Popular Culture Review
that comics have had on children’s literature, especially in the use of frames
(panels), speech bubbles (balloons), motion lines, and sound effects (1). (See
Appendix A).
classroom to readers of the Guardian
Reading Comics.” She argues that comic books encourage a love of reading,
prove excellent resources for teaching reluctant and voracious students, as
well as those for whom English is a second language (1).
David Jacobs, professor of English at the University of Windsor (CN),
in Graphic Encounters, states that comic books are effective in teaching print
ability to relate something to create meaning with and from texts that operate
not only in alphabetic form, but also in some combination of visual, audio, and
spatial form as well” (3).
Risks of Comics in Education,” argues that comic books are stronger learning
tools than textbooks, able to “combine story and information more effectively
than any other medium” (1). As proof he cites two facts: the brain processes
pictures 60,000 times faster than text; and humans communicated in pictures
before they used words (1).
The arguments against comic books have recently resurfaced.
Amanda Hendricks, a recent graduate of the University of California, Chico,
(2014) demonstrates in her honors thesis, “Sexism,