. Students weremotivated by the memoir-based texts fromcreators such as Lynda Barry, Joe Sacco,Chris Ware, Alison Bechdel, Harvey Pekar,Joel Priddy, and Aileen Kominsky Crumb(Figure 2). Many students were adept atdrawing but struggled with the story. Wespent a day telling stories; this helpedstudents translate their stories to images.Next we converted the images into astoryboard, and finally a comic.

On e student who was trained as a medicalillustrator had never explored drawing as amedium for telling stories. She enjoyed thechallenge an d also found her story to bemore humorous an d easier to translate usingimages. He r story was about rescuing a calfthat was stuck in the birth canal. She wascalled late on e night because the men whowere working with the cow knew sheunderstood the principles involved in calvingan d was not squeamish, an d that she ha dsmall hands. In the end she impressed thefarmers and also saved a calf (Figure 3).

Another student participated in acollaborative workshop between theUniversity of Iowa Art EducationDepartment and area art teachers to createrod puppets an d marionettes. He r rodpuppet, a cow king she named Bullregon,became an animated superhero. During thesemester, an ex-boyfriend harassed hercontinuously. In her comic, she created anarrative where Bullregon made hertormentor "disappear" While her story wasfantastic, it was based on events in her life.For this student, creating the comic wastherapeutic, technically challenging, andempowering. Her rod puppet became amodel for drawing, and a vehicle for herfantasies (Figure 4). Both of these preserviceteachers rose to the challenge of creating acomic based on personal experience. Theyboth planned to use this experience as aspringboard for instruction in their futureclassrooms.


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3.Adventuresin Calving.Sara Thede, 2006. Courtesy of the artist. This comic, created by a preservice teacher, features a narrative about calving.heroine iscalled in to rescue a calf wh o isstuck in the birth canal. This student used elements from the typical superhero genre to tell a personald humorous story. Trained as a medical illustrator, Sara found that working in this way was challenging and pushed her highly honed naturalisticskills ina new direction.

Novels and HumanGraphic novels can also help teachersdelicate subjects such as war, peace,

rights. There are a number ofwho have written graphic novels thatissues related to war, peace, andrights, including Sue Coe, Joe Sacco,Drooker, Seth Tobocman, MarjaneBrian K. Vaughan, Pat Mills, an d Joe

In a secondary classroom, English teacherProuty and I collaborated to helptexts about human rightsTheir final assignment tied together acollaborative 12-week curriculumhuman rights. We askedto produce a comics-based fictional

or non-fiction narrative to illustrate anarticle from the United Nations Declarationof Human Rights.

First, students chose a graphic novel toread with classmates in a series of readingcircles. Next, students explored differentstyles of drawing and design within the textsthey read. Then students chose an articlefrom the United Nations Declaration ofHuman Rights. They wrote a research paperon the article, thus gathering information fo rthe creation of their comic strip. After this,students created thumbnail storyboards inpreparation for their final work.

The final results successfully represented awide range of images, styles, designs, andapproaches. One student, who was initiallyuncomfortable drawing, produced a

powerful text that told a compelling story.His father operated a concrete company. Hiscomic strip was based on article 23, which isrelated to the right to work, form unions, andwork in human an d favorable conditionswithout discrimination and for pay that isjust, fair, and equitable (United Nations,1948).

His strip depicted a worker in a concretefactory who was injured on the job and thenfired. Concrete man came to the rescue andtold him about article 23. In the end, theworker created a trade union an d foughtback. Even though this student struggledwith drawing, his successful strip wasmeaningful and drew on his personalexperience.

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Making a ConnectionIt is important to create compassionatestudents who can comprehend the reasons

that each person is essential to our world.I think those same reasons are even moreurgent to comprehend in our current contextof world peace, globalization, immigration,and integration (Duncum, 2001). Teacherscan create an opportunity to inspire empathy,curiosity, and action. Empowering studentsto produce compelling texts creates an outletfor their need to participate, be heard,explore their ow n stories, an d learn moreabout relevant social issues.

David Swanger (1993) made the case thatar t is essential to a moral education, whichincludes empathy. He stated, "One of thefeelings that ar t engenders is empathy;successful ar t creates a connection betweenthe percipient's sensibility, the sensibility ofthe artist, and if the ar t is representational,the figures within it" (p. 43). He goes on touse the example of Maus II (Spiegelman,1986). He noted ho w our empathy telescopeswhen we read this particular graphic novel(Swanger, 1993, p. 44). There are a tremen-dous number of graphic novels, like Maus,that deal with narratives of oppression,conflict, and war, and which can inspireempathy, including PersepolisI & II (Satrapi,

._1 guess he'flust disappeared. Nobod>knows where he went. Just up and gona

2004), Palestine(Sacco, 1996), Safe Area:Gorazde (Sacco, 2000), Portraitsof Israelis&Palestinians Tobocman, 2003), Nakednessand Power (Tobocman, Turner, & Brownhill,2003), Charley's War (Mills & Colquhoun,2005), Barefoot Gen (Nakazawa, 2004),Bloodsong (Drooker, 2002), Pride of Baghdad(Vaughan & Henrichon, 2006), Addicted toWar: Why the US Can't Kick Militarism(Andreas, 2004), The 911 Report (Jacobson &Col6n, 2006), and Macedonia(Pekar,Robertson, & Piskor, 2007).

