Posted 1:26 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023
Comic Books are Fantastic Four the Mind--Literacy Narrative
When I was young, we would often go to the library when we couldn’t go to the pool. As most eight-year-old boys would be I was pretty bummed out to be going to the boring library. I would much rather be wrapped up in the amazing aquatic adventures I had at the local water park with my brothers. Being the oldest kid out of the bunch I was usually left to myself while the others ventured to another area of the library more suited for toddlers and younger kids. I would get a crick in my neck constantly looking up at the towers of books while I wandered through the twists and turns of the labyrinth filled with novels. I would travel through the rows finding new books like an autobiography of my dad’s favorite athlete Joe Montana or the newest book by sports author Mike Lupica. I would often repeat this until I found the oasis that I never knew I needed, the comic book section.
Comic books aren’t necessarily the type of reading that people usually find educational or meaningful, but that day changed how I viewed the world. I read for the whole time about the incredible adventures of the Fantastic Four and the patriotic crusades of the star-spangled man with a plan Captain America. Many are quick to judge comic books because they aren’t “real reading” because there are pictures and very few words, but I beg to differ. Just look at this quote from the comic legend Stan Lee, “Some people will say, ‘Why read a comic book? It stifles the imagination. If you read a novel, you imagine what people are like. If you read a comic, it’s showing you.’ The only answer I can give is, ‘You can read a Shakespeare play, but does that mean you wouldn’t want to see it on the stage?’” Like he said, comic books show you the same thing as a good novel or a Shakespearean play. The lessons discussed in novels are the same ones taught in comic books. Racism, sexism, and greed are just a few examples of things I have learned about from reading comic books before I even had them introduced to me in a novel during high school.
Often people are seeing comic books as these crazy pictures being sold to collectors around the country with no value but that is far from the truth. These comics are used as giant story arcs intertwining with other comic books often blowing up in these large-scale events like Marvel’s Secret Invasion and DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths. These stories even find their way on the silver screen the same way novels like The Notebook or To Kill a Mockingbird have done. It’s easy to see them as these action-packed movies with no substance but cool images and flashing bright lights but that’s far from the truth. They tackle serious problems and connect with people at a personal level as it did for me.
After that day at the library, I went to school for the next couple of years not really thinking anything about that day, just kind of adopting comic books as part of my reading profile. I went to class at Crocker Elementary School in Ankeny, Iowa waiting for recess as did every other 2nd grader in the class. The sun was shining through the window shining off the whiteboard calling to me almost as if it was a hand motioning me outside to the playground to feel the spring weather’s embrace. My classmate who sat next to me shared my excitement for recess and was chomping at the bit to get outside. He squirmed in the seat that seemed to swallow his entire body. He was the shortest kid in class and one hundred percent the lightest, he even had a buzzcut to eliminate his hair even adding some sort of weight. The bell finally rang, and we all busted out the doors like water leaking from a fire hydrant. It was a normal day running around the playground weaving through the poles and slides like ants running through their underground tunnels. As I turned the corner, I saw a 5’9 heavy-built 5th grader shoving my classmate that sits next to me. My classmate quickly scurried away like a squirrel running past a semi-truck. Suddenly, he threw a punch whizzing past his head and hitting the ground. My classmate’s eyes widened as he realized the serious implications of what was happening. He continued his attack sending woodchips flying from the ground with each strike. His arms struck the ground like a jackhammer headed straight to another person’s skull. Each strike came closer and closer to landing on his face. After about 45 seconds he finally struck him in the back sending my classmate reeling in pain. I remember watching and something deep inside of myself reached the surface and I did one of the stupidest things I had ever done. I balled up my fists and squinted and started to run across that playground. With each step more and more fear came into my chest, I was completely terrified. I was not in control of my body, fight or flight took over and I was definitely in fight mode. I finally got to the scene, and I stepped in front of the bully and told him to leave him alone.
The fight didn’t last long, before I could even get one shove in, he picked me up by the neck. As I squirmed and yelped in his grasp, he tossed me into the nearest pole like a basketball clanking against the rim. I was dazed and confused and scared, I scrambled to my feet when my teacher ran over and pulled the 5th grader away from me. I happily went inside with the principal when he graciously gave me an ice pack and offered me a seat in his office where I usually felt scared and uncomfortable.
Where did I get that thought to go stick up for the kid? The answer is comic books. I had read about the Wolverine and how he used to save people by sticking up to the Hulk millions of times in that old dusty comic book section. Hundreds of times I had read about how my favorite hero Spiderman stuck up for everyone no matter the cost. I had that idea engraved in my mind from all of the wonderful adventures I read from tons of examples of literature that most people see as mindless and just a way to get young boys to read. In their article, “Comic cognition: Exploring the potential cognitive impacts of Science Comics,” Jee and Anggoro argue that, "Increasing people’s interest and involvement in science is a growing concern in education. Although many researchers and educators seek innovations for classroom instruction, much could be gained by harnessing the activities that people perform at their leisure. Although new media are constantly emerging, comic book reading remains a popular activity for children and adults. Recently, there has been an explosive increase in the creation of educational comic books, including many about science." An example of this would be in the Fantastic Four comics I used to read. I learned many facts about science specifically earth science from the “smartest man in the multiverse,” Reed Richards—also known as Mr. Fantastic. That’s just one of the many examples of things you can learn from comic’s other examples include The Flash teaching you about physics, Daredevil teaching you about the law and judicial system, and the biology facts introduced in the X-Men series. Not only do comics teach people facts and science but they also teach morals and facts about life like a novel I read in high school Of Mice and Men.
The next day I came to class and sat next to my classmate just like any normal day. We went through math and reading and learned more about how the world works. Right before we went to recess, I felt a tug on my shirt sleeve. When I looked to my left, I saw my classmate with his hand extended toward me with a note in his left hand. He smiled and walked away headed outside with the rest of the class. When I opened the note, I was surprised to see these five words: “Thank you for helping me.”
Little did I know that almost 12 years ago I experienced the event that drove me to where I am today all because of some flimsy out-of-date comic books. Helping that classmate was exactly why I liked reading comic books I just didn’t know it yet. I learned my calling was to help people, not because I’m this amazing person who devotes his whole life to helping people but because comic books showed me the feeling you get after helping someone. The feeling that I had after helping my classmate is something I crave. I’m addicted to the explosion of pride that I felt at that moment. It’s what drove me to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and it’s why I want to be a physical therapist. I want to help people and that’s the way I think I can do it successfully.
For a genre of books that “aren’t real books,” comic books have really changed my life for the better. I have gotten more out of comic books than I have ever gotten out of a novel. I still read comics to this day and still learn from them as I did when I was an eight-year-old. Comic books not only gave me entertainment and a reason to enjoy the library, but they also helped me find my calling and got me into this very university that I attend today.
Works Cited
Jee, Benjamin D., and Florencia K. Anggoro. “Comic cognition: Exploring the potential cognitive impacts of Science Comics.” Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, vol. 11, no. 2, 2012, pp. 196–208, https://doi.org/10.1891/1945-8959.11.2.196.