By increasing the ranges of texts available for use in the classroom, teachers can spark students’ interest in reading and learning

"When people think of comic-book readers, they typically get a vision of a stunted person who lives in his parents’ basement and spends countless hours arguing the minutiae of his particular popular culture interests (see Figure 1). Contemporary writings about comic books often contain infantilizing words such as Pow!, Bam!, or Zap! in their titles (e.g., Eggers, 2000), sound effects made popular in the 1960s Batman television program. Such depictions are emblematic of how comic books have been regarded in the United States for four decades. At best, they have been seen as a childish diversion and, at worst, as texts that deaden intellect and moral reasoning, linked with juvenile delinquency and a host of other social ills surrounding young people (Wertham, 1953). Although perhaps not regarded in such draconian terms currently, comic books are still often regarded as pieces of juvenile, junk culture (Wright, 2001)."

article by: Stergios Botzakis