Art and Text: An Exploration of the Graphic Novel

The graphic novel is one of the most exciting forms of storytelling in use today. Its combination of art and text offers endless possibilities for creative expression and can produce incredibly complex and rich narratives. The goal of this thesis is to demonstrate why certain stories are best told as a graphic novel rather than through traditional prose or some other medium. In doing so, this thesis will briefly explore the history of the graphic novel and its emergence as a distinct form, discuss unique features of this medium and their use in crafting a narrative, and examine specific texts that utilize these features to create meaning and develop a story that could only be told in this way.