Comic books and novels can complete a story, but can also continue the motivation for further sales by providing sequels. The comic book has evolved over the past four decades as a source of reading material that combines visual image and the written word. Comic books have evoked fervent reactions by detractors and enthusiasts who have interpreted their illustrations and story lines for their own ends. Women characters in comic books run the gamut from superhero, child, sidekick, romantic interest, model, outlaw, and ultimate erotic fantasy to serious career woman. Comic books simply do not have the same sort of foundations to rest on. Anyone writing about comics becomes an ambassador for a genre dragged down by the stigma of its own past, and if he does his job poorly, the whole genre suffers. Comic books offer learners a way to merge their skill in writing with their talent in art. It offers a creative outlet to telling a story through dialogue and action and allows the reader to intimately relate to the story being told. Comic novels themselves, once shoddily printed on tissue-thin pulp, were actually given a budget, and proper paper stock. Superhero teams, like the Justice League and X-Men, were featured more prominently than in the past, mostly because superhero teams were highly marketable. Comic novels have the best of all worlds in that the iconic learning is maximized and integrated into the construction of the schemata. There is little wonder, that recall of information from comic books can be made over 30 years, whereas medical information from journals cannot be recalled over 30 days. Comic books have been an integral part of American culture since the 1930s. They have both influenced our collective imagination and echoed the concerns of the eras in which they were published. |
