Member-only story
Reading Comics vs. Text-Based Books: What’s the Difference for Our Imagination?
Have you ever opened a thick novel and suddenly found yourself transported to another world — just from the first paragraph? Or perhaps you’ve felt more connected to a story through colorful comic panels filled with expressive characters and dynamic scenes?
You can read the Indonesian version of this article for free here
In the digital age, we’re often faced with a choice: read a 400-page novel or dive into the same story in graphic form. Interestingly, even when the plot is identical, the reading experience can be vastly different — especially when it comes to how our imagination works .
Let’s explore this together.
When Words Build Worlds
Imagine opening the first page of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone . J.K. Rowling paints a seemingly ordinary London neighborhood and slowly introduces something strange and magical.
“The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it.”
Without visuals, without illustrations, your mind starts imagining what the Dursleys look like, how their house feels, even the lazy footsteps of Dudley. All of this emerges from a…
