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I think that in a graphic novel, words and images support each other. I don't think Persepolis would have the same power without one or the other. I think the pictures give the story a dimension that words couldn't give it, and also gives us as readers a different lense to view the historical context through. I think it would be simple to view what was occurring in Iran at the time through a sympathetic outsider's perspective; needless to say, there were some horrific things occuring within Iran. But we see in Persepolis what it would have been like to be a child throughout these events: to not fully understand what was going on, to see family members at risk, to see neighbors die. I don't think only words would adequately fulfill the experience. The images, in their starkness, seem to symbolize how she was seeing the world: good and evil, love and hate, etc. I think having only words would create more of an outsider's perspective. The images make you feel like you're part of the experience.

On the flipside, without words, I don't think you'd get the full experience either. The words guide the images; they give them a fluidity and continuity.