Comic Books—Saving the World
Catherine Flynn
The world of popular culture is more varied
than ever before. And, thanks to the computer and the Internet, it is
ever-present. To say that teachers face an uphill battle to
capture and hold the attention of their students is an
understatement. However, this doesn’t have to be the case.
Indeed, ignoring the interests of our students may have unforeseen
consequences. As Botzakis (2009) states, “when the definition of
legitimate text becomes limited, educators also limit what students
might be able to access that could spark their interests and become the
impetus for lifelong learning” (58). More and more teachers are
finding that when they incorporate comic books and other types of
popular culture into the curriculum, students are more engaged with and
invested in their learning. As Hong Xu, Perkins, and Zunich (2005)
stress, teachers who make “a conscious effort to actually use the
popular culture interests as a foundation upon which students could
build new concepts…were able to make learning student centered rather
than teacher imposed” (71). Using comics in the classroom is just
common sense. “Engage students in topics that they naturally want to
learn about, and use those topics to help them learn what they need to
know more broadly” (Fischer & Fusaro, 2008).
Comics are really nothing
new. Prehistoric cave paintings and Egyptian hieroglyphs are considered
by many to be among the earliest examples of comics. But what exactly
is a comic, and why do kids find them so fascinating? In
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (1993), McCloud defines comics
as “juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence”
(9). He goes on to theorize that comics’ appeal lies in the
simplified features of most characters in comics, which make them
universal and easier to identify with. In Boys of Steel: The
Creators of Superman (2008), Marc Tyler Nobelman’s picture book
biography about Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the inventors of the Man
of Steel, are described as “lousy at sports and mousy around girls”
(unpaged). Characters who saved lives and stood up for ordinary people
held a natural appeal for them. Their desire to be “terrific” inspired
them to create a character who had the power to be transformed from
“someone like them” into Superman.
Additionally, with all those “POWs” and
“ZAPs”, not to mention motion lines, “the world of the story may seem
to pulse with life” (McCloud, 41). Indeed, in comics “all our senses
are engaged” (89). Many students, especially the most reluctant
readers, often need instruction that appeals to all their senses.
Another appealing aspect of comics is the fact that, because they use
“words and images interchangeably” (139), students without extensive
vocabularies can understand stories and ideas that might not otherwise
be accessible to them. Smetana, Odelson, Burns, and Grisham (2009)
point out that many teachers “use a comic book version of a
‘classic’…to scaffold the storyline” (239) before reading the original
version. Graphic Classics has a wide range of titles available,
including stories by Edgar Allan Poe, Jack London, and Mark Twain.
There are endless
possibilities for making curriculum accessible to students through
comics. Katherine G. Aiken (2010) has found that “superhero
comics offer a surprisingly valuable window into twentieth century U.S.
history” (41). Captain America, Wonder Woman, and Spiderman have filled
America’s “desire for heroes and for somebody to show us that we can be
our better selves” (45) for generations. A California teacher brought a
district-mandated unit about “Dreams to Jobs” to life when she linked
the unit to her students’ passion for comics (Hong Xu, Perkins, &
Zunich, 2005). Students across the country are learning to “plot,
write and draw comic books, in many cases using themes from their own
lives”
(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/opinion/03thru4.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print)
thanks to the Comic Book Project. Operated
through Teachers College at Columbia University, the project was
founded in 2001 by Michael Bitz. Teachers and students in
classrooms and after-school programs are involved, and the program’s
website has many examples of comics created by students of all ages.
As more and more teachers embrace the world
of comics and find creative ways to use them in their classrooms,
comics truly might save the world.
References
Aiken, K.G. (2010). "Superhero history: Using comic books to teach U.S. history." OAH Magazine
of History, 24(2), 41-47. Retrieved June 19, 2010 from Academic Search Complete
database.
Botzakis, S. (2009). "Adult fans of comic books: What they get out of reading." Journal of
Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(1), 50-59. Retrieved June 19, 2010 from Academic
Search Complete database.
“Comic Books in the Classroom” (Editorial) The New York Times. January 3, 2008. (Online)
URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/opinion/03thru4.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print. (Accessed June 22, 2010).
Fischer, K.W. & Fusaro, M. (2008). "Using student interests to motivate learning." In R. Fink &
S.J. Samuels (Eds.), Inspiring reading success: Interest and motivation in an age of high stakes testing. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Hong Xu, S., with Perkins, R.S. & Zunich, L.O. (2005). Trading cards to comic strips: Popular
culture texts and literacy learning in grades K-8. Newark, DE: International Reading
Association.
McCloud, S. (1993). Understanding comics: The invisible art. New York: A Kitchen Sink Book
for HarperPerennial.
Nobleman, Marc Tyler. (2008). Boys of steel: The creators of Superman. Illustrated by Ross
MacDonald. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Smetana, L., Odelson, D., Burns, H., & Grisham, D.L. (2009). "Using graphic novels in the high
school classroom: Engaging deaf students with a new genre." Journal of Adolescent &
Adult Literacy, 53(3), 228-240. Retrieved June 23, 2010 from Academic Search
Complete database.