When you think of comics, a complex narrative may not be what pops into your head.

Missouri State University faculty members Cole Closser and Jennifer Murvin are on a mission to show the power of sharing a narrative in comic form.

Combining forces

Closser, assistant professor of art and design, and Murvin, senior instructor of English, co-teach Graphic Narrative, an inter-disciplinary course focused on creating comics.

“I’m drawn to comics because it is a medium, not a genre. It’s capable of absolutely anything,” Closser said.

The duo teach students how to utilize literary devices, along with artwork, to tell a complete story. The stories are often about students’ personal experiences.

“We all have the natural language of combining words and pictures inside us,” Closser said.

Standing out from the crowd

Missouri State is among few other schools in the country that offers a comics class. But untraditional doesn’t mean unimportant.

“Reading comics is decoding—it’s a different exercise than traditional reading,” Murvin said.

Pairing images with text has proven useful for students who struggle with literacy. The images reinforce the ideas portrayed in the text, which leads to deeper understanding.

To be continued…

Closser and Murvin will travel to Portland, Oregon this month to speak about teaching Graphic Narrative at the 2019 Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference.

Closser has two books available for purchase online, “Little Tommy Lost” and “Black Rat.”

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