Years ago, I never used to read graphic novels. Not that I had anything against them. I just wasn’t interested. Graphic novels seemed like a euphemism for comic books, and I wasn’t super interested in comic books. But they’re more than that.

Watchmen was released as a film in 2009. It was based on Alan Moore’s graphic novel series of the same name, which is one of the most well-regarded graphic novels of all time. Intrigued, I bought Watchmen and highly enjoyed the story. More importantly, it opened me to the idea and experience of reading graphic novels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-V5vjl5iN0

In 2010, AMC premiered the hit show The Walking Dead, also based on a graphic novel series, this one by Robert Kirkman. Despite only watching the show for a few seasons (who knew a zombie apocalypse could get boring), I got into reading the novel series.

Then there’s Neil Gaiman and his series of graphic novels, The Sandman. Having read pretty much everything else by Gaiman, I figured they were worth reading. And that was correct. They mix in Gaiman’s signature storytelling style with the elements of illustration.

That’s the biggest benefit to reading graphic novels. They add in literal splashes of color to the reading experience. They show as much as tell. It’s a medium between a text-only book and an animated film. But because consuming a graphic novel is such an active experience, it can only be called reading.