Why do you love comics?
I love to write in multiple formats, but I keep coming back to comics.
There’s something truly magical about sequential storytelling that just doesn’t exist in other formats, and I feel there’s so much creative space left to explore.
By that, I mean the form of comics themselves is extremely malleable, and I believe there is so much more that can be done to push the medium. What that looks like, I don’t know. It’s hard to predict things beyond our experience, as we not only lack a frame of reference, but also any true sense of the space of possibilities.
I think that’s one of the exciting thing about comics - the space of possibilities is almost limitless.
So I’m always baffled when I’m at conventions and run into people who are indifferent to comics, or worse - actively denigrate them.
To be fair, it’s usually only one or two people per show, but our conversation typically plays out in much the same way.
Me: So, what comics do you like?
Them: I don’t read comics. I read them when I was a kid, but then I moved on to real stories.
I’ve learned to hold my tongue after hearing such an interaction. To be honest, I feel sorry for these individuals. Somehow, they’ve internalized the narrative that comics are only for kids, and that ‘real’ literature only exists in monstrous hardcover tomes filled with impenetrable blocks of text on cream-coloured paper.
Look, I love Dostoevsky as much as the next person. I’m not joking. I probably read “Notes from the Underground,” two or three times EVERY YEAR. But I also love reading “Bone,” and “Daredevil,” and read them with the same vigour that I approach the works of Baudrillard.
I think most of us know that some comics can be just as dense and layered as some of our most revered literature, yet also something quite different; something quite unique unto themselves.
These interactions always make me ask the same question of myself. Why do I love comics?
Sure, I love the juxtaposition of images and words; the clever use of transitions that allow the reader to contribute their own imagination to the story. But some of these techniques are also prevalent in film. So what differentiates comics?
Maybe it’s the DIY element of comics storytelling that appeals the most? There are few gatekeepers to seek permission from if you want to co-create something with other people. But the same is also true of film. I’ve made short films without seeking permission (and the same challenges around marketing and discoverability also apply).
So what is it?
Part of the answer, for me, is that comics stay with you in a way that other formats don’t.
Don’t get me wrong, I love being swept away by a breathtaking book, or immersed by the powerful narrative in a movie. Those stories stay with me - for a while. But comic stories stay there and don’t go away. I remember them months, if not years later, and can describe how they made me feel.
We all know (at least I hope we do) that comics are a powerful tool for conveying complex information in a simple form. That’s why the safety instructions on planes are a mixture of illustration and words, rather than a Christopher Nolan filmed iMax experience.
But what we may not realize, is that this effect is not a temporary one; it actually transfers information in such a way that the brain can more easily store and retrieve it when needed.
Don’t believe me?
Here comes the science
One of my favourite examples from the scientific literature on comics comes from a 2018 study that used comic books to help students learn about the Affordable Care Act. “Use of a Comic Book to Assist Pharmacy Student Learning of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).”
103 Pharmacy students were given a short test about their knowledge of the ACA. They were then randomized to a treatment group (students received a comic about the ACA) or a control group (students received identical, but re-formatted, text, in a document).
Students were asked to respond using a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) rather than the more typical Likert scale questions, you may be more familiar with. The VAS is a continuum scale with no markings; bounded at either end by descriptors (e.g., hate, love). Scoring is done by marking the scale and then measuring/recording with a ruler to determine its position relative to one of the descriptors.
The results of this initial test showed no statistically significant difference between the scores of the two groups.
Three months later, the students were given the same test, without any formal instruction about the ACA in the meantime.
This time, the scores between groups were statistically significant (at a level of p<.01 which is a much higher threshold for statistical significance than the usual p<.05) with those reading the comic having significantly higher scores than those who read the text.
While all scores at the three-month level were higher (to be expected, since the students had read something about the ACA), the scores for comic readers were much higher - especially for the questions about different aspects of the act itself; more complex information.
So, this study tells us that complex information retention and recall was more significant for those who read the comic than for those who read only text.
As with all experimental designs, there are lots of questions one could also ask about the validity of the VAS in this sample, which randomization technique was used for arm allocation, were there any extraneous factors such as ACA information in the media that could have swayed the results etc. All good questions, but yet to be tackled.
What’s my point?
In the meantime, we are confronted with experimental evidence suggesting comics are an important tool for long-term information retention, and this is perhaps why I can recall so many comics with such clarity, but struggle to do so with films or even episodes of Star Trek (which is an obsession of mine).
So, why do you like comics? Leave a comment below, and let me know.
Speaking of comics…
The preview page for the collected edition of ACAUSAL is now live here.
The book collects all three issues of the Canadian sci-fi miniseries, drawn/coloured by EV Cantada and lettered by Lucas Gattoni.
The collected edition comes in two paperback flavours, with covers from Javiera Argandoña and Francesco Iaquinta respectively, and I’m also offering an exclusive hardcover edition of the book for the serious collector.
Sign up for pre-launch to make sure you don’t miss out on this epic campaign when it goes live.
Okay, that’s it for this week. Please let me know why you love (or are indifferent towards) comics in the comments below. I’m curious to hear from you about your perspectives.
Nice article! Gave your campaign a follow. When are you launching?
Great article! 🔥