APPRECIATING COMICS (or not) Why I Like Some Comics and Not Others Greg Hill

Key to Appreciating Sequential Art: Become familiar with classics of graphic literature; Understand some of the process of making comic books; Identify what makes some sequential art work more appealing to you; Reading comics you enjoy.

Why Librarians Should Appreciate Comics “Comics are the gateway drug to reading.” Neil Gaiman Comics are fun to read; Kids who read for fun read better; Vocabulary used in children’s graphic novels is often more challenging; Sequential illustrations allow low-level readers to become engaged in the context of the story and develop vocabulary; Collecting the newest good titles attracts high-level readers.

From Scholastic.com/graphix/Scholastic_BoneDiscussio n.pdf “The notion that graphic novels are too simplistic to be regarded as serious reading is outdated. The excellent graphic novels available today are linguistically appropriate reading material demanding many of the same skills that are needed to understand traditional works of prose fiction. Often they actually contain more advanced vocabulary than traditional books at the same age/grade/interest level.”

My Start: Carl Barks

Cartoons, Comics, or Novels?

Length: One way to tell Cartoon = one graphic frame Comic Strip = short series of sequential graphic frames Comic Book = 30 pages or less of sequential frames Graphic Novel = More than 30 pages of sequential art Graphic Novels = nonfiction AND fiction Manga = Japanese comics can be 100’s of pages long

BASIC COMPONENTS

The Vocabulary of Comics The Panel. This is the basic unit of a comic book page, consisting of a single illustration. It's most often contained within a square or rectangular frame, although circular panels are not uncommon, and irregularly-shaped panels are also possible. Panels allow comic book action to be broken up into distinct moments in time. For those theorists who define comics as sequential art, a comic cannot consist of only one panel. The Gutter. This is the space on a comic book page that is outside the panels. The gutter is most often narrow and uniform, and doesn't contain any other graphic elements. However, objects or speech balloons within the panels can stick out to some degree. Some artists exploit this convention more boldly. Frank Miller's Sin City, for instance, has open letters which bleed into the gutter, while Sergio Aragones's "Marginal Thinking Dept." cartoons have appeared in the gutters of Mad magazine for decades. Balloons. These come in two basic kinds: speech or dialogue balloons, and thought balloons. Speech balloons are (usually) round, and contain the text of what a particular character is saying. Thought balloons depict what a character is thinking, and are conventionally drawn with lumpy edges, like clouds. Balloons (and by extension comics themselves) are called fumetti ("clouds") in Italian, because they were originally made to look like the characters were breathing out the words as they spoke. Pointers. Also called the Tails of speech balloons, these indicate which character is speaking the words in the balloon. For that reason, they point at the mouth or head whenever possible. Thought balloons have Bubbles which lead to the character which they belong to.

Panels & Gutters

Panels and Gutters Panel: A panel, frame or box is one drawing on a page, and contains a segment of action. A page may have one or many panels. Gutter: The gutter is the space between panels. The magic of sequential art happens in the gutters.

Panels & Frames

Gutters = Spaces between panels

Blood in the Gutters

Balloons & Tails Speech balloon A speech/word/dialogue balloon is a speech indicator, containing the characters' dialogue. The indicator from the balloon that points at the speaker is called a pointer or tail. A thought balloon contains copy expressing a character's unvoiced thoughts, usually shaped like a cloud, with bubbles as a pointer. Emotions can be expressed by the shape of the balloon—spiked balloons can indicate shouting, and balloons "dripping" balloons can indicate sarcasm. [ [ In a caption, words appear in a box separated from the rest of the panel or page, usually to give voice to a narrator, but sometimes used for the characters' thoughts or dialogue. [ [

Grawlixes

Grawlixes = Visual Sound Effects

MANGA Viva la Difference

Manga Inconography

Manga SFX

REMEMBER: In manga, stories are culturally different, and artists, writers, characters, and storylines can all change!

The Creative Force  Cartoonist  Writer  Artist vs. Penciler  Inker David Petersen  Colorist  Letterer

Important Sequential Artists Will Eisner Jack Kirby Carl Barks Alan Moore Osamu Tezuka Harvey Kurtzman Frank Miller

Sainted Will Eisner

Evil Stan Lee brooklyn-costume-shop/

Jack Kirby

Essential Scott McCloud

From Understanding Comics

CLOSURE the secret dynamic of comics

Types of Closure Moment-to-MomentAction-to-Action Subject-to-SubjectScene-to-Scene Aspect-to-AspectNon Sequitur

Graphic Lit. Appeal Factors (according to me) Good story with “literary value” Strong visual and verbal language Artistic style and conventionality Genre (superhero, funny animal, sci-fi, romance) Length and difficulty of getting into the narrative Predictability of getting into the plot Outlook: pessimistic or positive Strong technical mastery and production values

Technical Mastery and Production Values Clear, accurate art & reproduction Consistent renderings and perspective Variety of viewpoints, consistent facial expressions, etc. Readability of lettering Printing and paper quality Flow of the sequencing of panels Etc., etc. etc.

Marvel’s Treasure Island

Papercut’s Treasure Island

How To Tell A Comic’s Good  Learn how the important elements of sequential art work together.  Become familiar with the attributes of leading comics, artists, and publishers (i.e. Read Them!).  Find titles, genres, and artwork that you find appealing, and immerse yourself in them.  Determine sources of reliable reviews.

But Most of All,  Read McCloud’s Understanding Comics  Become familiar with the genre.  Read some “good comics,” i.e. popular comics, comics that are “classics,”  Read comics with strong positive reviews, and, most of all,  Read Comics You Like!