AustLit

"The ‘Ubby’s Underdogs’ books are the first graphic novels published by Magabala Books,representing an innovation which maintains the inventiveness characteristic of Magabala’s picture books. The trilogy’s treatment of the Underdogs’ exploits in multicultural Broome foregrounds the encounter between Aboriginal and Chinese cultural traditions. By drawing on a blend of cultural signifiers, the novels display the carnivalesque qualities described by Mikhail Bakhtin in Rabelais and His World (1984). In McKenna’s novels carnivalesque scenes, polyglot voices and intercultural dialogues give rise to a transformative vision of a community which resists monologic authoritarianism. Like graphic novels more generally, the Underdogs novels rely on visual, verbal and cultural stereotypes to enable rapid identification of characters of various ethnicities. They transform such stereotypical and exoticised figures through modes of representation and narrative which privilege the ‘culture of folk carnival humour’ (Bakhtin 1984, p. 4) to present negotiations between and across cultures in the setting of post-war Broome." (Introduction)

Graphic novels, also referred to as graphic narratives, sequential art narratives, or substantial comics, are gaining recognition as a valuable format through which to deliver fictional and non-fictional texts. In the process of exciting young readers and cultivating cognitive and creative communication skills for the future, graphic novels offer a format that is compelling, challenging, and rich in the visual and lexical grammars required by 21st century readers and communicators. This chapter considers why and how graphic novels should be integrated into primary classrooms. It will draw upon academic research that acknowledges the significance of this medium of expression.