A new study released by Simba Information shows one in 10 adults read comics.  And while many will poo-poo the notion that comics are for kids, the comic book reader might be more literate than the rest, as 70-percent of those who read comics are also more inclined to purchase regular books as well.

Showing marked increases in their presence on bestseller lists, graphic novels have almost become their own industry at a time when growth in traditional publishing has become practically non-existent. The basis for numerous films, television shows, and other forms of media, graphic novels have grown in both sales and influence. “More works of art to bridge the fine line between the literary and visual mediums, graphic novels appeal to the largest audience possible and have untold potential because of it,” said Warren Pawlowski, analyst for Simba Information’s Trade Books Groups.

Of course one needs to drop $1,000 for the full report available from the company website, and since we’d rather spend our money on servers, bandwidth, and electricity to keep the site running, we’ve no way to tell if this study was done at or around the same time the Watchman graphic novel was selling millions of copies, what the sample size was, and the like, but anything we can use to prove that not only kids read comics is a feather in our cap.  GO! COMICS!

Oh, and for those who don’t think comics are legitimate literature, check out the study conducted by the University of Illinois

Carol L. Tilley, a professor of library and information science at Illinois, says that comics are just as sophisticated as other forms of literature, and children benefit from reading them at least as much as they do from reading other types of books.

GO! COMICS!  That’s all the proof I need to chuck my son’s Goodnight Moon, and replacing it with the latest issue of Amazing Spider-Man.

via University of Illinois and Marketwire