What Makes Graphic Novels/Manga Appealing?

[Heidi M Simone]

As the subject line says - what makes graphic novels and/or Manga appealing?

I've seen and heard of several young people and children enjoying them, but why do think that is? What makes this genre unique? And the question I've been toying with - is this genre good to use in the classroom to promote different genres?

[gali]

They are easy to read, and their visual nature allows us to experience the story in different ways than we do when reading a traditional book. I think this genre is good to use in the classroom as it can motivate kids to read.

[Amagine]

I agree with gali. It's the visual appeal that they bring to readers. The reason picture books are so popular with children is because of the illustrations. Children love looking at things that appeal to them. As people get older, that doesn't change. Graphic novels provide the visual appeal but also a mature plot that readers can relate too.

As for Japanese manga, they just have awesome story lines and the illustrations make them more awesome. I'm a huge manga fan, if anyone wanted to know.

[Heidi M Simone]

It's so true. The other thing that I was thinking about was for those who have comprehension issues might find the illustrations a great aide to assist in that area. It could also help build up their confidence in their reading.

I had one student who struggled in writing due to several issues, but he enjoyed coming up with comic-like stories, which are kind of like graphic novels. This was his incentive when he worked for a period a time.

[Gravy]

I like seeing how a full story can unfold in something so limited. I also love how so much of the story doesn't even need words. There's a short story about V from V for Vendetta that uses no dialogue. At. All. I found it so fascinating.

There are also types of stories that you just don't get outside of comics/graphic novels.

[Heidi M Simone]

I remember you mentioning that short story before, Gravy. I'm not sure why I have some issues in looking at the illustrations while trying to read the text. I wonder, though, if I read a graphic novel that didn't have words and the point was to look at the illustrations to absorb the story if that would make a difference. Hm...maybe

[Orang-U-Can]

Graphic novels are good for slow people who cannot read books.
They are actually comics by another name.

[elivia05]

They are easy to follow and they are very visually appealing. Everyone loves to sit down and look at beautiful images.

[RabidFox]

Not only can you get into the story, but you can see the author's imagination painted on the pages. There are so many things that I could not otherwise imagine. Comics bring a whole new dimension to understanding words. Especially if it's based on a setting that is difficult to picture—For example, a historical piece or something based on a different world. Without comics, I would feel so lost.

A particular book that powerfully benefits from images is none other than the bible. How would I ever know how to envision such a complicated past? A history of the world that is so impossible to grasp without beautiful, full coloured artwork taking you through every story. The Action Bible has been a true godsend. It showed me what God's world was like before our technical, modern landscape of video games and cell phones. Such an extremely hard thing to understand without the sophisticated invention of comic books. If you really want to witness the power of comics, check out the Action Bible. It's current with breathtaking artwork and wonderful storytelling.

A series that I really like to see done in a comic book fashion is Planet of the Apes. You might be surprised to learn that the old 1968 film has actually been retold again and again through comics. Even up to the present. There's all kinds of great stories that are very difficult to tell without someone showing you the apes and their culture. It's a great way to preserve the series, artwork making it possible for the Planet of the Apes to survive without costly costumes that were used in the films. Anything can be drawn.

I can't tell you how many comics that I've read, as I lost count a long time ago. But I am very much into the comic book world.

[Lil Reads]

I think comics and manga help tell stories that would not work in a more narrative story telling framework. I'm thinking in particular of how some classmates struggled when we studied Dickens, Hugo, Shakespeare, and other works that have a more dense writing style. Some felt too detached from the prose style to get it, others were confused by specific terms and vocabulary choices, and more struggled with trying to connect stylistic choices to characterization.

With manga and comic adaptations, actions can be shown in one or two panels instead of paragraphs at a time, or characters can been drawn a certain way to make it easier for readers to remember what character does what. It is similar to how cowboys wore black or white hats depending on if they were the antagonists or protagonists.

There are even SAT/ACT prep manga and comics that utilize vocabulary words and concepts in the works to help students connect words to images and context.