My experiences confirm that comics are apowerful way for students to envision thefuture, understand historical events, exploretheir own narratives, develop empathy, andlearn about images, text, technology, anddesign.

Graphic novels and comics can be aninnovative way to bring visual culture intothe classroom. They can spark a wide rangeof interdisciplinary discussions and focusstudents on a variety of topics, ranging fromwar to fantasy to memory and childhood.Comics and graphic novels are tools to helpteachers reach reluctant students and learnabout youth culture outside of the class-room. Taking a final look at Wilson's thirdpedagogical site, where visual culture fromoutside of school connects with a genuinelearning community within a classroomwhere inquiry can be initiated by anyparticipant, I believe, like Wilson, thatcomics, manga, and graphic novels cancreate a bridge that is wide, stable, heavilytrafficked, and easy to cross.

Rachel Marie-CraneWilliams is AssociateProfessorofArt Education at The Universityof Iowa. E-mail: [email protected]

AUTHOR'S NOTEI would like to extend my deepest gratitude to theObermann Center for Advanced Studies at theUniversity of Iowa for giving me the time andspace to compete this an d other works.

Figure 4. Bullregon. Hollie Reilly, 2006. This detailed comic, rendered in pencil, is basedon a rod puppet created by the student earlier in the semester. She turned her rodpuppet into a hero that makes her ex-boyfriend vanish. She used the comic assignmentto explore a potentially dangerous situation she was facing. This talented andthoughtful student also found that the comic provided a natural connection betweensubjects and media to use with future students.



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Adult Literacy, 45(8), 758-767.Pekar, H., Roberston, H., & Piskor, E. (2007). Macedonia.New York: Villard Press.Reid, C. (2007, February 23). Graphic novel market hits 330 million. Publishers Weekly. Retrieved on January 27, 2008 fromhttp://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6419034.htmlSabin, R. (1996). Comics, comix &graphic novels: A history of comic art.London: Phaidon Press.Sacco, J. (2000). Safe area Gorazde: The war in Eastern Bosnia 1992-1995. Seattle, WA: Fantagraphic books.Sacco, J. (1996). Palestine.Seattle, WA: Fantagraphic books.Satrapi, M. (2004). Persepolis: The story ofa childhood. New York: Pantheon books.Spiegelman, A. (1986). MausI:A survivorstale: My fatherbleeds history. New York: Pantheon Books.Stout, C. J. (1999). The art of empathy: Teaching students to care. Ar t Education, 52(2), 21-24, 33-34.Strickland, C. (2003, June 20). Artists 'toon in. ChristianScience Monitor.Retrieved January 23, 2008 from www.csmonitor.com/2003/0620/p13s01-alar.htmlSwanger, D. (1993). The arts, empathy, and Aristotle. Journal ofAesthetic Education,27(1), 41-49.Thompson, T. (2007). Embracing reluctance when classroom teachers shy away from graphic books. LibraryMedia Connection.29.Tobocman, S. (2003). PortraitsofIsraelis andPalestinians.Brooklyn, NY: Soft Skull Press.Tobocman, S., Turner, T., &Brownhill, L. (2003). Nakedness and power. In H. Pekar (Ed.), The BestAmerican Comics 2006 (pp.203-211). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.United Nations (1948, Dec.). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. New York: General Assembly Resolution 217A (III).Vaughan, B., & Henrichon, N. (2006). Prideof Baghdad.New York: Vertigo.Ware, C. (2000). Jimmy Corrigan:The smartest kid on earth.New York: Pantheon Books.Weiner, S., & Eisner, W (2003). The rise of the graphicnovel: Faster han a speedingbullet. Ne w York: Nantier Beal MinoustchinePublishing.Wilson, B.(2003). Of diagrams and rhizomes: Visual culture, contemporary art, and the impossibility of mapping the content of arteducation. Studies In Art Education:A Journalof Issues andResearch, 44(3), 214-229.Wilson, B.(2005). More lessons from the superheros of J.C. Holtz: The visual culture of childhood and the third pedagogical site[Electronic version]. Ar t Education.58(6), 18-24, 33-34.Wright, B. (2001). Comic book nation: The transformationofyouth culture in America. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins UniversityPress.Wright, G., & Sherman, R. (1999). Let's create a comic strip. ReadingImprovement, 36(2), 66-72.

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