literary interpretation

What is real literature? Whoa, I don't know where to start. I used to think that literature was always in the form of an extremely thick book (Moby Dick, Jane Eyre, etc). I guess I'm wrong. Literature generally encompasses any media that displays or passes on some form of information? I'm not sure of the textbook definition, but that's how I'm trying to view it.
I admit that I have a trunk full of comic books at home (filled with classics such as Batman, Justice League, and even some Teen Titans). Yeah... I'm basically a dork, but hey I like it that way. I know that there are the stereotypes that go along with comic book reading... like a forty-something-year-old that lives in his mother's basement and attends conventions dressed as his favorite hero or villian... (I'm not that into comic books)... or maybe those are just Star Trek junkies... anywho...
McCloud's book introduced me to some interesting concepts, such as the "gutter" of a comic book page. I didn't realize that while I was reading comic books, I was bringing them to life, and my imagination was basically the main machine... even when there are no images!
I would sometimes think that if I wasn't participating in something, it wasn't happening (of course that's a rather self-centered way of thinking so I gave that up a few years back). When I read that McCloud had those thoughts himself, I thought that as kind of funny, and I have to say, I'm glad I wasn't alone in thinking that...