As from here a link to here with this line:

"...Educators say [comic books] can provide the same function as other children’s books — acting as a gateway to more advanced reading and thought."

Sure. They'll go on to ... um... Love and Rockets?

Actually my main comment is simply "and them reading comics is fine in their own right". I find such commentary from educators, even insofar as I am interested in books (albeit at some point in time I shifted from fiction to nonfiction in my biases) and think it'd be good for kids to read those things, aggrivating. Don't you?