My Introduction to Comics: The Greatest Medium of Visual Storytelling

My First Experience

Let me preface by saying I have never been a fan of reading. I hated hearing the mention of book clubs all the way from Pre K to High School, and from a very young age, I knew it was something I'd always struggle with. The dry pages, the dull words, that nauseating stench of an old, dusty, worn out book stuck in the back shelf of an elementary school library, were all qualities I despised. Of course everyone I knew tried to get me into reading- parents, teachers, friends- like there was some big secret I was missing out on. But time and time again, there never was, only boredom. The only things that interested me as an 8 year old, were sports, video games, super heroes, and movies- anything with action really. I was already an ADD-prescribed wild child, it was hard enough paying attention to something that wasn't cool, funny, or visually aesthetic. I was about ready to give up all hope to any semblance of a literate adulthood, then one day, the Middle School book fair came...

When Jake met Bill

At that point I was used to the Scholastic book fairs that my school had hosted. My teacher would always stop time early in class for us to leave and check out what books they had. Normally I used this time to slack off and play on my gameboy, but this year, my mom agreed to help with the book fair. I was forced to not only be attentive and help her, but was also told that I had to pick out some books I wanted. You could say I was less than thrilled as I trudged my way past aisle after aisle of pre-teen fantasy fiction or some "the new Harry Potter" type of unoriginal magic novel spinoff. I was ready to admit defeat and end up grabbing a few random books that I'd never pick up at home. But as I made my way towards the door, my attention was caught by the art style of a few stacked large print books by the front entrance. It was a pile of Bill Watterson Calvin and Hobbes collection books. The top book had a cover that displayed a young boy and what seemed to be a bipedal animated tiger, perched high up over the ground in their tree house, dropping a water balloon on an unsuspecting girl. It was titled, The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes, and it was the first "book" I ever loved.

A Different Kind of Book

Initially it was the cover that hooked me. Next was when I actually opened the book, the visuals remained on the inside too! All in simple 4 panel stories! I thought to myself, "Finally, a story that's interesting and comprehensible". At first, I would read them just for pure storytelling and visuals, as the detail spent on the environments created in Calvin's mind would always fascinate me. The open world feel of the stories, and how they took advantage of the ability to create whatever they wanted, did wonders for my imagination. I fell in love immediately with the Comic for its illustration alone. It took nearly a year of reading it over and over again before I would notice how all the panels were relatively comical. The beauty of it was that I was able to be entertained by this book from one aspect, and then pick it up months later and be floored by a completely different aspect of it. And it was that moment where Calvin and Hobbes was cemented as my favorite book/comic series. It was teaching me about characters, how to make them interesting, the real life situations they face, and how to mix all 3 into an comedically deep comic strip. I could argue I learned more about life and social skills from this book than I did from any person in elementary school, and it was all delivered from a story with visual priorities. I have no doubt I could never be impacted by Calvin and Hobbes the same if it was plain text on paper. Comics bring stories to life, they build guidelines for your imagination and still give you room to run with. I am so glad that comics establish how they want the people and settings to look like, rather than have us fill in the blanks. I think books are for those who want to challenge their imaginations, while comics are for those who want to indulge on theirs.