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Open research questions in Comics and Graphic Narratives

75 gap statements mined from Comics and Graphic Narratives papers in our 4.5M-paper local library, which holds 1,216 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

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What the literature leaves open

  • There is a need to strengthen students' mathematical resilience. There is a lack of effective materials for teaching mathematical representation skills. There is a need to develop new approaches to teaching geometry, especially in quadrilaterals.

    Development of Group Investigation-Based Mathematics E-Comic to Improve Mathematical Representation Skills of Junior High School Students · 2026 · DOI

  • The diversity of languages and cultures represented in the TINTIN Corpus, which required the development of a robust and flexible annotation schema. The need to balance the universality of the findings with the variability of panel properties across different comics and cultures.

    The properties of panels in global comics: frequency and size of 76 K panels in 1,030 comics from 144 countries · 2026 · DOI

  • Further studies can be conducted to examine the properties of panels in other visual narrative forms, such as graphic novels and manga. The study's methodology can be applied to other languages and cultures to examine the universality of the findings. Future research can investigate the cognitive and perceptual effects of panel properties on readers.

    The properties of panels in global comics: frequency and size of 76 K panels in 1,030 comics from 144 countries · 2026 · DOI

  • Situated use of comic design for natural science didactics is an understudied practice, and, thus, based on video observations of three case students working throughout seven lessons, we draw on designs for learning when exploring how different semiotic modes are utilized in meaning making to create an evolutionary trait in designing a comic.

    Designing “Armis Lecerta”: Transformations and transductions in three primary students’ comic book making in natural science education · 2026 · DOI

  • Despite these challenges, there is limited research exploring alternative and potentially more accessible formats—such as data comics, a narrative visualisation technique that integrates data with the structure of traditional comic strips—to represent and communicate insights from learner data in a more engaging way.

    From comic panels to clinical practice: data comics as a learning analytics tool in nursing simulation · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research can improve the study by diversifying the participants involved. Future research can apply the study's results to other areas of media development.

    Exploring participant perspectives through semi-structured interviews: A case study of interactive comic development · 2026 · DOI

  • A limitation of this study is that the analyses are restricted to three Marvel characters and selected AI Disclosure: ChatGPT, Deepl Translator, Gemini posters featuring these characters.

    A semiotic analysis of the AI-driven reproduction of the superhero myth in marvel film posters · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of how multimodal scaffolding can be used to create autographics in the classroom. The paper highlights the need for a new approach to teaching autobiographical writing.

    Retracing memory: Using multimodal scaffolding to create autographics in the classroom · 2026 · DOI

  • The study highlights the need to examine the creative possibilities of illustrations in this context.

    A figura do ilustrador em tempos de IA · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research can build on the paper's proposal for a broader understanding of "arte sequencial". The study suggests that further research can explore the implications of this broader understanding for the development of new forms of expression and the analysis of existing ones.

    Quadrinhos: uma arte não tão sequencial assim · 2026 · DOI

  • The study argues that this gap can be addressed by proposing a broader understanding of "arte sequencial" that encompasses multiple forms of expression.

    Quadrinhos: uma arte não tão sequencial assim · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in prior research, which has focused on neo-classical approaches to political cartoons. It highlights the need to consider the role of tropes in guiding audience readings.

    Making light of James Watt: A Burkean approach to the form and attitude of political cartoons · 1987 · DOI

  • Future research should focus on developing more effective and comprehensive faculty evaluation methods. It should consider the role of multiple stakeholders and conflicting priorities in faculty evaluation.

    Formative and summative evaluation: Parody or paradox? · 1987 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the current literature on faculty evaluation, highlighting the need for a more comprehensive approach. It notes that current evaluation methods have limitations and biases.

    Formative and summative evaluation: Parody or paradox? · 1987 · DOI

  • The field of editorial cartooning has been understudied, with a lack of empirical research on editorial cartoonists as a group. The literature on cartoonists is meager, with few books providing biographical information and work habits of individual cartoonists.

    Editorial Cartoonists: A Descriptive Survey · 1986 · DOI

  • Further study is needed to fully understand the role of copying in children's artistic development. Research could explore the use of copying as a teaching tool in art education programs. The study's findings could be applied to other areas of children's development, such as writing or music.

    Copying and Artistic Behaviors: Children and Comic Strips · 1985 · DOI

  • The study highlights the need for further research on the role of copying in children's artistic development.

    Copying and Artistic Behaviors: Children and Comic Strips · 1985 · DOI

  • The paper does not provide a detailed summary of Guntrip's history. The paper's view of Guntrip's therapy is limited to his own account and Glatzer and Evans's critique.

    Guntrip's Analysis with Winnicott · 1981 · DOI

  • Future research could explore the implications of narcissistic transference in therapy. Future research could investigate the effectiveness of therapy in cases where the patient has a deeply ingrained sense of unreality.

    Guntrip's Analysis with Winnicott · 1981 · DOI

  • Further development of the digital comic to include more clinical communication scenarios. Investigation of the effectiveness of the digital comic in improving nursing students' medical German communication skills.

    The Development of A Digital Comic Themed 'In the Hospital' Assisted by the Gemini Application · 2026 · DOI

  • Due to the relatively new practice of collecting comics in academic and special collections libraries, there is currently no standardization of acquisition or description methods, and Flota and coeditor Kate Morris found that their best resources were other practitioners working with collections of a similar or greater size.

    Comic Books, Special Collections, and the Academic Library, edited by Brian Flota and Kate Morris · 2025 · DOI

  • The author hopes to see what others do with the genre. The paper suggests that the awareness of wordless books has taken a big leap over the past ten years.

    Text Optiona:l Visual Storytelling with Wordless Picturebooks · 2016 · DOI

  • There is less material on the format's capacity for visual literacy. The paper aims to explore the potential of wordless picturebooks for visual literacy and storytelling.

    Text Optiona:l Visual Storytelling with Wordless Picturebooks · 2016 · DOI

  • The paper suggests that superheroes are especially needed by our age, given the demise of literal belief in religious supernaturalism and human perfectibility.

    Superhero comic books · 1982 · DOI

  • By contrast, in reviewing versions of Beowulf Jason Tondro finds adaptations that vary widely, with at least one “firmly rooted in anthropological and archeological detail” (38) but another verging on decisions made for largely-commercial reasons, the prequel series entitled Kid Beowulf.

    Drawn from the Classics: Essays on Graphic Adaptations of Literary Works ed. by Stephen E. Tabachnick, Saltzman, Esther Bendit · 2016 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Comics and Graphic Narratives

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) There is a need to strengthen students' mathematical resilience (“Development of Group Investigation-Based Mathematics E-Comic to Improve…”, 2026); (2) Future research can investigate the cognitive and perceptual effects of panel properties on readers (“The properties of panels in global comics: frequency and size of 76 K panels in…”, 2026); (3) Future research can improve the study by diversifying the participants involved (“Exploring participant perspectives through semi-structured interviews: A case…”, 2026); (4) Future research can build on the paper's proposal for a broader understanding of "arte sequencial" (“Quadrinhos: uma arte não tão sequencial assim”, 2026); (5) Future research should focus on developing more effective and comprehensive faculty evaluation methods (“Formative and summative evaluation: Parody or paradox?”, 1987). 75 gap statements have been mined from Comics and Graphic Narratives papers in our 4.5M-paper local library, which holds 1,216 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

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