Biography: Dr Catherine Sly has taught in NSW Department of Education high schools and has been a writer, editor and consultant for the School Libraries division of the NSW Department of Education. Her recent PhD thesis investigated graphic novels from a narratological perspective. Abstract: Quality graphic novels can be as challenging and complex as written texts. While the predominantly visual format of graphic novels may readily capture students’ attention, guidance from teacher librarians and teachers can be invaluable in cultivating and refining the skills necessary to probe the depth and richness of these publications. Attendees will learn how to guide students to discover this richness as well as how to identify specific techniques used by the creators of graphic novels. A close investigation of two selected graphic novels will operate as examples to provide the necessary signposts for teachers to become more confident in the reading, processing, critical analysis and evaluation of graphic novels.

1. INVESTIGATING GRAPHIC
NOVELS
P r e s e n t e d b y
D r C a t h y S l y
Australian School Library
Association Inc.

2. Housekeeping
Australian School Library Association Inc.
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Housekeeping:
ASLA PL Team members facilitating for this webinar:
Kate Reid, Margo Pickworth, Sophie Partington
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3. Presenter
Australian School Library Association Inc.
By way of an introduction, I am an
independent researcher with a keen
interest in visual literacy, graphic novels
and multimodal storytelling.
In the past I taught English, Drama and
History in NSW high schools. I have also
worked as a writer, editor and consultant
for the School Libraries division of the NSW
Department of Education.
In 2016 I completed a PhD on Australian
graphic novels and have presented papers at
national and international conferences.
Most recent publications on graphic novels
include ‘Empowering 21st century readers:
Integrating graphic novels into primary
classrooms’ in Picture Books and Beyond
(2014) edited by Kerry Mallan and ‘Crossing
Cultural Boundaries with Graphic Novels’
published in Scan 36.4 (2017).
Cathy Sly
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Captain Congo and the Maharaja’s Monkey
by Ruth Starke and Greg Holfeld
Robot Dreams by Sara Varon

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From: Picture Books
and Beyond edited by
K. Mallan, PETAA,
NSW, 2014
Balloonics

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More complex facets
colour
lighting
style
transitions
point of view
expressions
gestures
comics runes
symbolism
font
imagery
metaphor
Fundamental elements
page
panels
gutters
images
balloons
written text
Making
meaning
plot & themes
setting &
atmosphere
discourses
emotional impact
diegetic sounds
vocal nuances

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Baetens, J. & Frey, H. 2015, The Graphic Novel: An Introduc on
Cohn, N. Visual Language Lab - website
Eisner, W. [1996] 2008, Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narra ve
Hart, M. 2010, Using Graphic Novels in the Classroom Grd 4-8
Kukkonen, K. 2013, Studying Comics and Graphic Novels
McCloud, S. 1993, Understanding Comics
Monnin, K. 2010, Teaching Graphic Novels: Prac cal Strategies for
the Secondary ELA Classroom
Rudd, D. 2010, The Routledge Companion to Children’s Literature
Sly, C. 2014, ‘Empowering 21st Century Readers: Integra ng Graphic
Novels into Primary Classrooms’ in K. Mallan (ed.) Picture Books and
Beyond

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Literary aspects
Characterisation
Code and
convention
Connotation,
imagery & symbol
Genre
Irony and satire
Narrative
Representation
Setting
Style
Theme
General
capabilities
Literacy
Critical and creative
thinking
Ethical
understanding
Intercultural
understanding
Geography
Place
Environment
Interconnection

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from Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

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Note how the different placement, gestures and expressions of Captain Congo and Pug
convey clues that enable readers to make meaning about the nature of these characters.

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Images
Panel 1: indexical images – there
is part of a large locomotive, a
whistle emitting lines that
suggest sound, and steam.
It suggests that a steam train is
setting off on a journey.
Panel 2: the setting of the
interior of the train carriage in
which Congo and Pug are
travelling.
Panels 3 and 4: an external view
of the train as a mid and then
distant shot as it travels through
the Indian countryside.
Verbal components
The verbal components are
minimal and involve Congo
noting the punctuality of the
train’s departure and the time it
will take to reach Bekar.
Pug is more concerned about
keeping cool on the long
journey.
Layout
Four horizontal panels.
Panel 2: larger.
It contains the two main
characters and their dialogue.
Horizontal panels suggest a
longer period of time passing,
as is appropriate for the long
train journey.
Colour
The dominant colour scheme is
warm and earthy.
It depicts the hot climate of
India. Note the shift from the
cooler blue & white of the first
panel to heat created by the
yellow and orange in panel 4.
Perspective / point of view
The reader is positioned outside
the scene as an observer and is
thus able to see what is going on
inside a carriage as well as
observing the train across the
fields from an external view.

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In the centre panel
Pug has circular
flourishes
around his head
and his beak is seen
in two different
positions.
What does this
signify?
What might Pug’s
fan signify?
What could the
colour of each of
the women’s
saris
represent?

