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Slaughterhouse Five Comic Strip
Slaughterhouse Five Comic Strip
Slaughterhouse Five Comic Strip
perspective of war, time, and tragedy through his own unconventional style. Vonnegut’s
rejection of a standard literary structure, one full of, “ups and downs”, is glaringly
obvious from the first chapter. To emulate his choppy structure, the comic follows a
subject-to-subject panel transition, moving from one part of a scene to another. While a
non-secular transition may sound like a better fit considering the jumps in-between time,
the passage from Chapter Eight on page 226 remains within a single scene in the
This allows a clear encapsulation of the scene, as the voice-over within the panels
Beyond the panel transitions, the way type of content reflected in the panel was a
specific aspect to consider. The subject-to-subject nature of the panels allowed flexibility
panels. Word-specific panels refer to the contents reflecting the narration but aren’t
necessary for aiding the understanding. These panels are used to emphasize the
voiceovers while giving a sense of space and atmosphere. Since the panels are simplistic
in imagery, I utilized a low camera angle and special-effect lettering to hone in on the
atmospheric experience. The low angle directed towards the ceiling reflects the
perspective of Billy in the meat locker. Moreover, I wanted the low effect to make the
viewer feel small, vulnerable, and uncertain of their surroundings. In conjunction with the
special-effect lettering (onomatopoeias) that reinforce the unstable tone. Stylistically, the
lettering is presented with aggressive calligraphy that draws attention and reflects the
voice-over.
I chose to reinterpret the passage where Billy (notably remembers) the night
Dresden was bombed because of the darker, somber tone. Though the narrator has a dark
sense of humor throughout the novel, passages like the one utilize short and blunt diction
which shifts into a subdued atmosphere. In my comic, this somber atmosphere is created
through the use of graphic weight. The use of white ink on top of black negative space
creates a literal, darker piece. The white line work, which is used to outline important
figures and objects juxtaposes strongly, while the inclusion of grey adds a subtler depth in
the midground to the background. Moreover, the excessive shading style and line work
used in the first and third panel demand attention to be drawn to them. While the comic
uses a predominantly monochrome color scheme, the second to last panel uses the color
orange when illustrating flames. After the incessant use of white, I wanted the specific
theme of death to have an associated color with it. As a result, the sparing use of color
within the comic references the importance of the image and the visual connotation by
Lastly, the final panel is a dramatized emphasis on the repeated phrase, “so it
goes.” By not including imagery to go along with it, the visual impact of, “so it goes”
becomes stronger, creating a strong emphasis on the lettering. Considering the quote as a
recurring motif, the weight of the piece needed to be emphasized. Without images, there
is an emphasis on the words themselves and the significance behind them, imploring