Marija Dalbello Reading Interests of Adults Comics Rutgers School of Communication and Information Image credit: Victor GAD

Overview _______________________________________ Introduction What is comics art? Visual language of comics Artists, readers and taxonomies Conclusion

What is comics art Definition _______________________________________ Comics denotes a graphic medium in which images are used to convey a sequential narrative, an inextricable mixing of words and pictures arranged in a deliberate sequence, intended to convey information, amuse, or provoke laughter

What is comics art Comics culture _______________________________________ Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics (1994)

What is comics art? _______________________________________ Eclectic visual forms, genres, and formats are all included Comics / Comix Graphic novels Cartoon strip Manga Themes and types vary - and proliferate ever more Superhero comics Science fiction Western Fantasy Horror Mainstream and alternative comics Transmedia phenomenon

What is comics art Tradition _______________________________________ From pictorial storytelling to superhero comics - and beyond European tradition American tradition Development of visual forms in comics art has a complex history Connection to film, cartoons Popularized in newspapers and magazines - late 1890s Origin in narrative illustration Comics art and comics have a social history too Comic book code defines industry Debates about comics literacy Corruption of the innocent? Adult comics of the 1960s, slump in the 1980s, revival in the 1990s (alternative comics), the graphic novels boom

Narrative illustration - example From:

What is comics art Tradition _______________________________________ From pictorial storytelling to superhero comics - and beyond European tradition American tradition Development of visual forms in comics art has a complex history Connection to film, cartoons Popularized in newspapers and magazines - late 1890s Origin in narrative illustration Comics art and comics have a social history too Comic Book Code defines industry Debates about comics literacy Corruption of the innocent? Adult comics of the 1960s, slump in the 1980s, revival in the 1990s (alternative comics), the graphic novels boom

Visual language of comics _______________________________________ Fundamental elements of comics literacy Scott McCloud’s {Understanding, Reinventing} Comics Visual iconography and established visual vocabulary Narrative closure - constructing a continuous unified reality Color Panel layout Self-reflexivity Deliberate breaking of rules Visual conventions (balloons and types of speech, mood) Arrangement of panels, size of panels, reading directions Convention and innovation Avant-garde authors, artists, illustrators

Visual language of comics Comics literacy _______________________________________ A system of meanings, a language Symbolism, convention, horizons for reading involved Creating meaningful differences among pictures through “sequential art” Panel-to-panel transition most common (Puszt, pp ) Numbering Arrows to show transitions Traditional left-to-right reading direction Matrix instead of sequence, unified panel, alternative and experimental comics

Visual language of comics: comics literacy Panel-to-Panel transition _______________________________________ Action-to-action transitions Single subject in a brief sequence of movement or change (character swinging a fist) Subject-to-subject transitions Focuses on a single scene or idea but moves its focus from place to place during the sequence (showing anguished face of characters in the same scene) Scene-to-scene transitions Deductive reasoning involved - reader fills in the gaps of time and space between the panels; separation of specific sequences; time and space changes Aspect-to-aspect transitions Montage of elements reflecting a single place, idea, or mood Non sequitur transitions No logical relationship between panels but they can create “meaning or resonance” FIND EXAMPLES IN YOUR READING

Pictures as part of a sequence “transforms the art of the images into something more: the art of comics!” (Scott McCloud)

Visual language of comics: comics literacy Matrix instead of sequence _______________________________________ Unified panel Multiple directions Hypertextual storyspace Avant-garde and experimental Chris Ware Alternative comics

What is comics art Comics lifecycle _______________________________________ Artists Mainstream Avant-garde Publishers Mainstream (DC comics, Marvel) Independent (minicomics) “samizdat” Alternative Fringe (Chick tracts) Readers Adults Adolescents

Artists and Writers _______________________________________ Robert Crumb Harvey Pekar American Splendor Daniel Clowes Ghost World Art Spiegelman Mauss Mirjam Satrapi Persepolis Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons Watchmen (cinematic effects) Neil Gaiman Death, The Cost of Living, Sandman (horror, supernatural)

Readers _______________________________________ Extensive reading Collecting (“fanboys” and “true believers”) Reading within a niche culture, in-crowd Close relationship with production Readers as participants and producers in the culture Interaction between readers and writers (published letters) Audience: mainstream and alternative Male readership: superhero comics, connection to adolescence Female readership: alternative comics, manga Comic book culture: Comicon, specialized bookstores

Taxonomies _______________________________________ Manga (anime) Superhero comics (young adult, adult) Alternative comics (adult) Indie comics Genres: action (power fantasy), romance, horror, supernatural, erotica, SF

The cover artwork for an issue of Zap Comix, featuring the character Mr. Natural.

Conclusion _______________________________________ Narrative medium consisting of juxtaposed text-image systems Comics are mass culture form as well as ancient graphic art Nostalgia space for readers, reminiscent of adolescence Visual narratives tied to a range of popular genres A “low” art form or sophisticated form of literacy? Multiculture, art, literature, critique