MrrnwthG COLIC RO SECRETS OF COMICS, MANGA AND GRAPHIC NOVELS FROM THE AUTHOR OF UNDERSTANDING COMICS COTT McCLOUDPraise for Understanding Comics : by Scott McCloud Learn How to . Choose the right moments to clarify and strengthen your stories. “if you read, write, teach or draw comics; if * Frame actions and guide your readers’ you want to; or if you simply want to watch eyes through each comics page. " a master explainer at work, you must read + Choose werds and pictures that ' this book.” —Neil Gaiman communicate together. * Greate varied and compelling “Understanding Comics is a must-read for new characters. ny true connoisseur of comics.” + Master body language and facial ' —Jim Lee expressions. * Create rich, believable worlds for “Quite simply the best analysis of the me- your readers to explore. ' dium that I have ever encountered. Highly * Pick the tools that are right for you ' recommended.” —Alan Moore Navigate the vast world of comics ' styles and genres. Scott McCloud is the award-winning creator of Zot!, Understanding Comics and Reinventing Comics. His books are available in sixteen languages. Sin City creator Frank Miller called him “just about the smartest guy E Isen-132 978-0-06-078096-4 Wee (S SA $22.95 Canada $28.95 ?MAKING OMICS STORYTELLING SECRETS OF COMICS, MANGA AND GRAPHIC NOVELS FROM THE AUTHOR OF UNDERSTANDING COMICS SCOTT McCLOUDWritten and Drawn by Scott McCloud Editors Kate Travers John Williams Editorial Consultants Kurt Busiek Jenn Manley Lee Neil Gaiman Larry Marder Ivy Ratafia Comics Font designed by John Roshell at Comicraft comicbookfonts.com HARPER MAKING COMICS, Copyright © 2006 by Scott McCloud. All rights reserved. Printed in the United Siates of ‘America. No part of this book may be Used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the cose of brief quotations embodied in critical articles ond reviews. For information address HarperCollins Pubishers, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022. HarperCollins books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. For information please wite: Special Markets Depariment, HorperColins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022, RST EDITION Library of Congress Cataloging in-Publication Dota is avaliable upon request. ISBN-10: 0-06-078094.0 ISBN-13; 978-0-06-078094-4 07 08.0% 10 @/RRD 109874Pre - Visit any big bookstore and you'll find tans of how-to-draw books on the shelves aimed at comics artists. Flip through them and you' llsee step-by-step instructions on drawing manga schoolgirl outfits, superhero muscles and strip gags. These ore the books that tell you what they all assume you want to.know—how to draw like your favorite artists—and they're pretty good at it, But there's something they're not telling you. in fact. there's a whole book's worth of secrets they're leaving out. If you've ever felt there must be something more to making comics than just copying drawing styles, then this is the book for you. in these pages, I've done my best to cover the storyteling secrets | don't see any other books talking about, tne ideas every comics artist needs to tackle before they even pick up a pen, including: + Choosing the right moments to make into panels—what to include, what to leave out. + Framing actions and guiding the reader's eyes. * Choosing words and images that communicate together, * Creating varied and compelling characters with inner fives and unforgettable appearances + Mastering body language and facial expressions. * Creating rich, believable worlds for your readers to explore * Picking the tools that are right for you, and understanding how those tools evolved. * Navigating the vast world of comics styles and genres The comics industry is changing fast. Old formats die and new ones are boi, Whole industries come and go. But these storytelling principles always apply, They mattered fifty years ago and they'll matter fifty years from now. Whether you want to draw graphic novels, superheroes, mangasstyle, comic stips or webcomics, you're going to be putting one picture ater another to tell a story, Here's how. é Scott McCloudEY 1 wtropuction 56 STORIES FOR HUMANS 5] se rr Taxes Two. Ea 6 wrrtine wite pictures [L_] 59 syymetay AND RECOGNITION fA 5 ctarity anp persuasion (Bh) 2 3 sreps To @eLievaate CHARACTERS 10 THE FIVE CHOICES (EG) 6a craracrer pesion Ey Wieacre ann Gila sakaite LAV @ connecting THe pots iia] 70 visuat DisTINCTION catibanctnoesain’ BE) 16 cxonessive rears [El it choice oF Frame F280 FACIAL exPREssiONS. 81 EMOTIONAL COMMUNICATION [Ey] 20 istance, ante AND Pio FE 22 estasuishine shots GB 0 ximos oF exeaessions [©] 23 THe emoTionaL PRIMARIES 24 THE READER'S CAMERA =] 84 MING AND MATCHING FE] e7 phvsicat stares 26 CHOICE OF IMAGE 30 CHOICE OF WORD 32. CHOICE OF FLOW =] 96 viRECT, SPECIALIZED SIGNALS 92 FACIAL MUSCLES [B) 29 pirectine THE eve 36 BEYOND THE PAGE 9H DRAWING EXPRESSIONS 37 FIVE CHOICES CHECKLIST (F8) 102 Boy LaNcuace BB WORKING METHODS, 103 DIFFERENCES FROM EXPRESSION 0% TYPES OF RELATIONSHIPS: 95 CLARITY VERSUS INTENSITY [el] 105 etevarion ano starus & (E37 Panet-py-paneL Improv es A 53 INTENSITY VERSUS PERSUASION Dl 107 pis taNce AND RELATIONSHIP [FE] 54 NoTEs ano exercises [Rl] 107 IMBALANCE AND DISCONTENT [AC] oTHeR revarionsHies fl) 2 ban cesTurEs EB] 1 rtcure prawn [Si] my avarowy suecesmions [=] us THe IMPORTANCE OF GESTURE EE ts 8009 Laneuace w Acmion FI 20 owceme veerer ES] i22 nores ano exercises|28 THE POWER OF WORDS 12 BALANCE AND INTEGRATION 130. THE 7 TYPES OF Wi/P COMBINATION Gy worp-speciric 189 PICTURE-SPECIFIC DUO-SPECIFIC a 196 INTERSECTING 137 INTERDEPENDENT PARALLEL eHeaS 8 137 MONTAGE EB] 40 using THe 7 Tees EE] 42 wor eaLtoons QE 2 THe “Desperation pevice” [EI] 2 BALLOON To MoD MarcHING [7] 4 EMPHASIS AND cases Me SOUND