Today I read three comics (two of them being a complete
story together) and was asked to define if these three were comics and what the
definition of a comic is. To me a comic is something that tells a story with
pictures, but also provides a lot of dialogue. In my opinion the comic that was
used here was definitely a comic because (even though it was in a different
language), there was clearly a story and it had dialogue along with it. The other selection, although it being in English, is far from something that I
would define as a comic, rather, I would put it more in the category of a
picture book.
photo by aussigall
Although this particular reading, did tell a story, there was not
a lot (if any, that I can remember) dialogue, and was not like a classic comic
in which has been reviewed in class. In my opinion, neither one had a more
successful format than the other each brought something that I can say that I
liked. The foreign comic was enjoyable because it was much like a classic read
and had a very simple layout. The other was cool as well because not only had I
not seen anything like that before, but have the picture inside of a picture
added a form of movement to the story that was not actually present. In
addition, by allowing the reader to press the button page by page adds a little
bit of excitement to see what is next rather than the basic scrolling down of
any other page. I also favored this one a little more because it made the
reader try and figure out what was going to come next by looking at the picture
in the middle. By having the picture zoom in definitely adds a layer of drama.
However, what I did not like were the awkward scenes where the picture would be
in the middle of someone’s face and/or it was not as cleverly placed in the
frame (such as it acting as a picture on the wall) and caused it to look
slightly awkward in the reading.
photo by aussigall
Although this particular reading, did tell a story, there was not
a lot (if any, that I can remember) dialogue, and was not like a classic comic
in which has been reviewed in class. In my opinion, neither one had a more
successful format than the other each brought something that I can say that I
liked. The foreign comic was enjoyable because it was much like a classic read
and had a very simple layout. The other was cool as well because not only had I
not seen anything like that before, but have the picture inside of a picture
added a form of movement to the story that was not actually present. In
addition, by allowing the reader to press the button page by page adds a little
bit of excitement to see what is next rather than the basic scrolling down of
any other page. I also favored this one a little more because it made the
reader try and figure out what was going to come next by looking at the picture
in the middle. By having the picture zoom in definitely adds a layer of drama.
However, what I did not like were the awkward scenes where the picture would be
in the middle of someone’s face and/or it was not as cleverly placed in the
frame (such as it acting as a picture on the wall) and caused it to look
slightly awkward in the reading.
Overall, these were both good pieces of work, and I could
definitely see myself reading more from these authors or using some of their
styles in my own work!
I'm not sure if your conclusion makes sense. Perhaps I'm a bit confused of the difference between a "comic" and a "picture book". It contains narrative, thoughts, dialogue, and much more overlayed on the images, which provide you with characters, the place, and more. Each panel in the series has every element that you would find in a traditional graphic novel, just instead of reading from left-to-right you read "down into" the novel in a never-ending abyss.
ReplyDeleteExperimental, yes. But a "picture book"? Not sure if it deserves this separate label.
I also thought that the "picture inside of a picture" idea for Scott McCloud's comic was a fun one! It definitely helped bring the comic to life a bit and as a reader, I felt as if I was a part of the main character's life. I think that having movement in a comic doesn't ruin the comic experience, but enhances it.
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