Introduction

Over the years, many educators have come to accept the graphic novel as a sufficient learning tool.  However, many critics believe the use of the graphic novel as a teaching tool is ultimately counterproductive, as graphic novels and comic books have no real substance.  Though there have been previous examples of teachers using graphic novels, as well as other form of comic mediums, to educate their classrooms it has still yet to become accepted practice.  My intent is to expose the usefulness of the graphic novel in accordance with rhetoric and why it should be used in the classroom.

Comic books and graphic novels all reflect the rhetoric of the time they were published in.  For example: around World War II, most comic book characters frequently fought of Nazi forces and propagated patriotic American rhetoric within all of their stories.  By going back through graphic novels I will conduct my research by comparing the rhetoric found within the American golden, silver, iron, and present day age of comic books with the rhetoric seen in the politics, news, and society of that respective time period.  Through this study I will have shown the usefulness of the graphic novel and go on to emphasize how and why it should be used as a pedagogical tool.

Some classes within the U.S. use the graphic novel as literature to explain social issues within the world.  In my junior year in undergrad I used “The Dark Knight Returns” as a tool to explain the power of the feminist movement.  Within “The Dark Knight Returns,” Robin is a girl and symbol of how far women have come.  Though there had been heroines in the past before this Lady Robin, such as Wonder Woman, Black Canary, or even Batwoman, those titles were made specifically for women and portrayed women as men saw them.  In Wonder Woman’s appearance in Sensation Comics, she marks the beginning of the feminist movement.  She is represents the liberated woman: she is strong and powerful.  Still, she dresses as if she were simply a masculine housewife.  Black Canary on the other hand is a rough, but sexually appealing woman with the super ability to scream.  What “The Dark Knight Returns” does for women is give women a role that had traditionally been a male role.  By placing a girl in “The Boy Wonder’s” role, a loud statement has been made that girls can do whatever boys can do, if not better without having to appear as butch as Wonder Woman or as sexy as Black Canary.

By pointing out the inherent usefulness of the graphic novel, I intend to free it from ridicule.  Studying each comic in according to each time period that it was created will allow me to show the rhetorical correlation between the two, proving that the graphic novel is a rhetorical tool.  Furthermore, after establishing the credibility of the graphic novel; using the graphic novel in the classroom as it relates to rhetoric will establish that it can be used as a pedagogical tool.  Though my main focus in the study is to explain how the graphic novel in the field of rhetoric, I hope this will lead to more innovation in the field.