EFFECTS WB WRITER/ARTIST COLLABORATIONS 150 PICKING WOUR STORY (\52 HERITAGE AND STRENGTHS ISH NOTES AND EXERCISES 158. WORLD BULOING (58 GEING THERE 66 REGIONAL VARIATIONS. DASA 169 COMIC STRIP MNIMALSy [comics asour peace 170 PERSPECTIVE fa FR] 17) Non-wesTeRN ALTERNATIVES: [Ei] 72 western perspective Gi] 173 PERSPECTIVE AND Comics 174 IMPROVISATION [ii] 176 REFERENCE AND RESEARCH FR 79 Nor Just “wackerounos™ 160 NOTES AND EXERCISES 160 REVISITING THE ESTAGLISHING SHOT (29 184 Toows, TECHNIQUES AND TECHNOLOGY leit THE ONLY ESSENTIAL TOOLS 185 DRAWING ON THE CHEAP [26 Travrmonal Toots & tes THe sasic equipment EE] 0 aruskes, Pens aN MARKERS [Gy 5 TRADITIONAL LeTTERING 176. DIGITAL TRANSITIONS. / THIS BOOK 178 DIGITAL To PRINT 200 DIGITAL TO SCREEN 1 LetreRINe ano Fonts | 204 EQUIPMENT 206 PUBLISHING ALTERNATIVES 207 WHO'S THE BOSs? HABEAEBaS 8 208 NOTES [2] 212 your piace In comics [22 viscoverine vour sTe 215. UNDERSTANDING MANGA 228 UNDERSTANDING GENRES 229 UNDERSTANDING Comics CULTURE 238 WANDERING FAR AND WIDE 240 NOTES 244 MAKING COMICS 24 NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT 246 OLD AND NEW MARKETS 249 YOUR TURN igpea® [Dy 252 “THe eLank pace” El 2s notes 256 BIGLIOGRAPHY/SUGGESTED READING 258 ART CREDITS 260 INDEXFor Will Eisner Acknowledgments Thank you to my ealitorial kbitzers, Kurt Busiek, Jenn Manley Lee, Neil Gaiman, Lary Marder and Ivy Ratatia tor taking @ close look at early dratts of this book. Kurt. as aways, ied the pack with his merciless critiques and helped chop out any number of embarassing furnbling passages (any that remain you con blame on me) Thank you also to the comics pros who responded to my email tools survey (see the notes section of Chapter Five for the list). Special proofreading services provided by Carol Pond. Also helping out with information were Shaenon Gary. Ker Kesel and the staff af Graphaids in Agoura His, CA, and thank you to all our friends and fomily who offered reference materiais of posed for reference shots including: Ivy, Sky. Winter, Nat Gertler, Lauren Girard (that's Nat and Lauren in the goofy photo on page 94), Lori Matsumoto, John Wiseman, S. Krys tal McCauley, Matt Miller and of course. The Mighty Paul Smith for posing, sketching and helping us move the fridge. Thank you to Kelly Donovan for making Page 30, panel é possible. ‘Thank you te David, Kate, John, Lucy and everyone else at Homer for their advice and suppor Thank you to Judith Hansen for finding this book a great home and eternally watching out for us. ‘Thanks to Art Spiegelman for introducing me to the term “Picture Writing” which inspired the title of Chapter ‘One. and for influencing my own ideas abeut comics over the years. Thank you, with love, 16 the amazing Ivy for typing thousands of words into those balloons and into the index, ‘and to the whole family for enduring my very long work days for @ year and a half and for making it all worth- while. ‘The comics world lost Will Elsner in January 2005, while this book was being written. He was 67, but very much in is prime, His book Comics and Sequential Art seriously examined the art of making comics way back in 1985 and he inspired us to treat comics with dignity and respect throughout his century-spanning career, He'll be terribly missed.ON INTRODUCTI SO, You WANT TO MAKE DO You WANT TO CREATE COMICS THAT PULL READERS INTO. ‘THE WORLD OF THE STORY? EXPERIENCE SO SEAMLESS ‘THAT IT DOESN'T FEEL LIKE READING AT ALL BUT LIKE BEING THERE? WHY I CREATED THIS BOOK, BECAUSE IF T CAN TEACH ANYONE ELSE TO MAKE GREAT COMICS ~~ DO YOU WANT TO MAKE THE KIND ‘THAT READERS REMEMBER? THE KINDS OF STORIES THEY'LL KEEP THINKING ‘AASOUT FOR HOURS OR EVEN DAYS AFTER ‘THEY'VE READ THEM? POPULATED BY CHARACTERS So VIVID THEY SEEM AS REAL AS THE READER'S OWN FRIENDS AND FAMILY? A READING AND THAT'S = MAYBE CAN TEACH MYSELF As WELL.IN TWENTY YEARS: ON THE JOB, I'VE LEARNED ENOUGH ABOUT ‘COMICS TO FILL TWO BOOKS VARIOUS ARTICLES AND A FEW THOUSAND HOURS OF ‘TALKING TO ANYONE WHO'D LISTEN. ‘THINNER = SOME CHALLENGES, LIKE IMPROVING MY FIGURE DRAWING, CAN ONLY BE MET BY HARD WORK, ‘OBSERVATION AND STUDY. FORTUNATELY, ‘THERE ARE PLENTY OF GOOD TEACHERS OUT THERE FOR THAT SORT comics (SA SECRET LANGUAGE ALL ITS OWN, AND MASTERING IT POSES CHALLENGES UNLIKE ANY FACED GY PROSE WRITERS, ILLUSTRATORS OR ANY OTHER CREATIVE PROFESSIONALS, UNFORTUNATELY, APART FROM A FEW GREAT BOOKS ON THE SUBJECT* == But MY OWN COMICS STORIES HAVE NEVER BEEN AS GOOD AS I KNOW ‘THEY COULD BE. 1M SuRE CAN DOA BETTER JOB AND I'M DETERMINED TO. LEARN HOW. sur THERE'S MUCH MORE To MAKING GREAT COMICS THAN DRAWING AND WRITING SKILLS. ~ MOST. oF THAT TERRITORY HAS REMAINED UNEXPLORED... NTL NOW. + See o1aLiogrAH50, FOR YOUR SAKE AND MINE, IVE GONE “BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD” ONCE MORE AND COLLECTED EVERYTHING | KNOW ABOUT THE ART OF TELLING STORIES WITH PICTURES —- THEN FIGURED OUT WHAT I DIDN'T KNOW, FILLED IN ‘THOSE GAPS AND PUT IT ALL TOGETHER, THESE ARE THE BEDROCK PRINCIPLES OF COMICS STORYTELLING... CONCEPTS How-To BOOKS, ‘THE PRINCIPLES OF CLARITY AND COMMUNICATION, FoR EXAMPLE, ‘AND HOW THEY GOVERN THE WAYS, ‘OUR STORIES ARE PACED — How THE READER'S EVE IS GUIDED FROM PANEL TO PANEL, AND HOW THE READER'S MIND IS PERSUADED TO. CARE ABOUT WHAT IT Sees, THAT 60 FAR DEEPER THAN THE USUALHOW ARTISTS CONNECT WITH READERS ON A HUMAN LEVEL THROUGH CHARACTER DESIGN -- -- FACIAL EXPRESSIONS —- A. How wHOLE WORLDS ARE CONSTRUCTED ON THE PAGE == AND IN THE READER'S IMAGINATION. WORDS AND PICTURES CAN COMBINE To cREATE EFFECTS THAT NEITHER COULD ‘CREATE SEPARATELY, Wy PEOPLE CHOOSE THE TOOLS THEY D0 TO __ CREATE THESE STORIES, AND Wily THEY ‘CHOOSE ONE KIND OF STORY OVER ‘ANOTHER.tS COMIC STRIPS, ‘COMIC BOOKS OR GRAPHIC NOVELS. EUROPEAN, NORTH