Art teaching and creative technologies: Interactive graphic novels foster thinking and artistic creation

Abstract

At the beginning of the 21st century graphic novels faced a challenge. The appearance of comic strips on the internet creates more freedom. New features are provided to the creator and the reader. The remarkable form of graphic novels with the required choice of images and words is familiar to students of all levels due to their engagement with new technologies. Interactive graphic novels expand the boundaries of the novel with the particularity of using the audio-visual and verbal modes of expression. Interactive graphic novels immerse users into the storylines in an exciting way and allow them to become active participants in the content. They are not printed on good quality paper; interactive graphic novels are not books (not at least in the traditional, physical sense), but they maintain the same way of production and methodology. They are a hybrid type, with panels, visualisation and sound that resemble digital comics, videogames, but there is the "fell/sense" of reading. They have developed a complex vocabulary, visual, acoustic and verbal which has a significant influence on the understanding of the story. Larger narratives achieve the complexity and density of story. It is not just a "scrolling" process, that is it does not restrict the reader to a dull / restrictive navigation. It is especially important that they offer the user the freedom to navigate. The interactive collaboration of image, sound and word is a novel combination of elements in a web browser, offering a wealth of information, freedom of choice and practice of creativity. The subject matter is varied and the illustration does not depict the plot, but it is an integral part of the medium, as does the audio investment. Enrichment acts as a challenge that does not lead the reader to a surface reading.