Why Christian comics?

A recent Barna study on Bible use and engagement commissioned by the American Bible Society demonstrated that 32% of Millennials never engage in Bible reading but among teen lack of engagement is even higher at 48%. Concurrent with this study, comic market site Comichron shows that comic readers have grown 42% in the last five years. As a new generation of Americans discovers comics, they are simultaneously disengaging with Bible reading. Maybe the intersection of those stats is something that evangelicals should pay attention to.

To help understand the dynamics of comics and Scripture engagement Kingstone posits the following benefits of Christian comics:

Engagement for readers - comics impart meaning through the reader’s active engagement with written language and juxtaposed sequential images. Readers must actvely make meaning from the interplay of text and images, as well as by filling in the gaps between panels.

Engagement with Scripture – both English and international buyers have flooded Kingstone offices on how their children, students or customers have engaged Scripture through Kingstone Comics. Numerous churches use Kingstone products for connecting with the unchurched and unengaged. For example, imagine the difference in engagement level if a fine Bible distribution organization such as the Gideon’s supplemented their school or prison Bible distribution with Bible comics. Which product would more likely be read, re-read and shared with others? The reason Kingstone indexes each story and lists the Scripture on each page is so that readers will be encouraged to engage further in text versions of the Bible.

Efficiency - the comic format conveys large amounts of information in a short time. In a relatively brief span of time, a graphic Bible reader could discover the major themes and stories of the Bible. This is why graphic media is especially effective for teaching content in the subject areas (math, science, social studies, etc.). Studies show that we can also process visual images up to 60,000x faster than text.

Effectiveness - processing text and images together leads to better recall and transfer of learning. Neurological experiments have shown that we process text and images in different areas of the brain: known as the Dual-Coding Theory of Cognition. These experiments also indicate that pairing an image with text leads to increased memory retention for both. With comics, students not only learn the material faster, they learn it better.

Education – graphic media adds a fun factor to education along with the previously mentioned items for educational effectiveness. The reason libraries have become big buyers of graphic novels is they want to re-engage younger readers. Secular libraries won’t bring a Bible into their system but yet Kingstone distributes their graphic Bible products to hundreds of libraries. Schools and colleges are growing utilizers of graphic novels and even historic West Point military academy has a required graphic novel for reading.

Encourages - and motivates struggling and special needs readers. Encourages semi-literate and illiterate readers to engage the story and begin to make sense of the text. Helps overcome the fear of reading and engaging text.

Evangelism - intricate and well-designed comic art can be a more compelling and fascinating pick-up for an unchurched or irreligious person to pick up and peruse. The Bible, full of text and difficult words, sayings and names can be intimidating to a novice seeker of religion. Key products such as the Kingstone Bible can be a gateway to Biblical understanding. Additionally, church experienced kids or teens might feel more acceptance in sharing a well-known and attractive medium than distributing a full text Bible.

Next time you or your church is thinking about ways to engage the next generation in Scripture – you might want to consider comics!

Art Ayris is the CEO of central Florida based Kingstone Comics and Publisher of the Kingstone Bible, the most complete graphic adaptation of the Bible ever done.