English Literature: novels, plays, essays, and comic books?

Many English professionals have debated for a long time in order to define the subject of literature. Via Dictionary.com the definition of literature is “Writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays.” Wikipedia.org has a different answer to the literature question “the art of written works. Literally translated, the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letters), and therefore the academic study of literature is known as Letters (as in the phrase "Arts and Letters"). Dictionary.com says it is writing with meanings and ideas while Wikipedia.org says that it is the “art of letters” or anything that is writing.
As most arguments, the solution of this problem is not resolved by choosing a side but picking a place somewhere in the gray area between the two extremes. Most of us have a different definition for literature but most will agree that it is somewhere in between. This is the easy part, the hard part is placing exact words to the definition in order for it to say what you want it to say and others reading it will understand your stand point on every example they can come up with.
Literature- any media that uses letters to make a point, tell a story, or an idea. Many books that many would not consider literature will become literature upon this definition like: comic books, children books, graphic novels are just a few of the ones that can take either side. Left out would be things like: instruction manuals, ingredient labels, random gibberish, such things would be included when taking the Wikipedia side since it includes anything with letters.
Alan Moore, most currently known for “Watchmen”, “V for Vendetta”, and “the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”, published “Light of Thy Countenance” a graphic novel, the book was on the border for whether or not it was literature. “Light of Thy Countenance” is written in a very high level of reading, and has a very profound meaning, but because it is a graphic novel many do not consider it to be literature. But why exclude this from literature? It’s a good read, and the pictures help with the interpretations of the reading. In order to get his exact message across he used drawings that helped create the point he was trying to make.
By my definition it is literature because graphic novels are a form of media that Alan Moore uses to get his message across.