<![CDATA[General Background Reading comprehension serves as a foundational skill for acquiring broad knowledge and facilitating personal development. Specific Background Third-grade students at Way Perancang Elementary School encounter significant challenges with text analysis, often struggling to answer questions, summarize plots, and maintain focus due to rapid boredom with dense texts. Knowledge Gap Although conventional reading causes fatigue, there is a lack of interactive, visual-based approaches utilized to simplify abstract information and maintain student engagement. Aims This study intends to optimize narrative understanding and foster a highly interactive learning atmosphere using image-based story media. Results Implemented through a cyclical Classroom Action Research framework, the intervention raised the average student score from 62.08 to 81.25. Furthermore, learner mastery reached 100 percent, accompanied by heightened enthusiasm and active participation in arranging and retelling narratives. Novelty Integrating visual media with direct instructional scaffolding acts as a cognitive bridge, uniquely transforming abstract textual data into easily processable information for young learners. Implications The deployment of graphic-based narratives offers an engaging pedagogical alternative that prevents cognitive overload and successfully optimizes basic literacy within elementary settings. Highlights: The implementation of sequential visual media increased the average test score from 62.08 to 81.25 across evaluation cycles. Interactive discussions based on character graphics successfully eliminated learner boredom and restored focus during text analysis. A 100 percent mastery rate was attained as learners successfully summarized narratives and arranged disordered plots. Keywords: Reading Comprehension, Illustrated Story Media, Elementary Students, Action Research, Cognitive Bridge]]>