COMICS TF IT?S RIGHT AMERICAN OR ANY | rwowT TELL YOU THE “RIGHT” Way TO WRITE OR DRAW BECAUSE THERE'S NO SUCH THING. any STYLE, ANY For YOU. THESE ARE THE ISSUES YOULL HAVE To FACE. UT, YOUR CHOICES NARROW WHEN YOU WANT YOUR COMICS TO PROVIDE A SPECIFIC REACTION IN READERS. THAT'S WHEN CERTAIN METHODS MIGHT THERE ARE NO LIMITS To WHAT vou can FILL THAT BLANK PAGE WITH -- ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND THE PRINCIPLES THAT ALL COMICS STORYTELLING IS BUILT UPON. PANEL Ove: ART BY iN JomisTON Davi NABRLCEHELL 5 (GEEART CREDITS, PAE 39), "AND HERE THEY ARE.Chapter One Writing with Pictures ro Clarity, Persuasion and Intensity FoR AS LONG AS PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TELLING STORIES TO ONE ANOTHER, = STORYTELLERS LIKE YOU C TES Axo Me Have wanreD TWO THINGS FROM e OUR AUDIENCES. TE fh am een \ FE ee Z SS == AND WE WANT THEM To CARE ENOUGH To STICK AROUND *TIL WE'RE DONE. WE WANT THEM TO UNDERSTAND WHAT We HAVE TO TELL THEM =IF THE STORY YOU HAVE IN MIND IS COMPELLING, IN AND OF ITSELF, THEN TELLING IT STRAIGHT with a MAXIMUM OF B CLARITY May BE THE ‘ONLY PERSUASION ‘YOUR AUDIENCE WILL NEED. 70 ACHIEVE THAT FIRST GOAL, YOU'LL NEED TO LEARN THE PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNICATING WITH CLARITY == = AND TO ACHIEVE THE SECOND GOAL, YOU'LL NEED TO LEARN WHICH ELEMENTS OF & WORK CaN PERSUADE YOUR AUDIENCE TO ‘STAY WITH YOU, IN COMICS, THAT STORY WILL NEED To TAKE ‘THE FORM OF IMAGES IN SEQUENCE, PERHAPS wit WORDS -~ -- SO LET’S START BY EXAMINING HOW THAT CONVERSION 15 DONE WHEN CLARITY AND: COMMUNICATION ‘ARE THE PRIMARY GoaLs. ‘comics REGUIRES US TO MAKE A CONSTANT STREAM OF CHOICES REGARDING IMAGERY, PACING, DIALOGUE, COMPOSITION, GESTURE AND ‘TON OF OTHER OPTIONS —~ ~~ AND THESE CHOICES BREAK DOWN TO FIVE BASIC TYPES.CHOICE OF MOMENT DECIDING. WHICH MOMENTS: To INCLUDE INA comics. STORY AND WHICH TO LEAVE CHOICE OF FRAME cHoosiNe: THE RIGHT DISTANCE AND ANGLE TO VIEW THOSE MOMENTS -~ RENDERING THE CHARACTERS, OBJECTS AND ENVIRONMENTS IN THOSE FRAMES CLEARLY. = RE? CHOICE OF WORD ZA 7 GUIDING READERS THROUGH Ano BETWEEN PANELS On A CHOICE THESE ARE THe FIVE ARENAS wHere your CHOICES CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CLEAR, CONVINCING: STORYTELLING: AND A CONFUSING MESS. {QO} choice CHOICE OF MOMENT OF FRAME OF IMAGE CHOICE CHOICETHESE EARLY CHOICES ARE COMICS’ ROUGH PLANNING STAGE WHERE A STORY'S EVENTS ARE FIRST BROKEN DOWN INTO READASLE CHUNKS. STARTING AT THE TOP, LET'S TAKE A LOOK ar EACH ONE AND HOW THEY FIT TOGETHER. J ic [Q] CHOICE OF FRAMES | Bj cHoIce OF IMAGE @] cHolce oF worD W “ | NOTHING FANCY, JUST = ae ee Perignon waltrep ro sou a naw JOo Par | fi Wauanen. f- OL Nr mo tg THEN, LET'S Say THE MAN FINDS A KEY ON THE GROUND, PICKS IT UP, TAKES IT WITH Him AND: COMES Te a DOOR, UNLOCKS ‘THE DOOR AND THEN nT DUNNO. A HUNGRY LION ‘JUMPS OUT! HERE'S HOW A SEQUENCE Like THAT MIGHT TAKE SHAPE IN COMICS FoRM.i oe EVEN WITH ROUGH SKETCHES LIKE THESE, A CASUAL READER SHOULD NOW BE ABLE TO our CHOICE OF MOMENT -- THE SELECTION PROCESS ‘THAT LED TO THESE EIGHT PANELS ~~ PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN INSURING THAT CLARITY. THE MOMENTS: CHOSEN IN THE ABOVE SEQUENCE REPRESENT THE MOST DIRECT, EFFICIENT ROUTE TO COMMUNICATING OUR SIMPLE PLOT. ANY NUMBER OF MOMENTS COULD HAVE SEEN USED TO REPRESENT “A MANS WALKING," GUT ALL WE REALLY NEEDED IN THIS CASE WAS QNE, SO THAT'S WHAT WAS CHOSEN.EACH PANEL FURTHERS THE “PLOT. REMOVE (ONE AND THE tant MEANING IS oy ba > ALTERED. walking. “He finds a key on the ground.” ral “He takes it | with him, then ae he comes toa oe locked door.” "He unlocks the door.” “Then a > hungry tion jumps out.” AND IN THIS CASE, EIGHT PANELS |S WHAT WE NEEDED TO GET THE Jos DONE.CLARITY IS ‘your SOLE PURPOSE -- ~- YOUR STORY'S MOMENTS SHOULD BE LIKE A DOT-TO-DOT PUZZLE. REMOVE ONE DOT AND YOU CHANGE THe SHAPE oF THE STORY. ORF THar’s NOT THE CASE, MAYBE THAT PARTICULAR “DOT” WASN'T NEEDED IN “THE FIRST PLACE. “HE FINDS A KEY ON THE GROUND” SREAKS DOWN INTO THREE SUCH ACTIONS: SEEING, REACHING DOWN AND EXAMINING (LE, GIVING READERS A CLEAR VIEW OF THE KEY ITSELF), EACH PANEL SHOWS A COMPLETE ACTION, Because WE'RE ADAPTING A PLOT THAT'S ANCHORED ENTIRELY IN ACTIONS, IF THE PLOT CALLED FOR THE MAN TO “SLOWLY” REACH DOWN, A CERTAIN NUMBER OF EXTRA “DOTS” MIGHT HAVE GEN NECESSARY TO SHOW THE FINDING OF THE Key —- Hed A] LG LY ge = GUT BECAUSE WE'RE ILLUSTRATING THE FACT OF ‘THESE ACTIONS, RATHER THAN THEIR QUALITY, ONE PANEL PER ACTION SEEMS TO BE ENOUGH.P CONSIDER 1 WHAT YOU WANT FROM EACH PART OF YOUR STORY: DO YOU WANT TO JUMP AHEAD TOA KEY EVENT? 0 vou WANT TO PUT ON THE BRAKES AND FOCUS 1. MOMENT TO MOMENT A SINGLE ACTION PORTRAYED IN A SERIES OF MOMENTS. oN SMALLER MOMENTS? Do You WANT To DRAW ATTENTION TO CONVERSATIONS ‘AND FACES? DEPENDING ON YOUR ANSWERS, YOULL FIND THAT 2. ACTION TO ACTION A SINGLE SUBJECT (PERSON, OBJECT, ETC...) IN A SERIES OF ACTIONS. CERTAIN TYPES OF TRANSITIONS BETWEEN Panes . MAY GET THE J08 ES DONE GETTER Wel ‘THAN OTHERS, THESE PANEL TO PANEL 3. SUBJECT TO SUBJECT A SERIES OF CHANGING SUBJECTS WITHIN A SINGLE SCENE. TRANSITIONS ‘COME IN SIX VARIETIES, INCLUDING: 4. SCENE TO SCENE TRANSITIONS ACROSS SIGNIFICANT DISTANCES OF TIME AND/OR SPACE. 5. ASPECT TO ASPECT TRANSITIONS FROM ONE ASPECT OF A PLACE, IDEA OR MOOD TO ANOTHER. 6. NON SEQUITUR A SERIES OF SEEMINGLY NONSENSICAL, UNRELATED IMAGES AND/OR WORDS. MORE NORMATON ABOUT THE SI TRANSITIONSMOMENT TO MOMENT TRANSITIONS, FOR EXAMPLE, ARE. USEFUL FOR SLOWING THE ACTION DOWN, INCREASING SUSPENSE, CATCHING SMALL CHANGES AND CREATING MOVIE-LIKE MOTION ON THE PAGE. ACTION TO ACTION a sce eee ee TRANSITIONS ARE white pee een ee ent es equally erricientar Jf chaaine ances Pan era rutroen ecto ovine THe STORY To biscr ReaDee ; NEEDED.