Introduction <p>This research aims to understand how the awareness and theoretical thinking of peasants are formed through the language of comics.</p> Method <p>A didactic-formative experiment was carried out with, from a public university in Brazil, using artistic productions, oral reports, and observations of comic classes at the same university to generate data. The data were analyzed using historical and dialectical materialism. For this article specifically, Student A2 is being highlighted because her results represent a larger trend among students.</p> Results and discussion <p>An analysis of Student A2's comics reveals symbolic layers that transcend mere visual representation. Elements such as lines, colors, and composition carry cultural and subjective meanings. It was found that the abstractions made by the student in the didactic-formative experience were important because she could grasp information that was unknown to her in her context. As a result, she became aware of her reality through art.</p> Conclusion <p>The comic strips by the students, as well as by student A2, show that visual signs should be learned at school because they help develop students' higher mental functions by learning semiotic resources. In this sense, the signs in the drawings that she was unfamiliar with helped to shape her awareness, based on the use and knowledge of new signs from the technical language of comics, under the guidance of the teacher with them throughout the process of creating the stories. The article reveals a paradox: comic books, often associated with the urban world, become a tool for cultural empowerment for rural students.</p>