Information comics: An overview

The analysis of the structure of comics is increasing but only recently have “information comics” been analyzed. These are a subset of comics whose purpose is not to tell a story or entertain but to transfer information or communicate concepts, even though that narrative is often considered an essential element of comics. Information transfer is considered an essential element of many texts, especially educational ones. The effective use of comics in education settings has been discussed since at least 1944. While “information comics” do differ in some aspects, this study will show via Peircean Visual Design that “information comics” are fundamentally the same as other comics, and while comics as a whole may be effective in knowledge transfer there appears to be little data supporting this claim.