* Ze LOY eet BACK) ay @ | oa i Tnsmiows ace ano five aS Tous ow We Poon le one Qik oF FRAMESOMETIMES IT MAY SUIT YOUR NARRATIVE TO Have TIME STAND STILL AND LET ‘THE EYE WANDER. SCENE TO SCENE JUMPS CAN HELP COMPRESS & STORY DOWN TO A MANAGEASLE LENGTH, WHILE STILL ALLOWING FOR A RANGE OF TIME-SPANS AND ‘A GREADTH OF LOCATIONS. LOOK HARD AT YOUR STORIES AND YOU May FIND YOU AN CUT ALOT OUT. ASPECT TO ASPECT TRANSITIONS DO JUST THAT AND THEY'VE SEEN USED SUCCESSFULLY IN JAPAN -~ AND RECENTLY, IN NORTH AMERICA =» TO CREATE & STRONG SENSE OF PLACE AND MOOD.. AND FINALLY THE NON SEQUITUR, WHICH, THOUGH IT MAY NOT BO ANYTHING ‘TO ADVANCE A STORY -— Has PLAYED A ROLE IN EXPERIMENTAL COMICS, PROVIDING THE OCCASIONAL NONSENSE ac IN OTHERWISE RATIONAL STORIES,IF YOU HAVE A STORY THAT'S VERY PLOT-DRIVEN. THESE TEND YOU MAY FIND THAT A LOT OF ACTION TO ACTION TO CLARIFY THE FACTS OF A TRANSITIONS WITH A FEW SUBJECT TO SUBJECTS SCENE: WHO DOES WHAT, WHERE AND SCENE TO SCENES ARE ALL You NEED. TPS DONE, How IT°S DONE. ‘AND SO FORTH, HEH = (Bays 2 ACTION 3. SUBJECT 2ACTION 4.SCENE WHATEVER YOUR CHOICE OF MOMENT, THOUGH, CLARITY MEANS LETTING THESE TECHNIQUES OPERATE GUIETLY IN THE BACKGROUND AND LETTING THE CONTENT OF THE WORK SPEAK FOR ITSELF, TRANSITIONS ONE AND FIVE, ON THE OTHER HAND, HELP CLARIFY THE NATURE OF AN ACTION, IDEA OR MOOD, AND WORK WELL IN MORE NUANCED OR EMOTIONALLY-DRIWEN STORES. ONCE YOU'VE PicKED OF course, THE RIGHT MOMENTS AND THAT'S WHEN PICKING CHOOSING THE FOR THE JO8, YOU'LL ‘THE RicHT VIEW oF THaT RIGHT MOMENT. NEED To SHOW YOUR. MOMENT CAN BE CRUCIAL, IS ONLY THE READERS WHERE THAT BEGINNING. moment's FOCUS: rT FATT STMT Les, We TPECHOICE OF FRAME 1S THE STAGE WHERE YOU DECIDE ‘HOw CLOSELY TO FRAME AN [ACTION To SHOW ALL THE PERTINENT DETAILS ~~ == OR How FAR TO PULL BACK To Ler ‘THE READER KNOW WHERE AN ACTION IS. “TAKING PLACE ~~ AND Maye GIVE A SENSE OF BEING THERE vs THe STAGE y THEIR SENSE OF POSITION were vou WITHIN THAT WORLD DECIDE How | conmesrionat | FACTORS LIKE CROPPING, | BALANCE AND TILT AFFECT YOUR READERS? ~\ IMPRESSIONS OF \ \\, YOUR WORLD -— 19THE CHOICE OF MOMENT FOR OUR ORIGINAL EXAMPLE WAS PRETTY SIMPLE QUST STRAIGHT ACTION TO ACTION) ~— == AND THE CHOICE OF FRAME FOR THOSE PANELS WAS TOO. ‘OUR TALE COULD HAVE GEN SHOT FROM MANY ANGLES AND DISTANCES, GUT SY OFFERING A VIEW OF THE ACTION THAT GARELY CHANGES — TWO OUT OF THE EIGHT PANELS FEATURED CLOSE-UPS To SHOW A FEW IMPORTANT DETAILS -- BUT OTHERWISE, THE ACTION WAS SHOWN FROM A FIXED MIDDLE DISTANCE AND FixeD VIEWING ANGLE. ~ THE READER IS ENCOURAGED TO FOCUS ON WHAT DOES CHANGE, SUCH AS THE POSITION AND ATTITUDE OF THE CHARACTER, AS WELL AS HIS UNCHANGING FORWARD STANCE -~ ~ INSTEAD OF BEING DISTRACTED Sy NEEDLESSLY VARYING SHOTS, IRRELEVANT TO THE NARRATIVE. READERS, LIKE CHANGE AND VARIETY, SO IT'S TEMPTING TO VARY ANGLES 4 LOT. JUST MAKE SURE THAT THE CHANGES Iw YOUR ARTWORK —- — ARENT DISTRACTING READERS FROM MORE IMPORTANT CHANGES TAKING PLAGE IN YOUR STORY.Win 00 Fane aa TAT SAID, Some Scenes Sremoesperme | | RES owen, REGUIRE FREGUENT CHANGES oF HUNGRY LION 2 ran FRAME, SUCH AS THE FLIP-FLOPPING ANGLES OF SUBJECT TO SUBJECT TRANSITIONS USED ‘TO CAPTURE THE RHYTHM OF TWO PEOPLE iN CONVERSATION. 80, Loge ar ‘You MEAN ey, At Least 00 ALL THE PANELS: HAVE To KEEP. GET 10 APPEAR Seren DOIG THIS?! | | Se 4 Re w NEED To KEEP EVERY PANEL AT EYE LEVEL. EYE” VIEW can Give WEIGHT AND GRANDEUR TO . OBJECTS Af = WHILE GETTING ABOVE A.SCENE CAN GIVE READERS ACCESS TO A WEALTH OF INFO ASOUT A SETTING -- OF *RISING ABOVE IT ALL” EMOTIONALLY ASCONCEPTS Like “1A MAN IS WALKING" DON'T REGUIRE PULLING GACK THE FRAME MUCH, GUT IF YOU WANT YOUR READERS TO KNOW WHERE THAT MAN IS WALKING ~~ INVEST SOME SPACE IN WIDER VIEW. NEED THAT INFORMATION ESPECIALLY WHEN MOVING FROM ‘SCENE TO. ‘SCENE — 7 HENCE THE TRADITION OF THE ESTABLISHING ‘SHOT: A Bic LONG-SHOT PaNeL. OR TWO AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH NEW SCENE, USUALLY FOLLOWED BY SOME MIDDLE GROUND AND CLOSE-UP PANELS OF INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERS. TRE URRY, I CAN MAKE IT THERE By SUNDOWN._£- < 22On THE OTHER HAND, BECAUSE READERS WANT ano EXPECT ‘THAT SENSE OF PLACE, & CLEVER STORYTELLER CAN CHOOSE TO DELAY THE ESTABLISHING SHOT To INCREASE SUSPENSE — oR To MIRROR THE THOUGHTS OF CHARACTER WHO'S TEMPORARILY UNAWARE OF HIS OR HER SURROUNDINGS. Look FoR MORE ON THIS TOPIC (Ny CHAPTER Al THEYRE WORTH THE EFFORT IF, BY DOING 50, YOU GAN GREATE A STRONG SENSE OF PLACE IN THE IMAGINATIONS OF YOUR READERS,CHOOSING How TO FRAME THERE ARE "SUCH AS MOMENTS IN COMICS 15 LIKE CHOOSING CAMERA DIFFERENCES-- THE ROLE THAT [ANGLES IN PHOTOGRAPHY AND FiL™. SIZE, SHAPE AND POSITION HAVE ON COMICS == BUT TO THINK OF ‘THAT FRAME AS: THE READER'S CAMERA IS A USEFUL METAPHOR, THis 1S THE DEVICE BY WHICH YOU CAN GRAS THE READER 8Y THE SHOULDER, GUIDE THEM TO THE RIGHT SPOT ~~ = AND TELL ‘THEM “YOU ARE HERE...” READERS WILL ASSIGN IMPORTANCE TO CHARACTERS AND ‘OBJECTS PLACED IN THE CENTER ~- == AND SOME COMICS tes nites omic ey si Sig )| | eortne ree nose oe oer cae THERE.