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Literary aspects
Characterisation
Code and convention
Connotation, imagery
& symbol
Narrative
Representation
Setting
Style
Theme
Visual literacy
General
capabilities
Literacy
Critical and creative
thinking
Personal and social
capability
Ethical
understanding
Health and Physical
Education
Communicating and
interacting for health
and wellbeing

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Silent graphic narratives engage readers in:
• exercising and extending their understanding
of the iconicity and symbolism of images
• cultivating inferential and imaginative engagement with
visual narration
• developing an intuitive understanding of others’ mental
states through investing in what happens to the silent
characters.
‘Wordless picture stories have a unique and especially intimate
relationship to their reader…’ Christopher Kupers

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‘… emo onally produced
gestures and expressive
postures are
accumulated and stored
in the memory, forming a
non-verbal vocabulary of
gesture.’
Will Eisner (1985)

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‘… the art of the comic
book can freeze …
expressions in close-up
frames that arrest me
and enhance
recogni on of the
subject’s feelings.’
Suzanne Keen (2011)

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‘Our tendency to
recognise character and
emo on even in the
simplest of lines, speaks
in many …silent comics.’
Barbara Postema (2014)

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Comics ‘have the power
to fly under the critical
radar and dive right into
the brain’.
Art Spiegelman (2003)

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‘In comics word and
image approach each
other: words can be
visually inflected, reading
as pictures, while pictures
can become as abstract
and symbolic as words …’
Charles Hatfield, 2005

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‘Literacy education is changing rapidly;
we need to expand our own knowledge
base and skill set if we are to remain
viable facilitators of our students’
literacy development.’
(Frank Serafini, 2014)

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Baetens, J. & Frey, H. 2015, The Graphic Novel: An Introduction,
Cambridge University Press, New York.
Beronä, D.A. 2008, Wordless Books: The Original Graphic Novels,
Abrams, New York.
Cohn, N. Visual Language Lab – viewed 11 February, 2018,
http:www.visuallanguagelab.com
DeMello, M. 2012, 'Introduction', in M DeMello (ed.), Speaking For
Animals: Animal Autobiographical Writing, Routledge, New York.
Eisner, W. [1996] 2008, Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative,
W. W. Norton & Company, New York.

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Frey, N. 2010, ‘Reading and Writing with Graphic Novels’,
California Reader, vol. 44 issue 1, pp.15-22.
Grice, K.M. 2015, 'Do Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?' Red
Feather Journal, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 75-91,
http:www.redfeatherjournal.orghome.html
Hart, M. 2010, Using Graphic Novels in the Classroom Grd 4-8,
Teacher Created Resources Inc., USA.
Hatfield, C. 2005, Alternative Comics: An Emerging Literature,
1st edn, University Press of Mississippi, Jackson.

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Keen, S 2011, 'Fast Tracks to Narrative Empathy:
Anthropomorphism and Dehumanization in Graphic Narratives',
SubStance, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 135-55.
Kukkonen, K. 2013, Studying Comics and Graphic Novels, Wiley-
Blackwell, West Sussex.
McCloud, S. 1993, Understanding Comics, Kitchen Sink Press,
Northampton, MA.
McTaggart, J. (2008), ‘Graphic novels. The good, the bad and the
ugly’, in Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher (eds), Teaching Visual
Literacy Using Comic Books, Graphic Novels, Anime, Cartoons, and
More to Develop Comprehension and Thinking Skills, Thousand
Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, pp. 27–46.

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Monnin, K. 2010, Teaching Graphic Novels: Practical Strategies for the
Secondary ELA Classroom, Maupin House Publishing, Florida, USA.
Postema, B. 2014, 'Following the Pictures: Wordless Comics for Children',
Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 311-22.
Rudd, D. 2010, The Routledge Companion to Children’s Literature,
Routledge, New York.
Serafini, F. 2012, Reading Multimodal Texts in the 21st Century, Research
in the Schools, Mid-South Educational Research Association 2012, Vol.
19, No. 1, 26-32
Sly, C. 2014, ‘Empowering 21st Century Readers: Integrating Graphic
Novels into Primary Classrooms’ in K. Mallan (ed.) Picture Books and
Beyond, PETAA, NSW.

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Starke, R. & Holfeld, G. 2008, Captain Congo and the Crocodile
King, Working Title Press, South Australia.
Starke, R. & Holfeld, G. 2009, Captain Congo and the Maharaja's
monkey, 1st edn, Working Title Press, South Australia.
Starke, R. & Holfeld, G. 2011, Captain Congo and the Klondike Gold,
Working Title Press, South Australia.
Varon, S. 2007, Robot Dreams, First Second, New York.
Spiegelman, A. cited in Wright, S.H. 2003 Spiegelman's Art is Dark
and Demanding, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, viewed 11
February 2018, http:newsoffice.mit.edu2003spiegelmans-art-dark-and-
demanding

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