From comics aimed at very young children to university-level textbooks, comics are known to be an effective medium for helping people to learn new information.

This is because they represent information in two complementary modes – visual and textual. This is likely to make it easier to move information to our long-term memory, and means that the memory traces we form from the information are richer and so easier to retrieve.

Apart from the cognitive science behind learning, educators also look to comics as a means of improving the motivation of learners. Comics are likely to be more visually engaging than more text-based mediums. Learners may have positive associations with comics if they have read them for pleasure outside school or have watched TV shows and films that are based on them.

However, probably because of the stereotype of comic reading as a childish pursuit, educators may incorrectly assume that reading comics is easier than reading texts.

In reality, reading and understanding comics is much more complex than you might initially think. While some comics are very straightforward and aimed at children (think the Beano or Dandy), other comics, including graphic novels, are aimed at adult readers and are more........

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