Comic books and graphic novels are a profitable market for publishers; 2012 sales of comics and graphic novels totaled $680 million in the United States and Canada. Graphic novels can even be found on the pages of The New York Times Best Seller list. The popularity of comic books and graphic novels cannot be denied, the sales of both movies and print versions of these narratives indicate that there is a ready audience for this medium, many of whom are sitting in social studies classes. The graphic novel is a medium through which all genres of literature can be portrayed--fiction, biography, memoir, science fiction, mystery, and historical fiction are all popular. Several graphic novels (ones not involving the Marvel™ or DC Comics™ superheroes) have found immense worldwide popularity. In addition to Art Spiegelman's "Maus", Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis" and Alan Moore's "Watchmen" are highly acclaimed graphic novels, praised by critics of comics and mainstream literature alike. Most social studies teachers utilize at least some part of a film each week. In addition to film, social studies teachers frequently employ political cartoons, streaming video, websites, and picture books as instructional tools. The graphic novel is but one more multimodal ensemble to add to the teacher tool belt for literacy instruction in the social studies classroom.