Graphic Novels in the Classroom

I found an article on Education World which included several links for teaching graphic novels. I liked seeing my thoughts on using comics to teach inference skills (read between the lines/panels). But, I was especially interested in the following quote:" Nancy Frey added, "We'd also like to acknowledge the importance of critical literacy -- the ability of a reader to understand his or her role in the transaction that occurs between the reader and the text." Critical literacy has always been important, but educators need to expand their definition of literacy. There is power in the "visual transaction" that occurs in graphic novels, advertisements, as well as local and national news. I've heard many students in the past say that there is no transaction when they read or even view texts. Graphic novels or shorter comics could be a stepping stone to this. The literacy of reading images juxtaposed with words and the literacy of reading images alone is crucial in our current and future world. I'm interested in hearing what others may find in this article and/or links.