There have been few direct comparisons in the literature between the emotional and autonomic impact of virtual reality (VR) and traditional and visual-narrative media, although VR has the potential to create vivid engagement. This study bridges this gap by using the culturally relevant narrative of King Harishchandra from the Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) corpus to examine the impact of various storytelling media—text reading, comics, and virtual reality (VR)—on emotional and physiological engagement. We measured physiological arousal through Heart Rate Variability (HRV) indices, including RMSSD (parasympathetic modulation) and LF/HF ratio (sympathovagal balance), and emotional reactions through the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) in 30 participants (N = 10 per group). Comics performed better than text and virtual reality in terms of ratings of positive affect. While the VR and text groups reported significantly higher RMSSD values, reflecting more parasympathetic activity, comics registered the lowest LF/HF ratios, reflecting smoother cognitive-emotional processing and greater autonomic balance. The findings indicate that comics, despite being frequently neglected, can stimulate more stable emotional engagement than virtual reality immersion, which has implications for future application in therapeutic design, education, and culturally-based digital media. By emphasizing the importance of narrative coherence and cognitive manageability in shaping user experience, this research contributes to digital storytelling, affective computing, and media psychology.