The emergence of quality multimodal texts such as graphic novels may provide new vistas that allow adolescents access to more complex readings of difficult texts. This is especially true for the large number of graphic versions of Shakespearean text that have recently come on the market. However, it is still unclear as to what students actually understand about visuals and to what extent they use this understanding to aid them in the interpretation of multimodal texts. It falls to teachers to model higher-order visual literacy skills to students. However, many teachers may not have the experience or training necessary to sufficiently lead students to higher-order visual interpretation. The authors offer a model for understanding complex, multimodal texts that can help students move from passive receivers to active perceivers of graphic texts. (Contains 6 figures.)