Thursday 17 February 2022

Paperback's Pondering's: How Do You Read Comics/Graphic Novels?



In the spirit of my superhero course and all the graphic novels and comics I have been reading recently, I wanted to talk a bit about my reading practices. Something that I've observed when I read comics or graphic novels is that I always pay attention to the text first, as opposed to art. I find this detail interesting, because the main component of graphic fiction is that there are graphics attached to the text. If anything, the text is not intended to be the focal point of where your eye goes, as the art is much bigger, much brighter, and would typically catch someone's attention. So I wonder, why is it that when I read graphic fiction, my eyes immediately go to the text? Why is it that sometimes, I forget that there's art at all? 

I want to make clear that I love graphic fiction dearly. I read graphic fiction because I find that it's really easy for me to absorb and be entertained by, and usually I pick graphic fiction that aligns with my interests such as Marvel or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. So, just because I don't tend to focus on the graphics, doesn't mean that I hate the genre. I think it just means that I read the genre in a different way than other people might. I can't exactly say why my eye immediately goes to the speech bubbles before the art, other then maybe conclude that it has to do with what I'm used to. I only got into graphic fiction within the past couple of years, but I've loved fiction books for years. So perhaps, I gravitate towards the words in a graphic novel because I was trained to look at words before I look at pictures. Or, perhaps this all says something more about learning practices. 

I was telling a seminar that I teach that when they plan out their essays for the course, they should use whatever methods they learn best in to help them. So if they're a visual learner, they should draw out a mind map. If they're an oral learner, they should speak their essay out loud and record themselves. If they learn best by reading, they should just start writing. I align myself most with reading, as sometimes graphics don't allow me to grasp what I'm supposed to understand, and orality doesn't engage me. So I wonder if the way I learn best has allowed for me to almost gloss over the graphics in a comic book and instead trust the text to tell me all that I need to know about the story, because I'm confident that the text will carry me through. Now, this isn't always the case, as graphic fiction relies heavily on the graphics. Since the text is not really the focal point of the comic, there isn't always enough description in the text to build the world of the story. The pictures do crucial work in establishing setting, that the text cannot always do. However, no matter what, I will always see the text first. It's just an odd way of how my brain works. 

Usually how I read graphic fiction is by reading all of the text, and then going back and looking at the pictures. I know that may sound really odd, but nothing about how I read makes sense to me either. But either way, I do think this opens up an interesting conversation about learning methods and how people practice the great art of reading. However you read graphic fiction, it is a valuable genre, and I'd love to know more about how you approach it. 

How do you read graphic fiction? What kind of learner are you? 

Emily @ Paperback Princess 

8 comments:

  1. Honestly I don't really know which I notice first - I think it v. much depends on the actual page and panels, and the composition, as well as what kinda mood I'm in. And I admit that sometimes if there's scantily-clad superheroes, that's where I look first! Lol.

    I could never get along with the whole 'what's your learning style?' thing - they made us do this 'learning styles' test in school at least once a year, and I always ended up with a different answer. Once I ended up with a 4-way tie. So I just kind of did whatever I felt like doing at the time - which seemed to work, so... *shrugs* lol.

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    1. Haha, well that makes sense! A 4-way tie is impressive! You raise a good point. Sometimes you just learn with what makes sense in the moment.

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  2. That's a great idea, having students speak their ideas aloud and recording themselves! I have a few oral learners in the classes I teach and I was hunting for some good tips for them so thanks :)

    I'm also the same way with comic books - I just don't really have the patience to examine many of the pictures for some reason? Even though I'm a visual learner, I think I'm just so entrenched in "traditional" books that my brain immediately grabs onto text and doesn't want to let go. I haven't read too many graphic novels, though, and I want to expand my repertoire so maybe, during that expansion, I'll learn to "read" differently!

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    1. I hope that tip is useful! I definitely agree, being exposed to traditional books for so long has a hold over my brain. But I suppose reading more graphic novels does help to change things up!

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  3. Interesting discussion! I'm like Laura above - I don't have patience with pictures (or oral descriptions, for that matter). The written text has a grab on me that nothing else can match. Mind you, I used to read a lot of Mickey Mouse/Donald Duck comics when I was a kid, and I did love them...but when it comes to more sophisticated stuff (that is, modern graphic novels) where the pictures are meant to be savoured and explored in detail, they aren't my thing. I don't think it's a matter of being exposed to traditional books, as much as a real preference...plus something that has its roots in my lack of patience (which would explain why I don't like for a story to be read/recounted to me either. I need to explore it for myself and at my own pace).

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    1. That makes a lot of sense, Roberta! I feel the same way when it comes to art. For me personally, I can't really stare for long at an art piece to truly grasp the message it conveys. I prefer text to tell me upfront what's going on. I think similar rules apply to graphic novels, though of course, there's always text to back it up.

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  4. I think I also tend to gravitate immediately to the text while kind of glancing at the pictures for context, and then I have to remind myself to slow down and take time to really appreciate the art. So sometimes I do like you do and go back after reading some of the text (though I think I do it more page by page). I love art, and I enjoy taking the time to look at the images, it's just that I get kind of distracted at first because I'm so used to relying on text when it comes to reading.

    One of my fave graphic novels actually has no text! (Chester 5000 XYV, didn't love the first but loved the second, warning that it's super explicit.) So that was a really interesting, fun experience, having no choice but to focus on the body language, faces, etc.

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    1. Thank you for sharing your insights, Kit! I definitely agree that reminding myself to slow down is one of my biggest issues when reading graphic novels. I tend to fly through them, that I forget that they're meant to be read slowly, like any other book! Thank you for sharing that recommendation, too! I'll have to check it out :)

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