The supergenre of what can collectively be called "comics" represents a cultural phenomenon that has exploded onto the public scene over the past fifty-odd years. Evolving from newspaper comics to superhero stories in paperback periodicals, the world of comics has increasingly spread and attracted the attention of the public. With the publication of Art Spiegelman's Maus, however, comics opened the door to a world of possibilities. After Maus received widespread acclaim, despite its academic taboo as a medium, several other graphic novels of historical commentary made their way into the public eye: Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, Keiji Nakazawa's Barefoot Gen, and a Legion of others. Taken together, this new subgenre of the supergenre offers a personal look at many historically tragic, enlightening, or revolutionary events. These historical-autobiographical stories can effectively introduce people, whether they are students in the classroom or curious and independent readers seeking the truth, to the story, thanks to the format, the popularity of the historical events surrounding it, the recognizable personal perspective and the innovative, and they enjoy the approval that attracts attention. While graphic novels like Maus, Persepolis, Fun Home, and Barefoot Gen can differ greatly in content, the format of conveying a story of novel-level complexity through sequential art consolidates all of these titles into one subtitle. type. These graphic novels would effectively portray the story in a classroom context (as well as personal, individual enjoyment) due to the changing demographics of students in high schools and colleges in the United States (if not worldwide). With the advent of the Internet and the popularity of television and videos... at the center of the paper... adapting to significant historical periods and with a personal and recognizable point of view, historical-autobiographical novels effectively represent the history of events. The next step toward academic respect requires demonstrating their effectiveness to scholars of both history and literature. Once these works secure a similar educational following to the public fan base, perhaps history courses and interdisciplinary venues could begin to incorporate the graphic novel into their reading lists. Until then, the usefulness of Maus or Barefoot Gen as commentaries on the Second World War, of Fun Home on homosexuality and the sexual revolution, and of Persepolis on the Iranian Revolution must be appreciated solely from an individual point of view. ." Time 4 Learning. Time 4 Learning, Web. 6 October 2009. .