Comics

Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response to the viewer.

Closure

Observing parts but perceiving the whole. Closure is an agent of change/time/motion in the medium of comics and the viewer is a willing collaborator. An example of closure that Scott McCloud gives is how in one panel that he is in, the viewer thinks that his comic form has legs even though they are cut off from the panel.

Gutter

The space between the panels. They fracture time and space in comics. Gutters are what gives us a sense that time has passed in comics

Moment to Moment

Simple transition where time and space has changed.

Example is a person’s eyes open in one panel and then closed in the next

Action to Action

A transitions where a single subject progresses through a single movement.

i.e panels showing a baseball player hitting a ball

Subject to Subject

Transition that stays within a specific scene or idea and calls for more reader involvement.

i.e a murder scene but you don’t see the actual murder but guess that it did happen because of the sound effects

Scene to Scene

Transitions that take place across significant distances of space and time.

i.e “Ten Years Later”

Aspect to Aspect

Shows different aspects occurring simultaneously within a scene to show a place, idea, or mood rather than time.

i.e one panel shows a woman cooking, then the next shows a pot on the stove

Non-sequitor

Transitions that have no logical relationship but still have some sort of meaning or resonance

i.e a panel showing a spaceship and then the next panel is showing a fish

Bleeding

When a panel runs off the page edge and doesn’t contain time, thus time escapes and a mood is set. Many Japanese manga use this to set the mood

Zip ribbon

The motion lines that represent objects moving through space and are very important in action and superhero comic

Icon

An image used to represent a person place, thing, or idea. Amplification through simplification.

i.e a smiley face to represent happiness

Synaesthetics

Mixing or blurring of the senses so that disparate information and concepts are received together as one.

Word Specific

Combinations where pictures illustrate but don’t significantly add to a largely complete text

Picture Specific

Combinations where words do little more than add a soundtrack to a visually told sequence

Duo Specific

Panels in which both words and pictures send essentially the same image

Additive Combination

Combination where words amplify or elaborate an image or vice versa

Parallel Combination

Combinations where words and pictures seem to follow very different courses without intersecting

Montage

Where words are treated as integral parts of the picture

Interdependent Combination

Combination where words and pictures go hand in hand to convey an idea that neither could convey alone

The 6 Steps

Idea/Purpose: The impulses, ideas, philosophies, and purposes of the work’s content. So why does the comic exist? What is it trying to tell or convey to the audience?
Form: What type of physical media the comic will be drawn on. Will it be a book, chalk drawing, chair, song, sculpture, pot holder, comic book?
Idiom: The “school” of art, the vocabulary of styles or gestures or subject matter. The genre that the work belongs to or maybe a genre of its own. So will it be sci-fi, horror, comedy, or anything else?
Structure: Putting it all together. What to include, what to leave out, how to arrange, and compose the work. So how to arrange the story and the composition and layout of the drawings and panels
Craft: Constructing the work, applying skills, practical knowledge invention, problem solving, getting the “job” done. So actually drawing the comic.
Surface: Production values, finishing the aspects most apparent on first superficial exposure to the work. Cleaning any rough areas and mistakes.