Comics and Sequential Art

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Will Eisner used the term “sequential art” to describe comics, a definition later modified
by Scott McCloud into “juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence.”
The focus in each of these definitions is sequence: a string of images that are read one
after another to produce meaning. Comics may or may not incorporate text, and differ
from single cartoons by producing a more complicated pattern (most often narrative)
through sequential spatial arrangement.

Comics Grammar:

The basic building blocks of comics are panels, single frames placed in sequence.
Usually these panels have rectangular borders, but panels can have any shape, or even no
border at all, as long as there is some sign of where one might end and another begin.
Outside the borders is a (usually) blank area known as the gutter. Each panel will usually
contain pictorial images of some sort, including but not limited to drawings, paintings,
photographs, text, speech and thought balloons, and text boxes.

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Not all comics include text, but many do. Text in comics can serve as dialogue, narration,
sound effect, commentary, clarification, and more. However, context is key since you
often can’t tell what a piece of text is doing on a page without determining how it relates
to the images it accompanies. There are three distinct types of text in comics:

1 Text boxes: They provide extradiegetic narration or commentary.

2 Speech balloons: The subjects’ speech that usually belongs to the diegetic level.
3 Sign text: An instance of text as image.

Categories of Word/Picture Combinations:

 Word-specific: Words providing all you need to

know, while the pictures illustrate aspects of the
scene being described.
 Picture-specific: Pictures providing all you need
to know, while the words accentuate aspects of the
scene being shown.
 Duo-specific: Words and pictures both sending
roughly the same message.

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  Intersecting: Words and pictures both working
together in some respects while also contributing
information independently.
 Interdependent: Words and pictures combining to
convey an idea that neither would convey alone.
 Parallel: Words and pictures following seemingly
different paths without intersecting.
 Montage: Words and pictures combined pictorially.

Page Layout

With comics, as with most things, how narrative information is presented is often as
important as what that information is. Page layout may seem entirely neutral; just
remember, even this neutrality is an effect. Even if the page is comprised of uniform
rectangles in an obvious and regular order, that layout was still chosen by the artist to
create an impression. It might be a way of focusing your attention on what is happening
rather than on how it is depicted; it may even reinforce a theme of conformity, repetition,
or boredom. When you approach a page, try asking yourself the following questions:

· How is the page organized?

· Is the panel order obvious, and how do you know the intended order?

· Are the panels and borders uniform in shape and size, or do they vary?

· If they vary, how, and how does this affect the meaning?

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Art Style

Analyzing style is probably the most difficult aspect of analyzing comics, since there are
so few guidelines for talking about different types of drawing. Even with a guidebook,
though, you will still need to trust your own impressions, since there are no set rules for
how different art styles create meaning. The terminology of film studies is often

useful for describing the basic features of an image, since you can talk about long shots,
close-ups, or zooms to describe the various angles and points of view depicted. Think
about what sort of art the artist uses:

· Is there color, and, if so, what is the palate?

· Is the style cartoonish, abstract, photorealistic, etc.?

· What does that tell you about the world the creator(s) are depicting?

· Are there backgrounds? If so, are they detailed or schematic?

· Does the point of view remain constant, or does it vary? If so, how?

· Does the art focus your attention on particular actions? How?

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Narrative Clarity

In order for comics to achieve narrative clarity, the artist has to make five kinds of
choices:

 Choice of moment: Connecting the dots; showing the moments that matter and
cutting those that don’t.
 Choice of frame: Showing readers what they need to see. Creating a sense of
position, place and focus.
 Choice of image: Clearly and quickly evoking the appearance of characters,
objects, environments and symbols.
 Choice of word: Clearly and persuasively communicating ideas, voices and
sounds in seamless combination with images.
 Choice of flow: Guiding readers between and within panels, and creating a
transparent and intuitive reading experience.
* * *

Comic Books and Graphic Novels:

Graphic novels actually pre-date comic books. It’s thought that the first graphic novel
ever published was the 1783 adaptation of Gottfried August Burger’s Lenardo und
Blandine. Although individual comics have been around for centuries, comic books are a
relative newcomer to the literary world. Single-panel comics have been published in
papers and broadsheets since the mid-1700s, and comic strips became popular around the
end of the 19th century. Comic books as we know them today, though, are generally
thought to have found their origin with Funnies on Parade in 1933 and Action Comics
#1 (the first appearance of Superman) in 1938. Comic books dominated the market for
decades, until a resurgence in the popularity of graphic novels. In the 1980s and 1990s,
British authors like Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman brought graphic novels back into the

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mainstream market. Graphic novels have enjoyed a period of underground popularity as
artists and writers tried to make the separation between mediums clear.

Both comic books and graphic novels use a combination of illustrations and words to tell
a story. However, The main difference is that while a comic book will tell a story over
many issues, graphic novels more often have their storylines wrapped up in only one or
two books. Graphic novels are more narratively complex because they read like a book;
they are self-contained, deal with more serious themes and delve deeper into the story
lines of characters, not just action, and they complete the full arch of a narrative by the
end of the novel. Comic books are serialized stories popularly tied to superheroes and
villains; most are relatively short, and tell the story of the book’s heroes and heroines
over a long period of time. There are usually many, many issues of a successful comic
book, and the stories unfold over months and sometimes years.

All in all, graphic novels got a reputation as being explicit and mature, while comic
books were relegated to more mainstream popularity. Recently, nevertheless, the line
between comic books and graphic novels has been blurred. Can you guess why?

Sources:
Eisner, Will. Comics and Sequential Art. Poorhouse Press, 1985.
Kelly, Debra. “Difference Between Comic Books and Graphic Novels.”
KnowledgeNuts, 2014. Web. 2017.
McCloud, Scott. Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic
Novels. Harper, 2006.
“Writing About Comics and Graphic Novels.” Thompson Writing Program: Writing
Studio, Duke U. Web. 2017.

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