We set out to explain the new crop of health books that were exclusively in graphic novel format and the reason for their popularity. We wanted to know what happens to complicated health information when it is presented in a graphic format and whether this unconventional medium appeals to a new type of reader. It wasn’t surprising that the new graphic novel reader is more likely to be a woman. What is surprising is that she’s likely to be younger than more conventional readers of health care books. That’s the reason why women are breaking into this “boy’s club” of graphic novels. For the same reason, we chose to accompany the feature story with a review of two popular breast cancer memoirs in graphic format. Although cancer is a difficult topic to broach, we felt that the comic book format lent itself perfectly to the irreverent stories of both authors.
