storytelling
Comics, Graphics Nonfiction Issue 2
from the editor
HELLO THERE, READER! The ways in which journalists tell stories has continued to change over the years. Two storytelling methods that have been used to tell stories in an inventive way are comics and graphic nonfiction. Using art to talk about big or tough topics helps simplify things for the reader and engages them in a way text does not. In this issue we will explore how comics and graphic nonfiction are changing journalism for the better.
YOURS TRULY, Carol Wright EDITOR IN CHIEF @_CAROL_WRIGHT
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How Comics and Graphic Nonfiction are changing Journalism. Writing by Carol WrightÂ
When I first encountered comic books that covered serious topics I was in high school. During my freshman year we had to read Persepolis which is about a young girl growing up in Iran during and after the Islamic revolution. Then during my sophomore year we read Maus 1 and 2 which depicted a man interviewing his father who was a Polish Jew and holocaust survivor. Both of these stories were told through comics and helped to take two harrowing topics and make them easier to digest. Making stories easier to understand is one of the benefits of having comic and graphic nonfiction journalism. By telling a story through images people often have an easier time connecting with the material and can have an understanding not just through the text given but the visuals as well. Comics truly started to gain popularity in 1938 when action comics and superheroes were introduced. People connected to the characters and enjoyed escaping reality through the stories. Comics did not only come in the form of action comics, most American families enjoyed reading comics in their newspapers as a source of entertainment. Characters such as the Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes grew to be extremely popular because of the Sunday comics section. As time has gone on the way people use comics has continued to change. In the news, writers are starting to use comics as a way to capture audiences attention and tell memorable stories. In an article in the Columbia Journalism review one journalist used comic journalism as a way to tell a story about a mother who lost her child in a shooting and how that spurred her to be an activist. Unfortunately, stories involving shootings are told often so readers are not always interested. Putting the story in the form of a comic is a guaranteed way to make a reader interested. Comic journalism helped bring the story to life in a way that words couldn't do by themselves. That is another reason why using graphic nonfiction in journalism is important. As journalism continues to evolve comics will be at the center of that change. Especially when it comes to reaching those in communities that may have lower literacy rates or not as much access to broadcast news. Comics will aid in breaking audience barriers and give journalists another way to tell the stories they want to.
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