~ AmySTERIOUS ABSENCE -- BUT THAT CENTER CAN ALSO POINT US TOWARD LESS. TANGIGLE IDEAS, SUCH AS THE MOTION OF AN OBJECT ~~ ~- A DISTANCE asour To se CROSSED -- -— A DISTANCE CROSSED ALREADY -- a a oa UST A FEW OF THE REASONS . I eK jerpewanacrercumces WP CURR Wee THAT AM ARTIST say MIGHT CHOOSE A, SEEMINGLY OFF-CENTER ‘COMPOSITION. WELL CONSIDERAFTERALL ‘THAT PLANNING) CHOOSING, ARRANGING AND SKETCHING THINGS OUT, HERE'S THE PART OF THE PROCESS. WHERE YOU GET TO PICK UP YOUR PEN, BRUSH OR DIGITAL STYLUS ‘AND FINALLY DRAW SOMETHING! NEXT UP IS YOUR CHOICE OF IMAGE: CREATING PICTURES TO FILL THOSE FRAMES AND BRING THE WORLD OF YOUR STORY TO Lire VISUALLY. Via] shore or cna Vig} croice oF mane © craice of word B ewoice oF FLow 08 19 TO COMMUNICATE QUICKLY, CLEARLY AND COMPELLINGLY WITH THE READER. vo Marten Whar STYLE oF nace Wu 01008 OUR PETURES FAST AND MOET MBORTANT |CAN YOU DRAW A MOPED CLEARLY ENOUGH THAT READERS CAN TELL THEY'RE NOT LOOKING AT A MOTORCYCLE OR A BICYCLE? DON'T JUST RELY ON STOCK GENERIC. FEATURES; A DRESS; ACAR, A SMILE. READY TO GET SPECIFIC. CAN YOU DRAW AN CAN YOU DRAW A CAN YOU DRAW A PICTURE OF MARK EXPRESSION OF MOCK SCORPION THAT's. = TWAIN THAT DOESN'T WIND UP LOOKING DISAPPROVAL THar CLEARLY ABOUT TO — LUKE ALBERT EINSTEIN? WON'T BE MISTAKEN STRIKE? =: = FOR THE REAL THING? EVEN WHEN WORKING INA MINIMAL STYLE LIKE STICK FIGURE MASTER MATT FEAZELL, YOUR PICTURES CAN STILL INCORPORATE A WEALTH OF REAL LIFE DETAILS. | warer soTTLE OR A | SHOE IN JUST a Few \_ LINES, How SPECIFIC couLD YOU GET? 27 PANE. Se ART $Y MATT FEAZELL (SEE ART CREDTS, Ons. 250)CHOICE OF IMAGE Is FROM LIFE TRADITIONAL EVEN MORE HOW-To-DRaw 50. ‘BOOKS CAN SE HELPFUL — CLASSIC DRAWING SKILLS Lice ANATOMY aND PERSPECTIVE CAN HELP YOU TO RENDER THE FORMS IN YOUR WORLD CONVINCINGLY -- =~ BUT IN COMES, HOW YOU DRAW THE INTERIOR OF AN THOSE CHARACTERS APARTMENT, FOR EXAMPLE, CAN TELL YOUR READERS @ LOT [AND OBJECTS CAN BE 'AGOUT THE CHARACTER WHO LIVES IN IT. FAR MORE THAN JUST PRETTY PICTURES.‘A MINOR DETAIL It EVEN WHEN THE ART CAN FORESHADOW MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN A STORY. ‘THE STANCES aN EXPRESSIONS oF CHARACTER! = SILENT AND IN THE BACKGROUND -- CAN GIVE READERS A WEALTH OF INFORMATION ASOUT THEIR EMOTIONS AND ATTITUDES. = (OSS ae ‘AN ABSTRACT, EXPRESSIONISTIC OR AN EXTREME STYLISTIC CHOICE CAN INVEST EVERY SYMBOLIC IMAGE CAN STRENGTHEN THE MOMENT OF A STORY WITH AN OVERRIDING MOOD. RECOUNTING OF AN INTENSELY FELT EMOTION. 1 wahtad to buRY my. memories. | THE ULTIMATE TEST OF YOU MIGHT ALREADY SE ABLE GUESTION CLARITY IN COMICS, TO DRAW LIKE MICHELANGELO, BUT IF IT NUMBER ONE: ARTWORK IS IN HOW DOESN'T COMMUNICATE) ITLL JusT Wibt READERS WELL IT DELIVERS ON DIE ON THE PAGE —- GET THE THe BASIC INTENT 2 MESSAGE? OF EACH PANEL. wea — GRUDER BUT MORE 7 COMMUNICATIVE STYLE WILL WIN FANS By THE HUNDREDS OF “THOUSANDS. SNDEASON AN FRAT MILLER (SEE ART CREDITS PAGE 259, 27THE NEXT ASPECT OF CLARITY IN comics STORYTELLING (5 YOUR “On the bright ‘THey Brine THERE'S NO side, I got my. WITH THEM AN IMAGE SO VAGUE caffeine. On the UNPARALLELED THAT WORDS CAN'T donbitahe LEVEL OF LOCK IT INTO A DESIRED Dob-so-orie SPECIFICITY. MEANING. side, we got mugged on the way home.” p AND SOME ‘ SPECIFIC CONCEPTS: AND NAMES CAN ONLY BE CLeaRLy EXPRESSED THROUGH WORDS. 0} Hey, LOOK! 17°s KELLY DONOVAN, TWIN SROTHER OF THE GUY WHO PLAYED KANDER ON BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. PLUS HUMPHREY BOGART WEARING A FREDDIE MERCURY MASK AND A ROBOT DUPLICATE. OF FORMER UN, SECRETARY-GENERAL BOUTROS BOUTROS-GHALIE twas IN A COUPLE OF EPISODES. Speci Tens TOKE Doonan {See oar abr. Pat 350), 30 ‘TRY DOING THAT. wiTH JUST PICTURES!ee WORDS CAN BE USED To COMPRESS A STORY, SUMMING UP VAST CHANGES IN, ‘A SINGLE CAPTION AS SEEN I ‘SCENE-TO-SCENE ‘TRANSITIONS, [ TEN vEARs LareR... lamer (ee A LONG TIME rane iN A | ALONG Fae aaa AND) | GALAXY aa FAR AWAY... MUCH MUCH CLOSER... Neopian tue pre Art of CONVERSATION. Words alone have been Se Rae ONL aE ede stories hao clearly for | millennia. || They've done || just fine | without pictures... HAVE A WHOLE CHAPTER ON THIS Sus.ecT, BUT FOR NOW, SUFFICE IT TO SAY THAT THE SECRET OF COMMUNICATING CLEARLY WITH WORDS IS JUST ‘TO LET WORDS DO WHAT WORDS DO BEST -- BUT IN COMICS, THE “TWO HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER SEAMLESSLY ENOUGH THaT READERS BARELY NOTICE WHEN SWITCHING FROM ONE TO ANOTHER, == AND WHEN A PICTURE Is THE BETTER SOLUTION, TO Ler THem GET OUT OF THE Way. AotW: AT 7 OGRE am tn 3IFINALLY, AFTER CHOOSING JUST ‘THE RIGHT MOMENTS, FRAMES, IMAGES AND WORDS, ALL THAT'S LEFT IS YOUR CHOICE OF FLOW: How vou GUIDE YOUR AUDIENCE THROUGH Your WORK FROM BEGINNING TO END, BETWEEN PANELS, YOUR CHOICE OF FLOW WILL RELY ON THE UNWRITTEN. CONTRACT BETWEEN ARTISTS AND READERS WHICH STATES THAT PANELS ARE READ LEFT-TO-RIGHT FiRsT. ‘THEN UP-TO-DOWN# -- » a THe, PANELS AND WITHIN PRINCIPLES WILL ADPLY TO CAPTIONS AND WORD BALLOONS. == AND THAT WITHIN EACH PANEL, THE SAME IT ALSO MEANS BEING ON THE LOOKOUT FOR ANY PART OF THE CREATIVE PROCESS THAT CAN HELP -- @Gewouce oF Zl cwoice oF erame choice oF @ cuoice oF CHOICE OF 32PP THE EASIEST WAY ‘TO AVOID: PANEL-TO-PANEL CONFUSION IS JO JUST KEEP IT SIMPLE, SUT IF YOu LiKe TO Mik THINGS UP, KEEP A LOOK OUT FOR CERTAIN INHERENTLY CONFUSING ARRANGEMENTS LIKE THIS ONE — IN WHICH HABIT = AND PRODUCING WILL SEND YOUR UST ENOUGH READERS LEFT TO SPLIT-SECOND RIGHT, Leavin CONFUSION TO YANK: ‘THE LOWER LEFT- READERS OUT OF HAND PANEL THE WORLD OF THE UNREAD -~ STORY. SURE, THERE ARE WAYS Jo COMPEL READERS" EYES TO MOVE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, -- UNLESS, OF COURSE, YOU WANT TO 60 THE EXPERIMENTAL ROUTE, AST SOMETIMES DO, BUT THAT'S A WHOLE OTHER BOOK! JUST MAKE SURE YOUR LAYOUT IS SERVING YOUR STORY — — INSTEAD oF | tHe OTHER Way AROUND ANOTHER SOURCE OF “WHICH COMES NEXT?” CONFUSION OCCURS WHEN PANEL ARRANGEMENTS ARE OBSCURED By Too MANY “FOURTH WALL” BREAKS AND BORDERLESS maces. mT (SE MOTION IN YOUR FRAMES CAN HELP GUIDE THE READERS’ EVES, SUT MAKE SURE THEY'RE BEING ‘GUIDED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION! 33How vouR CHOICE OF FRAME CHANGES FROM PANEL TO PANEL CAN ALSO AFFECT THE READING FLOW. ‘BY ROTATING THE VIEWING ANGLE Too FAR SETWEEN PANELS, CHARACTERS CAN SEEM TO SWITCH PLACES, CREATING CONFUSION. CONSIDER SHOWING YOUR WORK-IN-PROGRESS. TO A FRIEND TO CATCH