A young co-worker has been trying hard to turn me into a reader of the graphic novel.

Now that “Watchmen” has come to theaters it’s time at least to get up to speed. “Watchmen,” by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, is the only graphic novel to appear on Time Magazine’s “100 Best Novels from 1923 to the Present.”

Other indicators, too, point to the emergence of graphic novels as a legitimate literary form. Visit any number of public libraries and see the prominent displays of graphic novels. Librarians I know not only respect this genre but also see it as a means to engage younger audiences in reading.

I began reading a graphic novel for the first time recently — titled “Kabuki: Circle of Blood,” by David Mack. I’m not hooked on the graphic novel style, but I do recognize the artistic value.

So here are some of the things I’m learning from my co-worker, who is in the die-hard fan category: We as readers (read: over age 40) need to grow up and move past the misconception that comic books and graphic novels are nothing more than pseudo-literary fodder for children and “nerds.” Within the past 20 years, the comic book industry has seen individual publishers move into self-censorship, doing away with the more restrictive rules of the Comics Code Authority. As a result, graphic novels have grown up, their pages filled with more psychologically complicated characters and mature themes.

The form isn’t limited to stereotyped spandex-clad heroes fighting super-powered battles on fictional planets anymore. Characters now deal with serious moral, ethical and social issues.

In the first volume of Mack’s Kabuki, you’ll find a physically powerful and beautiful Japanese woman so deeply affected by a painful past that she can only relate to her present world through the safety of a kabuki mask. Her quest throughout the book forces her to come to terms with her family, history, culture and mother’s death while coming into direct conflict with the powers she serves.

Here are highlights of my co-worker’s recommendations, in addition to “Watchmen” and “Kabuki: Circle of Blood”:

“Danger Girl: The Ultimate Collection,” by J. Scott Campbell and Andy Hartnell — This fast-paced novel reads and feels exactly like an action movie, with artwork just as gripping as the storyline. “Danger Girl” follows adventuress Abbey Chase as her life dramatically changes once intertwined with a black-ops team. Imagine Indiana Jones meeting James Bond.

“Maus: A Survivor’s Tale,” by Art Speigelman — One of the premier non-fiction graphic novels, “Maus” recounts the struggle of Spiegelman’s father to survive the Holocaust as a Polish Jew and draws largely on those personal experiences. The book also follows Spiegelman’s troubled relationship with his father and the effects of war as it reverberated through generations of a family.