Do you think that this topic on the merits of books and comics should, perhaps, have been made in the Books & Comics section?

Anyway, they both have their advantages and disadvantages. One's not objectively better than the other.

Books do have the slight advantage that they're not quite as... incestuously inbred as DC and Marvel, who make up a pretty significant chunk of the comics publishers.

But that's not a problem with the medium.

I just got Robert Crumb's comic adaptation of the Book of Genesis, and I'm here to tell you: Comics are sweet.

One thing, and one thing only does prose do that comics can't do just as well - walls of text. Which may be good for delivering vast amounts of information or narration or whatever, but it should be noted that it doesn't work as well for receiving that information. Comics, Alan Moore has been known to say, are unparalleled in the speedy and cohesive absorption of information department. Which is to say you can learn from them faster than any other medium.

And that's just scraping the surface of what comics can do. Actually in the 120 or so years we've had comics, we have only begun exploring their possibilities. Look at the work of David Mack, look at Dresden Codak or, well, anything by Alan Moore.

It's too hard for me, so I'm mostly stuck with writing. To my lament. >_>

The problem with that statement is the assumption of some universal factor in the intended audience; a factor which does not exist. I myself would say that interactive means of media are far better teachers than anything else. But, then, that assumption is based off of my own personal experiences, and might not be universal.

To imply that sequential art is the pinnacle of media is, frankly, a very narrow minded approach. In fact, arguments could be made that no media is the bet, and all media are the best simultaneously. What it eventually boils down to is how the creators utilize their media of choice, and how they play to its, as well as their own, strengths. And each media has it's own sets of strengths, and weaknesses.

Each has it's time, and it's place. None is on a plateau, overlooking the others in the valley.

Maybe I didn't make it clear the last time we had this discussion, but when I talk about what I like about the comics medium I'm not saying that every other medium is objectively inferior. I'm saying that I like comics.

And yes, everyone probably doesn't absorb data from comics easier than any other source, but I like to think it's true for the majority. I didn't think quoting the self-proclaimed Wizard of Northampton would be taken as an attempt at formulating universal truth.

You phrased both points as if they were absolutes, and it was not only I who read it that way. I showed your post, your phrasing to others, and they drew the same conclusions as I did.

If I understand you correctly, you're saying that when I say there's a great many things I like about comics, it's assumed by everyone that I mean there's basically no point in working in any other medium?

Yes, there are things that can be done in other mediums that can't be done in comics. They are, however, not as interesting to me, and I don't want to spend all day talking about their virtues to assure people I'm aware of their existence. Can we possibly leave it at that?

Like everyone's pretty much said, they're distinct genres, so it's almost always gonna come down to personal preference. These days I'm definitely a comics person. There are so many interesting stories in comics I've yet to read and novels, as a whole (insofar as you can put the entire span of novels into a statement like "as a whole", which you might very well argue is "not at all"), feel kind of "been there, done that."

I prefer leaving a story in its original medial context. Adaptation in my experience is rarely an improvement, whether it's book-to-film, comic-to-film or comic-to-book.

I tend to prefer books. I have a growing library of my favorite authors as we speak. But comics are fun too, as I am expending some effort to collect the Spiderman comics from the very begining. The Dark Knight Returns was a great graphic novel. I guess it depends on what mood I am in when choosing between books or comics.