SUCH MIX~UPS IN THE ROUGH BLANNING STAGE -- AND IN THE FINISHED ART) OF course, ‘THAT's SUPPOSED DUDE, THIS GIRL'S To Be my DAD! BREAST DOES NOT NOT ALL PicTURES ARE CREATED EQUAL. READERS FOCUS ON AREAS OF CHANGE ‘AND RELEVANCE TO THE STORY— = WHILE BackeROUND DETAILS AND REPEATED ELEMENTS JUST FADE FROM VIEW AND ARE IGNORED. CHOICE OF FLOW IS PARTIALLY ABOUT »| LEARN OUR READERS! pats Or OBSTACLES "TA SHOOTH READING EXPERIENCE. EQuaLLy IMPORTANT THOUGH, ISHOW | ‘THE SIGHTS ALONG THat Path DRAW THE READERS” LooKine ar THE TABLE | CLOTH IN Thar LAST PANEL? DIDNT THINK 50,YOUR READERS ARE HUMANS, Just LIKE YOU AND ME, AND We ALL SORT INFORMATION THE ‘SAME WAY, AND AT THE END OF ‘THE Day, IT'S THAT FLOW OF SELECTED. MOMENTS THAT WE REMEMBER - ‘THERE'S NO Way TO FORCE READERS TO TAKE A SPECIFIC PATH, GUT WITH EXPERIENCE, YOU CAN RELIAGLY PREDICT WHAT THEY'LL PAY ATTENTION TO ~- AND SE DISTRACTED BY ~~ AND USE THAT KNOWLEDGE TO YOUR ADVANTAGE. EVERY Day, OUR FIVE SENSES TAKE Isl AN OVERWHELMING AMOUNT OF INFORMATION, YET WE GUICKLY SEPARATE OUT WHAT WE CARE AGOUT FROM THE CHAOS AND DIRECT OUR ATTENTION TOWARD IT. == AND ALL THOSE OTHER Sensations ‘ARE LEFT ON THE CUTTING ROOM IN COMICS, YOU CAN DO ALOT OF THAT “CUTTING” BEFOREHAND TO INSURE “THAT THE FLOw OF MAGES READERS SEE ARE EXACTLY THE ONES YOU WANT THEM To SEE, IN THE ORDER THAT BEST SeRvES yoUR STORYTELLING GOALS.WEBCOMICS Have DAILY STRIPS IWTRODUCED NEW aneeceneerite weacomies YAN OPPORTUNITIES FOR —- COMICS PAGES FLow WW READERS OUT OF THE AND POTENTIAL SEN Te ansie ind AE THR STORY 8Y CONSTANTLY oastacles To — LU IR uasi one FORCING THEM TO Flow READING THEMIS A PRETTY SCROLL, THEN HUNT. INTUITIVE PROCESS. BUT MANY MULTI-PAGE THEN CLICK, THEN ay SOME New EXPERIMENTAL FORMATS ARE DISTRACTING Gy THEIR NATURE, OF COURSE, BUT EVEN THESE CAN ALLOW FOR SMOOTH READING IF ALL THE NAVIGATING [5 DONE WITH & SINGLE CONTROL LIKE AN ARROW KEY. NO MATTER WHAT SHAPE YOUR COMICS TAKE, AS LONG AS NAVIGATING THROUGH THEM IS A SIMPLE, INTUITIVE PROCESS, THAT PROCESS WILL BE TRANSPARENT TO THE READER —- FLOW CAN CONTINUE UNINTERRUPTED. WE'LL GET DOWN TO SOME NUTS AND SOLTS REGARDING THIS TOPIC IN CHAPTER FIVE, AND ITS ONLINE EXTENSION, “CHAPTER FIVE AND A HALE.” FOR NOW, THOUGH, CAN HELP YOUR AUDIEN PRINT, THE WEB on BOTH: IMPROVING FLOW YOUR STORY AND PASS FROM ONE END TO THE OTHER WITHOUT EVER SEING TORN AWAY sy THE WORLD OUTSIDE, WHETHER YOU WORK IN. Do THAT, AND youR ‘STORYTELLING CAN BUT ITS FULL WEIGHT GEHIND THE “STORY” WITHOUT THE “TELLING” GETTING INTHE Way. INCE ENTER THE WORLD OFTOGETHER THESE FIVE KINDS OF CHOICES ARE WHAT COMMUNICATING THROUGH COMICS REQUIRES -- *- AND COMMUNICATING WITH CLARITY MEANS MAKING READER COMPREHENSION YOUR utrimate GOAL. CLARITY CHOICE CHOICE CHOICE CHOICE CHOICE (OF oF oF oF @ oe oF MOMENT IMAGE FLOW Goats: Goats: Goats: sconnecrnse me I stow neaoens ceaney ano cleaniy ato culonieReaoes sors" swouwe Ml wnar tiev need PM uc evocne Persuasive BETWEEN aN The nonenTs Tostecetarne i riearoesnance [ commuvcatne PM wrran panens Trarmarrenano [Ml aseusece piace, [M orcunacress, tots, vocesavo [MI avo cacarnc « evrrme Tose Posen ano ‘oaseers, songs wscantess i TeaspanenT ax0 hat Do roaus ENR TS comenariow unre IM irurrive ReaDnie fanp s730.3. wats. Sevenieice Toots: TOOLS: Toois: TooLs: oows: nesurawsrons f reane sze ano everv anisms evervureranr we aRaance- Groxacrrosower I Sta Grape DEVICE AND UNGUISTC ENT OF PANELS Sacre so eeret. EVER INVENTED, DEVICE EVER ON A PAGE OR aeaxcrrosnact Tl cnoce of wivesreD Sesser, ano THE PEBEONES, [B Scarcee ancuss, I nesesounice, Anancenen OF Shevseamme distance, eer, fM specncry. rasce, soccnciry, J tuenens wrran aauaiee AND Bromessi coy fM Tcvusun voce, fl awe. riwiane paves coven, Eiseunce ano xesteact coun FOR ‘hee arora concers, THe RecN THe EYE EFFICIENCY, OR THe “ESTABLISHING MI woRLD. VOCATION OF THROUGH READER ADDING PANELS SHOT.” REVEALING OTHER Senses. B@ECTATIONS. For EMPHASIS. AND wiTHOLDINe STYLISTIC AND AND CONTENT, CHARACTER OF INFORMATION. EXPRESSIONISTIC BALLOONS, SOUND MOMENT. HOOD DIRECTING READER MM Devices To EFFECTS AND UsWe MOMENT, WORD / PICTURE INTE@RATION®| FRAME, IMAGE AND WORD IN TANDEM Focus. [AFFECT MOOD AND EMOTION, AND IDEA. ‘THESE AREN'T “STEPS” THAT HAVE TO 8E ‘TAKEN IN SOME PREDETERMINED ORDER. DECISIONS HAVING TO DO WITH MOMENT, FRAME AND FLOW ARE LIKELY TO BE MADE IN THE PLANNING STAGES oF A COMIC, WHILE IMAGE AND WORD DECISIONS ARE USUALLY SEING MADE RIGHT UP TO THE FINISH LINE ~~ MOST comics ARTISTS JUGGLE ALL FIVE as NEEDED. == BUT YOULL FIND THESE CHOICES CAN FIT INTO ANY | NUMBER OF WORKING: METHODS. 37 streaner es cr nono /ocTone wrravion hb THRYOU MIGHT WaNT TO: o THEN COME UP = THEN CREATE START WITH ROUGH WITH THE DIALOGUE ie FINISHED ART. SKETCHES OF THE AND NARRATION ~ WHOLE comic -~ OR You MIGHT START WITH A FULL SCRIPT, WRITTEN BY YOU OR SOMEONE ELSE “TAP! TAPE -- THEN USE THAT TO DO YOUR ROUGH SKETCHED THEN CREATE ‘THE FINISHED ART. YOU MIGHT EVEN CREATE ONE THEN DO THE SAME WITH PANEL FINISHED PANEL WITH No TWO AND JUST KEEP GOING! IDEA WHAT HAPPENS NEXT —~— AND EACH DECISION YOU MARE CAN BE INFORMED. By; AND EVALUATED ON THE BASIS OF, THESE FIVE CATEGORIES. WORKING METHOD YOU CHOOSE, MAKING COMICS COMES DOWN To A SERIES ‘OF DECISIONS ~~ {Gh cnorce oF moment ZQ| cHoice oF FRAME (& choice oF mace | cHoIce oF WORD EB] CHOICE OF FLow IMPROVISE A SIMPLE STORY, TOLD AS CLEARLY AS POSSIBLE, AND ‘SEE HOW OUR FIVE KINDS OF CHOICES ‘CAN GE MADE INREAL TIME. WE'LL START WITH A FEW THROWAWAY ‘CHARACTERS.LET'S START THEIR STORY WITH A 616 ESTABLISHING SHOT To SHow WHERE THE ACTION IS TAKING PLACE, THEN A MIDDLE SHOT ‘TO INTRODUCE CHARACTERS A AND B, AND THEN ‘A CLOSE-UP ON CHARACTER A, THREE MOMENTS, ACCOMMODATING THREE DIFFERENT FRAMES ON THE SAME