When I was a kid, comic books shared shelf space with more serious literature. Black Beauty and Little Women were flanked by the likes of Archie, Superman and MAD Magazine (which originated as a comic before it morphed into a graphic magazine to avoid the strictures of the Comics Code Authority). Most of us read comics, either casually or loyally, when we were young. As we left childhood, we graduated to “real” literature — books without drawings. The emergence of graphic novels has, unfortunately, been dismissed by many of us as just another form of comics.

Some graphic novels are like fast food: easy to consume, not meant to be memorable. But many graphic novels are worth a closer look. Beyond Japanese manga or DC and Marvel comics, some graphic novels are true works of art in every sense. When the author is also the illustrator, we see with the author’s eyes rather than with our mind’s eyes. For traditional readers, this takes getting used to. The effort is rewarded because we can imagine what the author wanted to convey through design as well as words; when text is limited, graphics must convey to us what a character is thinking or what action is taking place.

The best graphic literature – novels and non-fiction — are on par with the best traditional literature. Maus aka Maus: A Survivor’s Tale — My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman recounts the dark history of the Holocaust, depicting Jews as mice and Germans as cats; it won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize. Other graphic works of note were subsequently adapted into well-received movies. They include Iranian-born Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical novel, Persepolis, about her childhood during the country’s Islamic revolution (a 2007 Cannes Film Festival winner and Oscar nominee); V for Vendetta (a 2005 film adaptation of the 1982 graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd); and 300 from the graphic novel by Frank Miller. Two graphic novels made the short list to win the prestigious 2012 Costa Book Awards, one of the UK’s most prestigious and popular literary prizes: Bryan Talbot’s graphic memoir Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes and Jeff Winterhart’s Days of the Bagnold Summer.

My Book●ed webcasts would certainly welcome any submissions from authors of graphic literature to be interviewed on my show. Meanwhile, don’t dismissively walk past the shelves of graphic novels at your library or book store. If you look closer, you just might find an artistic masterpiece.