LibGuides: Graphic Novels and Comics: Teaching Resources

Graphic Novels in the Classroom

Graphic novels represent a unique and inclusive art and literary form that has become increasingly popular – speaking to a wide range of experiences, identities, and interests. They can promote literacy, foster aesthetic appreciation, and help readers gain a deeper understanding of historical, cultural, and ethical perspectives.

This page provides resources to support the use of graphic novels and graphic non-fiction across the undergraduate curriculum.

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Are you an MDC faculty member who has used, or plans to use, graphic novels or graphic non-fiction for pedagogical purposes? Please share your ideas and experiences by completing this brief survey.

The Graphic Canon: [The world's great literature as comics and visuals] by Russ Kick
Publication Date: 2012

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The Graphic Novel Classroom: Powerful Teaching and Learning with Images by Maureen Bakis
Publication Date: 2014

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The Physics of Superheroes by James Kakalios
Publication Date: 2005

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Studying Comics and Graphic Novels by Karin Kukkonen
Publication Date: 2014

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Superhero Therapy: Mindfulness Skills to Help Teens and Young Adults Deal with Anxiety, Depression, and Trauma by Janina Scarlet; Wellinton Alves (Illustrator)
Publication Date: 2017

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Teaching the Graphic Novel by Stephen E. Tabachnick (Editor)
Publication Date: 2009

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Teaching with Comics and Graphic Novels: Fun and Engaging Strategies to Improve Close Reading and Critical Thinking in Every Classroom by Tim Smyth
Publication Date: 2023

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Using Comic Art to Improve Speaking, Reading and Writing by Steve Bowkett
Publication Date: 2012

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Using Graphic Novels in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Classroom by William Boerman-Cornell; Josha Ho; David Klanderman; Sarah Klanderman
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Young People, Comics and Reading: exploring a complex reading experience by Lucia Cedeira Serantes
Publication Date: 2019

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Boerman-Cornell, B. (2013).
More Than Comic Books. Educational Leadership
Carano, K. T. & Clabough, J. (2016).
Images of struggle: Teaching human rights with graphic novels. Social Studies.
Davis, J. (2023).
Graphic novels: A holistic approach for teaching literacy and engaging students. Practical Literacy: The Early & Primary Years.
Decker, A. C., & Castro, M. (2012).
Teaching history with comic books: A case study of violence, war, and the graphic novel. The History Teacher.
Dougherty C.N. & Gregg C. R. (2024).
Graphic novels as the forger’s tools for literacy. English in Texas.
Fitchett, C., Courtade, G., Mims, P. J., Landrum, T. J., & Sheffield, C. (2025).
Using graphic novels to teach economics content to high school students with extensive support needs. Journal of Special Education.
Gavigan, K. W. & Garrison, K. (2020).
Graphic novels help teens learn about racism, climate change and social justice – here’s a reading list. The Conversation.
Gavigan, K. (2021).
Journey for justice: Helping teens visualize the Civil Rights Movement through primary sources and graphic novels. Knowledge Quest.
Gerde, V. W., & Foster, R. S. (2008).
X-Men ethics: Using comic books to teach business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics.
Gorlewski, J., & Schmidt, J. (2011).
Graphic novels in the classroom: Curriculum design, implementation, and reflection. The English Journal.
Hendricks, A. D. (2022).
Teaching comics: A syllabus. JSTOR Daily.
Hines, C. M., Mundorf, J., Miley, J., & Del Riego, J. (2022).
Repositioning recommended/required texts to build curricular bridges: Incorporating superhero comics into secondary ELA classrooms. English Leadership Quarterly.
Kelley, Brian (2010).
Sequential art, graphic novels, and comics. SANE Journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education
Kohnke, L. (2019).
Using comic strips to stimulate student creativity in language learning. TESOL Journal.
Maples, J., Clanca, M., & Maloy, M. (2016).
Using graphic novels to engage English language learners. Vanguard.
McClanahan, B. J., & Nottingham, M. (2019).
A suite of strategies for navigating graphic novels: A dual coding approach. The Reading Teacher
O'Laughlin, H. (2021).
Teaching YA graphic novels: Personalizing the teaching of secondary reading with visual texts. English Leadership Quarterly.
OpenAI. (2023, December 13).
ChatGPT on Graphic Novels for Critical Thinking [PDF].
Öz, H., & Efecioğlu, E. (2015).
Graphic novels: An alternative approach to teach English as a Foreign Language. Journal of Language & Linguistics Studies.
Schwarz, G. (2006).
Expanding literacies through graphic novels. The English Journal.
Seelow, D. (2010).
Voices from the field: The graphic novel as advanced literacy tool. Journal of Media Literacy Education
Simon, R., Gallagher, B., & Walkland, T. (2022).
“Swirling a million feelings into one”: Working through critical and affective responses to the Holocaust through comics. Research in the Teaching of English.
Strong, M. T., Cook, T., Belet, L. A., & Calarco, P. (2023).
Changing the world: How comics and graphic novels can shift teaching. Humanity & Society.
Todd, J. (2015).
Interdisciplinarity through graphic novels. Phi Kappa Phi Forum.

The Comics Grid: Journal of Comics Scholarship
An open-access, researcher-led, peer-reviewed academic journal that aims to publish original and specialized contributions to the field of comics scholarship from multidisciplinary and media-specific perspectives.
ImageTexT
An open-access peer-reviewed journal published by the Department of English at the University of Florida.The objective of ImageTexT is to advance the academic study of an emerging and diverse canon of imagetexts. Chief among these are comic books, comic strips, and animations, but also represented are illustrated fiction, children’s picture books, digital-concrete poetic forms, visual rhetoric, etc.
SANE Journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education
An open-access journal that publishes research and practitioner-based articles covering all intersections of comics and education, from pre-k to post-secondary studies, from a variety of disciplines.

Comics Studies Society
Graphic Medicine
A website that explores the interaction between the medium of comics and the discourse of healthcare. See also Medicina Gráfica.
For more graphic medicine resources, visit the Graphic Medicine LibGuide.
Teaching Comics: A Syllabus
JSTOR Daily's guide to using comics and graphic novels in the classroom.
Teaching Online With and About Comics
By Pamela Jackson, San Diego State University
See also Comics by Topic

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