SCENE, moans DONE MARY MORE FRAMES, GUT THREE GETS THE JOB DONE. i ( | es Ew ve NOW AS A STARTS FOLLOWING B, NOTICE HOW BOTH ARE SHOWN IN FRAME, TO REINFORCE THEIR RELATIVE POSITIONS. ALSO, DESPITE CHANGING VIEWING ANGLES, GOTH MAINTAIN A LEFT~TO-RIGHT FORWARD FLOW, TRACKING THE READER'S USUAL READING DIRECTION. NO FIREWORKS IN THE IMAGES DEPARTMENT. JUST A FEW RECOGNIZABLE DETAILS, SUT OUR CHOICE OF IMAGE IS AT LEAST SPECIFIC. Wwe KNOW WWE”RE IN A MIAMIMLIKE CITY; WE KNOW CHARACTER AIS A SERIOUS GUY. WE KNOW WHAT WE NEED “OR NOW.NEXT, BY SHOWING CHARACTERS A AND B FROM CHARACTER C'S POINT OF VIEW, WE GIVE READERS A CLEAR SENSE OF WHERE ALL THREE CHARACTERS ARE IN RELATION TO ONE ANOTHER, IT WASAUT PRACTICAL TO SHOW ALL THREE CHARACTERS IN A SINGLE FRAME —- ‘THEY'D BE TOO SMALL IN A LONG-SHOT —~ GUT THE VISUAL FRAGMENTS STILL ADD. UP TOA SINGLE IDEA. s ——— THE DOUBLE-CIRCULAR SHAPE OF THE © SINOCULARS IW THE FIRST PANEL TELLS US WE'VE INTRODUCED A THIRD POINT OF ViEW. mM Ss THEN WE PICK A plus A CLOSE | LONe enous ENOUGH ANGLE TO _- ANGLE TO SHOW ‘SHOW C'S FACE EC's POSITION ON. ‘AND THE eiNlocu: THE ROOF | LARS CLEARLY. WE'VE ARRIVED AT THE NEXT IMPORTANT LOCATION, SO THE CAMERA PULLS BACK AGAIN, FOR ANOTHER ESTABLISHING SHOT. ALSO, WITH D'S. INTRODUCTION, COMES OUR FIRST DIALOGUE.THE NEXT TWO MOMENTS ARE FRAMED A BIT TOO CLOSE To SHow US EXACTLY WHAT IS BEING BOUGHT OR FOR HOW MUCH AND THE WORDS: AREN'T VERY SPECIFIC EITHER. CHOICE OF FRAME AND CHOICE OF WORD ARE SOTH HOLDING: OUT on us! SECAUSE OF THAT DELIBERATE LACK. OF INFORMATION, WE ONLY KNOW WHAT CHARACTER A KNOWS. IN FACT, PANEL TWO HERE 18 SHOT FROM A'S POINT OF VIEW, 50 HiS DISCOVERY FEELS LIKE QUR OWN. Now, AS SOON AS WORDS ENTER, THE PICTURES. ALONE WOULDN'T QUITE TELL THE WHGLE STORY. wren “POLICE!” FOR EXAMPLE, YOU MIGHT MISS THE BADGE AND JUST ASSUME THAT CHARACTER A WAS NOTICE TOO HOW MANY OF THESE ACTION TO. ACTION choices ARE comPOsED FOR LEFT-TO-RIGHT FLOW RESULTING IN A SENSE OF FORWARD MOMENTUM. YET) WHEN CHARACTER Se ok ts ITELDS BUT ON THe as ene THe ACTION sLows LaresAS HAPPENS NEXT THE CAMERA CAN SHARE INFORMATION WITH READERS THAT CHARACTER A DOES NOT Have. SPECIFICALLY, THE AMOUNT OF MONEY B GOT, AND. THE PRESENCE OF & GUN IN PANEL 4, NOTICE HOw MOMENT, FRAME AND IMAGE ACCOMMODATE EACH OTHER: ADDING MOMENTS 70 INCLUDE ANGLES WHICH REVEAL MEANINGFUL DETAILS. NEXT, IT'S WORTH PULLING BACK THE FRAME, NOT FOR A NEW SCENE, GUT BECAUSE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE SCENE IS CHANGING. ALSO WITH PHYSICAL CONFLICTS, THE LOCATIONS (OF CHARACTERS: MATTER, HERE ALSO, WE SEE How WORDS ano PICTURES CAN OPERATE ON DIFFERENT PLANES: ONE RELAYING DIALOGUE THAT ALL CAN HEAR; THE OTHER SHOWING INFORMATION CTHE AMOUNT OF MONEY) THAT ONLY SOME KNOW ABOUT. AND BY LETTING READERS “IN ON THE SECRET,” (OUR CHOICE OF FRAME AND IMAGE may LEAVE THEM FEELING A BIT LIKE COLLABORATORS.SCENERY STARTS SHIFTING FAST, (T°S IMPORTANT TO CONTINUE FRAMING THE ACTION WITH LONG-SHOTS AND MIDDLE~SHOTS TO ALLOW READERS TO TAKE IT ALL IN. Havine KEPT ALL FRAMES AT THE SAME HEIGHT TO THIS OINT, ADDING A DOUBLEHEIGHT PANEL CAN CHANGE THE FLOW OF ACTIONS TO ACCOMMODATE & VERTICAL SHIFT. AND FINALLY, A FEW CLOSE-UPS As We MOVE IN FOR SOME (CHARACTERIZATION ~~ == oR WHAT PASSES For IT WITH A THROW= AWAY STORY LUKE THIS ONE » S STORYTELLhiG AND A GOGD STORY. £m OFFERING [HS AS AN EXAMPLE OF THE FORMER CMY.IN OTHER wioRDS, THE CHOIGES OF MOMENT, FRAME, — Far MORE Psuns LINE AND FLOW IN ‘THAN THEY THe VISUALS Wy THESE EXANDLES ARE ‘THESE PANELS SE ANDES ow FEATURE coven &y MANY FANCY CAMERA ANGLES OR STUNNING IMAGERY. (F WE HAD To RATE THE DRAMATIC CONTENT IN THE ART, WE MIGHT SAY LOW" TO. “MODERATE.” NOW, DEFINING SINTENSITY™ IS A SUBJECTIVE BUSINESS. FOR SOME PEOPLE, A COMIC FILLED WITH NOTHING BUT PANELS OF ONE PERSON ASLEEP IN THEIR BED, SHOT FROM THE SAME ANGLE AGAIN AND AGAIN, MIGHT BE CONSIDERED. “INTENSE” BUT FOR NOW, WE'LL USE IT TO REFER TO THOSE VISUAL TECHNIQUES wHick ADD CONTRAST, DYNAMISM, GRAPHICEXTREME DEPTH ouener GRAPHIC CONTRAST. CUES. ‘BOLD JUXTAPOSITIONS OF COLOR, ‘THE SENSE OF GREAT FRAME SHAPE AND BRIGHTNESS. DISTANCES, EXTREME SIZE and ‘CLOSENESS AND THE SHAPE. \\\\ conTRAST BETWEEN VIRTUOSO DRAWING TECHNIQUE. BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL. BORDERLESS AND GORDER-BREAKING CHARACTERS AND OBJECTS, DIAGONALS. ‘TUTED SUBJECTS, ANGLES ==NOW, THE Way VE ILLUSTRATED THEM HERE, THESE QUALITIES May RECALL CERTAIN GENRES oF comics, PREPARE \= PARTICULARLY THOSE INVOLVING HIGH INCIDENCE OF HITTING, BLEEDING, COLLISIONS, EXPLOSIONS 08 PEOPLE SAYING. “OH MY GOD, NO!” ow A REGULAR Basis. BUT WHILE THE “EXAGGERATED POSE: [AND EXPRESSIONS” ~ 70 FIRE! i |i sa OR “VIRTUOSO DRAWING TECHNIQUES” OF OTHER GENRES MIGHT TAKE ON DIFFERENT FLAVORS -- - THE Basic EFFECT oF Such ‘TECHNIQUES STAYS CONSTANT: ATTRACTING aND/oR EXCITING READERS AS SOON AS THEY PICK COMIC OFF THE SHELF OR LOAD IT INTO THEIR BROWSER. CLARITY WITHOUT ANY PRESENTATIONAL FLAIR WHATSOEVER CAN SE A SITTER PILL FOR SOME TO SWALLOW. THIS IDEA OF ADDING A LITTLE PIZAZZ Toa STORYTELLER’S STYLE ISA TIME-HONORED THING 15, WHILE CLARITY AND INTENSITY CAN GO HAND IN HAND, YOU CAN ONLY LEAN ONL ONE SIDE SO HARD BEFORE THE OTHER STARTS TO SUFFER. ‘Sle THREE: ARTY ELOURE ODA, PANEL FOUR: AAT (Sy FRANCOWS SEMUITEN (SEE ART CREDITS, PAGE 250),= 22) Ss = Se e G “2 2 S = = FOR EXAMPLE, IF == SPECIFICALLY, WE TAKE THE BASIC MORE EXTREME == THESE PANELS i—/ COMPOSITIONS FouND DEPTH CUES, SOME START TO FEEL A IN OUR SAMPLE STORY, DIAGONALS, MORE LITTLE MORE LIVELY, AND: APPLY EVEN A, FEW EXAGGERATED POSTURES, WITHOUT SACRIFICING OF THESE DYNAMIC "AND ONE OR TWO FOURTH MUCH CLARITY IN: EFFECTS -- WALL BREAKS —- ‘THE PROCESS. 