A favorite book of mine (The fable game by Enzo Mari) perfectly illustrates an unfortunate point about pictorial narratives.
As Maire- Laure Ryan argues-"It seems clear that of all the semiotic codes language is the best suited to story telling. Every narrative can be summarised in language, but very few can be retold through pictures exclusively."
This weakness may be true but there are two ways in which visual mediums can match the power of language mediums. One way is to reinterpret a known story using pictures. A familiar language dependant story can hold the same power when retold visually, because the verbal summary of the story is within us (as illustrated in the mix and match fable game above).
The second is to use written language in partneship with pictures. A graphic novel would be the best example of this. Marrying pictures with words allows the visuals to express concepts on a deeper level.
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