Skip to Main Content

CIST Student Sandbox

IST 605: Comic Books & Graphic Novels: School-Use Approved!

Let's learn the effective qualities of using comic books and graphic novels in an educational setting!

Keywords To Know When Searching This Topic

Comic Books: Bound collection of comic strips, usually in chronological sequence, typically telling a single story or a series of different stories (Encyclopædia Britannica, n.d.).

Encyclopædia Britannica. (n.d.). Comic book. Britannica Academic. Retrieved from https://academic-eb-com.libproxy.albany.edu/levels/collegiate/article/comic-book/472072

Graphic Novels: A type of text combining words and images—essentially a comic, although the term most commonly refers to a complete story presented as a book rather than a periodical (Encyclopædia Britannica, n.d.).

Encyclopædia Britannica. (n.d.). Graphic novel. Britannica Academic. Retrieved from https://academic-eb-com.libproxy.albany.edu/levels/collegiate/article/graphic-novel/438033

Comic Strips: Series of adjacent drawn images, usually arranged horizontally, that are designed to be read as a narrative or a chronological sequence. The story is usually original in this form. Words may be introduced within or near each image, or they may be dispensed with altogether. If words functionally dominate the image, it then becomes merely illustration to a text. The comic strip is essentially a mass medium, printed in a magazine, a newspaper, or a book.

Encyclopædia Britannica. (n.d.). Comic strip. Britannica Academic. Retrieved from https://academic-eb-com.libproxy.albany.edu/levels/collegiate/article/comic-strip/106123

Sequential Art: The use of visuals – such as drawings, images and/or photos – that are used in a sequence in order to tell or illustrate a story. A term used to describe the medium of comics, which are a deliberate sequence of pictorial and other images that are intended to convey information.

Pulse College. (2024). What is sequential art? From history to today. Retrieved from https://www.pulsecollege.com/what-is-sequential-art-from-history-to-today/

Multimodal: Characterized by several different modes of occurrence or activity; incorporating or utilizing several different methods or systems (Oxford English Dictionary, 2023).

Oxford English Dictionary. (2023). Multimodal (adj.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/8363170325

Visual Literacy: The ability to interpret, comprehend, appreciate, use, and create visual media, using conventional as well as contemporary and emerging media, in ways that advance thinking, decision-making, communicating, and learning. It involves understanding the contextual, cultural, and technical aspects of visual materials.

National Art Education Association. (2022). NAEA position statement on visual literacy. Retrieved from https://www.arteducators.org/advocacy-policy/articles/546-naea-position-statement-on-visual-literacy

Definition Website References

Britannica Academic. (2024). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved from https://academic-eb-com.libproxy.albany.edu/levels/collegiate

Oxford English Dictionary. (2024). Oxford University Press. Retrieved from https://www.oed.com/