Same Idea, Different Angles

As a reader, the difference between a graphic novel and a normal text novel are actually small. The main differences are the speed and ease of the author communicating how everything looks and where it is. As far as the actual communication of the story, however, a graphic novel does just as well as a text novel.

While seemingly strikingly different, the graphic novel simply adds another dimension to what would still be a great novel. The visual aspect of the graphic novel simply takes the variability of the reader's imagination out of the equation. While some may see this as a negative aspect, it allows the authors to portray their characters and scenes with exact specification. What a graphic novel really allows for is the author to communicate very clearly with the reader. In the form of text, the author can try as hard as they can to verbally portray their characters and scenes, nothing works quite as well as actually giving a visual representation. A graphic novel allows for this.

Really, the point I'm trying to get at is a graphic novel is still a novel in every aspect.

One of the only major differences between a text novel and a graphic novel is how emotions are communicated. While in a graphic novel there is little description of what the characters are thinking, as opposed to most text novels, their emotions are conveyed through imagery instead. While the author may not say that the character is overjoyed, disappointed, upset, or furious, they can communicate this to the audience through the medium of the graphic novel. The audience still gets the same emotional appeal as they would in a text novel, but simply in a different way.