Simple, opaque inked characters. Easy-to-read features. Not a lot of perspective there either. How good could it really be?”

I still remember a student saying those words to me as I handed him a copy of ‘Persepolis’. I understood why he said this, considering his entire concept of graphic literature revolved around American superheroes and Japanese protagonists. When I met him next, his scepticism had vanished. “I felt like I had lived someone’s life,” he said.