…is comics. If you’re thinking the paper booklets you read in the 50’s or 60’s. Then no. Those were comics that you could read and you got all the visual clues and the hero did save the day. But if you’re thinking a real story, not matter how fanciful, with pictures and words, what we now term ‘graphic novels’ then you need a new way to read.
I’ve got a couple from First Second Books. Some are easier and faster to read than others. Like Robot Dreams by Sara Varon. Mainly because it is a story in pictures. What you might be tempted to call a picture book. But beware! It’s not, well, the traditional picture book. It’s a story, with a high concept and a lot of twists and turns. But try reading Orcs Forged For War Well, I’ve got to tell you, this takes a bit more work. First off, in this concept, the Orcs are the good guys. Secondly, there’s as much story in the words as there is in the pictures. And together they are fabulous. I may now have to read Stan Nicholls’s book on the Orc Universe. Because he takes the What If? question and makes it a whole different place.
I’m getting used to this new way to read. It’s not just reading now, it’s exploring a different way to tell story. Ya gotta love it!