Metro Voice News Celebrating Faith, Family & Community
Comic books can be an effective way to teach children the true story of the nation’s founding, according to the CEO of a Christian-owned publishing company.
Kingstone Studios, best known among Christians for its six-volume Kingstone Bible,
is gaining a following for its history-themed comics. It recently launched U.S. Comics, an imprint for parents and children alike who desire a recounting of American history with visually engaging, graphic-style storytelling. It released a 360-page comic book, America Part One, along with comics focused on the Constitution, Paul Revere’s ride and the Declaration of Independence.
“After I read the 1619 Project, I said, ‘We’ve got a disconnect here,'” CEO Art Ayris says. “Just like we did with the graphic adaptation of the Bible, I felt like we needed also to tackle American history, American ideals. You cannot read the story of the founding of America without seeing God in the Bible and faith just interwoven into it.”
Most of Kingstone’s artists have drawn for Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and the biggest comic publishers in the United States. “I feel like when people look at that medium, it needs to be at that level,” he said.
The target audience is children, teens, and young adults. Comics are a “universal medium,” he said, that can boost learning in ways text alone cannot.
“When you take the sequential panels and the words, and you begin marrying them together, it really helps with reading,” Ayris told Crosswalk. “My mother had a doctorate in education, and she was a big believer in the funny papers [in the newspaper] because of people being able to read.”
Ayris cited Allan Paivio’s 1970s dual coding theory, which suggests information is processed and stored in the brain using two systems: one for verbal information and one for visual information. “When you marry those together, there’s much greater retention,” he said.
More information is available at www.kingstonestudios.com.
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice
