Comics Made Personal

Although the word comic implies a humorous subject, the comic medium can be used to explore serious themes. Many of today’s top artists are using the graphic novel, or long-form comic, to tell powerful stories about what it’s really like to be a teenager.

In a written story or novel, the reader relies on the author’s words to reveal the plot, characters, and settings. In a graphic novel, the images show details that don’t need to be described in words. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang tells the tale of growing up as a first generation Chinese-American.

In the page, the captions in the first two panels provide background information about why the main character, Jin, is entering a public restroom. The action is sequentially revealed in simple images: a long shot of Jin entering the bathroom, followed by a close-up of a pumping soap dispenser, and then Jin applying the soap to his armpits. When an employee walks in, Jin’s facial expression changes. On the next page, an embarrassed Jin rushes out! 

In the graphic memoir Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi tells her story of growing up in war-torn Iran. As a teenager, she leaves her family and travels to Vienna, Austria to attend high school. Life in Europe is hard for Marjane as she struggles to understand a new culture. Like many teens, she makes mistakes and learns from them.

In the panel above, Marjane dreams of her family in Iran. The positive white images of her memories spring up out of the black negative space above her sleeping figure. It’s a scene filled with both happy images of her parents and sad images of war. She misses her family, but it’s not safe to live at home. When she returns to Iran at the end of the novel, Marjane finds that both she and Iran have changed.