The Rabbit Hole of Analysis

I read a lot of graphic novels, or I used to, anyway I really like them, and I think their authors are so talented.  What I think is the most interesting about them is how the compare to other books, if you read a book for class there is really only so much you can read into it without falling down the rabbit hole, but with a graphic novel so much thought goes into ever picture and word, because the dialog and writing have to be snappy to fit in a comic style layout, and you can really tell from the pictures the background and focus of the author.  There is so much perspective to uncover in a graphic novel or a comic book (if you want to go down that road please check out the article Superheros on my other blog).  It is so important to have both imagery and words to explain to us a situation, that is why we give children picture books, to explain to them things they do not have the experience to understand.  That is why Maus is so great, it makes us feel a part of something that we could not previously understand.  Not that we could understand the experience of being in the Holocaust, or being the child of two survivors in two short books (even if they are amazing), but at least we can get closer to understanding, and that is what art and writing are all about.