Show Me the Story

Graphic novels include many of the same elements as traditional books: plot, character development, and setting. The best graphic novelists drive the narrative with the perfect balance of words and images. The artists whose work is featured here, Dan Santat, Jerry Craft, and Cassie Anderson, use visual techniques that keep readers turning the pages.

Graphic novels include many of the same elements as traditional books. They combine plots, characters, and settings to build a narrative, or story. Graphic novels include words and images. The artists featured here use exciting visual techniques.

At the start of Santat’s 2023 memoir A First Time for Everything, 13-year-old Dan is having a hard time in middle school. Dwarfed by his classmates’ outsize reaction as he recites a poem, he is overcome with embarrassment. In the top image above, the figure’s tiny size and scrunched-up body language reinforce his wish to disappear into the neutral background.

The remainder of the story portrays a life-changing school trip Dan takes to Europe, where he does many things for the first time, including getting a girlfriend. In the bottom image above, as the trip comes to an end, he dances in a crowd, bathed in cool blue light. He raises his arms in an exuberant gesture; his happy face fills the panel. How do the differences between the two images demonstrate the ways Dan’s personality changes over the course of the book?

Dan Santat’s 2023 memoir is called A First Time for Everything. When it starts, 13-year-old Dan is struggling in middle school. He recites a poem in class and his classmates laugh at him. Dan feels embarrassed. Look at the figure in the first scene above. His tiny size and scrunched-up body language show how small he feels.

Later in the story, Dan takes a school trip to Europe. He tries many new things and his confidence grows. The second image above shows Dan dancing in a crowd at the end of the trip. He raises his arms in a joyful gesture. His happy face fills the panel. How do the two images show how Dan has changed?

Early in his career, Jerry Craft was given some advice: “Don’t tell it, show it.” He kept this guidance in mind as he wrote and drew his New Kid. The 2019 book portrays the struggles a seventh-grader named Jordan faces finding his way at a new school.

Rather than explaining the situation in the image above using words, Craft uses a series of frames to create emphasis. Like a camera going in for a close-up, yellow rectangles slow down the action and draw the viewer’s eye to important details as time passes and the scene unfolds.

Craft also uses line to indicate physical action. A thin circle in the top left panel zooms in on the moment the scuffle began. White motion lines help animate the student’s fall in the center of the scene.

If you were a teacher called to weigh in, whose side would you take based on these images?

Jerry Craft was once told: “Don’t tell it, show it.” He used this advice as he wrote and drew his 2019 book New Kid. It’s about Jordan, a seventh-grader who moves to a new school.

Look at the image above. Craft doesn’t use words to explain what’s happening. He draws a series of frames to create emphasis. The yellow rectangles draw the viewer’s eye to important details and show the passage of time.

Craft also uses lines to indicate physical action. A circle in the top left panel shows how the conflict began. The student falling in the center of the scene is surrounded by white motion lines. These lines make the still image feel animated.

The image above is from Cassie Anderson’s 2023 adaptation of the novel I Survived the Great Chicago Fire, 1871, by Lauren Tarshis. The story is inspired by a real fire that destroyed many streets in Chicago in 1871. At the time, the risk of fires was high. Most buildings were made of wood, candles lit homes, and modern firefighting equipment didn’t exist. Chicago, one of the fastest-growing cities in the world in the 19th century, provides the setting for the story.

In this scene, friends Oscar, Jennie, and Bruno race through the city. Converging lines show the buildings receding into the background and emphasize the fire’s scale. This visual technique draws the viewer’s eye deep into the scene.

The warm color palette heightens the sense of danger. As the characters rush into the foreground, Jennie and Bruno gaze with wide, worried eyes. Oscar looks ahead with determination, seemingly focused on finding safety. The friends survive and soon watch their city rebuild.

The image above is from Cassie Anderson’s 2023 adaptation of I Survived the Great Chicago Fire, 1871. The story is about a real fire in Chicago in 1871. At the time, many buildings were made of wood, firefighting technology was limited, and the risk of fires was high.

In this scene, Oscar, Jennie, and Bruno race through the street. Everything is on fire. The buildings are drawn with converging lines. They stretch into the background. This visual technique draws the viewer’s eye into the scene. Warm colors emphasize the danger.

Now look at the faces of the characters in the foreground. Jennie and Bruno have wide, worried eyes. Oscar looks determined. He seems focused on finding safety. The friends survive, and the city soon rebuilds.