The Graphic Novel

The Structure of Comic Books

ENGL 124 B03 Winter 2010

A Hybrid Form

Comics combine image and text. Ideally, the two work together to produce a meaning that neither can communicate alone.

Text as Image

Comic book text can indicate a wide variety of things: narration, dialogue, internal monologue, sounds, etc. Shape, size and colour can indicate tone, emphasis, and other qualities.

narrationnoise

shout gasp

The Panel

Rectangular spaces called “panels” are the building blocks of a comic. The line which defines the edges of the panel is its “border,” and the white space between borders is the “gutter.” An average page has 6 to 8 panels, and the average American comic book has 32 pages.

Splash Pages

A splash page contains only single panel. It can extend onto a facing page, to create a two-page spread.

Reading Structure

The comic book page is read top-to-bottom and left-to-right. Individual readers are free to decide, however, which part of a panel they will examine first: the image, the dialogue, the text box, etc.

Transitions

The transition from one panel to the next is sequential. Scholar Scott McLeod describes six kinds of transition.

An action-to-action transition moves the plot forward; action occurs. In American comic books, action-to-action transitions are the most common kind (70% of content, as opposed to 45% in Japanese manga comic books).

Transitions

Moment-to-moment transitions are action-to-action transitions which cover small, detailed sequences. They are relatively rare in most comic books.

Transitions

In a subject-to-subject transition, the action does not advance and the setting remains the same. The focus of attention, however, changes.

Transitions

Scene-to-scene transitions move from one setting to another.

Transitions

In an aspect-to-aspect transition, nothing happens. It is relatively rare in American comics, but fairly common in manga.

Transitions

Panels in a non-sequitur transition are not connected by plot, subject, or setting. Non-sequitur transitions are extremely rare in most comic books.

Self-Reflexivity

The comic book sometimes makes a deliberate point of drawing attention to its own conventions. Here, an action-to-action transition literally crosses the page, insisting that the panels’ borders don’t truly separate the comic world from the ‘real’ world (the paper).

References

Drucker, Johanna. “What is Graphic about Graphic Novels?” English

Language Notes 46.2 (Fall/Winter 2008): 39-55.

Griffin, Jane K. “A Brief Glossary of Comic Book Terminology.” Serials

Review 24.1 (1998): 71-77.

McLeod, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York:

HarperCollins, 1993.