48a cs tS a SD ie in S| Fa a IN SUCH CASES, THE THE HOPE OF DRAMATIC CONTRAST 1S LOST! Bars IN FACT, THERE'S NO SINGLE LEVEL oF INTENSITY THAT?S LIKELY TO WORK IN EVE! "7 IT'S IN THE VARIATION BETWEEN PANELS THAT TRUE DYNAMIC EFFECTS ARE CREATED.‘DEPTH CONTRAST GRAPHIC CONTRAST RAN DIAGONALS EXTREME POSES: ATH WALL BREAKS: FRAME VARIATION eT poco eet ‘SURFACE APPEAL WHEN MAKING COMICS FOR THE FIRST TIME, IT'S TEMPTING TO TRY TO MAKE EVERY MOMENT OF A STORY HIT LIKE THUNDERSTORM. BUT JUST AS A THUNDERCLOUD NEEDS TIME TO GROW AND GaTHER STRENGTH GEFORE THE RAIN — comies STORIES NEED TIME TO BUILD ON THE KNOWLEDGE ano EXPECTATIONS OF READERS BEFORE THEY CAN DELIVER THEIR. STRONGEST MOMENTS. READERS CRAVE DRAMATIC CHANGES, BUT TO HIGHLIGHT CHANGE REQUIRES AN UNcHanicine POINT OF REFERENCE. INTRUDER. ‘THE FIXED, QUIET BACKGROUND SETS THE STAGE FOR THE CACOPHONOUSTHE FIXED CAMERA | ANGLE oraws THE FIXED. THREE-By- IMPACT OF THE CLOSE: BEN THINKS SHE. ‘ares neve® Shown ANY AND THE FIXED MIDDLE GROUND SHOT CONTRIGUTES TO THE EMOTIONAL “UP. IN SHORT, SOMETIMES JUST TELLING: IT STRAIGHT, WITH CLARITY AS YOUR GUIDE, IS THE BEST WAY FOR STORIES TO GATHER STEAM -- AND THEN STRIKE LIKE LIGHTNING WHEN IT COUNTS.FINDING THE RIGHT CHALLENGE. INTENSITY BETWEEN INTENSITY AND CLARITY 1S MORE THAN JUST A PRACTICAL IT ECHOES A GROADER PHILOSOPHICAL DIVIDE In comics ‘CULTURE — BALANCE cLaRITY ON A THRILLING COMICS HAS SEEN PLENTY OF GREAT ‘TALENTS ON BOTH ENDS OF THE SCALE. ‘THERE'S NO “RIGHT” Hoe. —- BETWEEN THE JOY OF TELLING STORIES WITH A STRONG: PERSONAL FLAIR, MAKING OLD STORIES SEEM NEWs TAKING READERS CELEBRATING VIRTUOSITY OF TECHNIQUE -- -- AND THE GELIEF THAT THE STORIES MOST WORTH TELLING CAN GE TOLD WITHOUT ANY GELS AND WHISTLES; ‘THAT THE CHARACTERS AND EVENTS IN A STORY WILL GE REASON ENOUGH TO KEEP READING, IF THE PRESENTATION IS CLEAR @ND EFFECTIVE. RIDE AND aut WHICHEVER SIDE THE PRINCIPLES OF PURE, CLEAR STORYTELLING SHOULD BE YOUR STARTING POINT, YOU PLAN TO LEAN TOWARD —la +o UNDERSTAND y wiar 0U Have TO arteries Lehi el TO THE GOAL OF UNDERSTANDING -- = AND YOU WANT Hen To CARE. ra (mace [(@ worp ey FLOW | Gur tHere are ONE RELIES ON THE ae: THE HUMAN BEINeS TWO PATHS You INTENSITY. oF Your THat uve WITHIN | can take Toeer PRESENTATION -— CTR FEL Ia ON THAT STORY. ‘YOUR READERS TO THE CONTENT. OF CARE. THE STORY ITSELF, THe IDEAS AND THE SENSATIONS TAKE A BREAK, MAYBE TRY SOME EXPRESSED THROUGH oF THe WORLD OF THE EXERCISES LISTED IN THE THEM AND BETWEEN YOUR STORY BRINGS FOLLOWING NOTES PAGES. THEM. TOLFE. THEN WE'LL SEE WHERE THAT SECOND PATH LEADS.INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I: WRITING WITH PICTURES* PAGE | - GUESSING WHAT YOU WANT (OKAY, I'M STARTING WITH SOME BIG ASSUMPTIONS HERE! THE KIND OF COMIC T DESCRISE ON PAGE ONE ISN'T THE ONLY KIND OUT THERE. CIN FACT, I'LL TALK ABOUT THE VERY DIFFERENT GOALS SOME CARTOONISTS HAVE IN CHAPTER SIX.) BUT T DO THINK THIS IS THE GOAL MOST OF US START WITH: TO TELL A STORY THAT SWALLOWS THE READER WHOLE, USUALLY BECAUSE THAT'S THE EXPERIENCE WE HAD AS READERS THAT LED US TO COMICS IN THE FIRST PLACE, ‘TELLING STORIES IS WHY COMICS EXISTS, AND THE DRIVE TO MAKE THOSE STORIES MEMORABLE, MOVING [AND INTOXICATING IS WHAT GIVES COMI¢S ITS CURRENT SHAPE, EVEN IF TOO MANY ARTISTS Fall AT THAT MISSION. IT'S LIKE LEARNING AGOUT SEX. EVEN IF MAKING BAGIES 15 THE LAST THING ON YOUR MIND, UNDERSTANDING HUMAN SEXUALITY STILL STARTS WITH THE REPRODUC- ‘TIVE SYSTEM. PAGE 2, PANEL 2- TEACHING MYSELF NO JOKE. I'M PLANNING A MAJOR GRAPHIC NOVEL AS: My NEXT 81 PROJECT AND CREATING THIS BOOK HAS HELPED ME PREPARE FOR IT. I HAVE A LOT OF GAD HABITS TO GET RID OF! PAGE 5, PANEL I- ON MY EXAMPLES “THIS BOOK 1S BLACK AND WHITE SO MOST OF MY EXAMPLES COME FROM GRAPHIC NOVELS, MANGA OR ‘COMIC STRIPS WHICH FEATURE REPRODUCIGLE BLACK LINE ART. MOST WESCOMICS, SUPERHERO COMICS AND (CLASSIC EUROPEAN COMICS ARE IN COLOR AND HARDER “TO REPRODUCE, SO YOU WON'T SEE AS MUCH OF THAT WORK REPRESENTED UNLESS THOSE SUSJECTS COME UP DIRECTLY. T1°S NOT MY PERSONAL PREFERENCE, JUST KEEPING THE EXAMPLES AS SHARP AND READAGLE AS POSSISLE. MOST OF THESE IDEAS SHOULD APPLY TO ALL. KINDS OF COMIES, THAT SAID, IF T CAN PICK A COMIC T ADMIRE TO MAKE A GIVEN POINT, TPROBAGLY WILL. PAGE 19-25 - FRAMES AND GENRES CHOICE OF FRAME CAN DIFFER FROM GENRE TO GENRE. ‘SUPERHERO COMICS TEND TO FEATURE CONTRASTING ‘DISTANCES, CHANGES OF HEIGHT AND LOTS OF DIAGO- NALS TO KEEP THINGS LOOKING DYNAMIC (AT LEAST SINCE KIRGY REINVENTED THE GENRE, WHICH WE'LL DISCUSS IN CHAPTER Sid: woos AN exes wee Se Gy LS sone, ans = woos veneer, ae * bs CL icttt INA DAILY GAG STRIP, ON THE OTHER HAND, AN ARTIST. MIGHT GO FOR MONTHS WITHOUT EVER MOVING THE CAMERA” TO GIVE THE COMIC A MUNDANE, DOWN TO EARTH FEELING ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT DRAMATIC STAGING WOULD UNDERCUT THE HUMOR: T eapameeenr paula 9 PAGE 29 - DRAWING STYLES AND MOOD FOR A WHOLE CHAPTER ON HOW DRAWING STYLES CAN AFFECT MOOD, SEE UNDERSTANDING COMICS, CHAPTER FIVE, SLIVING IN LINE.” PAGE 36 = FLOW AND PANEL SHAPE FLOW CAN BE AFFECTED GY PANEL SHAPE IN VARIOUS WAYS. YOUR READERS INSTINCTIVELY KNOW THAT AS ‘THEIR EYES MOVE ACROSS. A ROW OF PANELS, THEY'RE MOWING FORWARD IN TIME, SO A ROW OF NARROW PANELS WHICH DIVIDE THE READING FLOW INTO SHORT BURSTS ARE USEFUL FOR FAST, CHOPPY SEQUENCES: WHILE WIDER PANELS CAN GE USED FOR MOMENTS THAT SHOULD PASS MORE SLOWLY, * WILL SNER MAS REFERRED TOMIMSELE AS “A WRITER wiko WRITES. GLP ‘uti pcruRES™ AUD EVE HEARD aT SPRL TALE ABOUT _EoieS AS A FORO "PRETURE WRITING” SO TIS INT MY TERM.PAGE 37 - CATEGORIES AND LIMITATIONS. ARTISTS HAVE SEEN DRAWING WONDERFUL comics [STORIES FOR WELL OVER A HUNDRED YEARS WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT TERMS LIKE MY FIVE CHOICES, OF COURSE. & LOT OF PURE INSTINCT GOES INTO MAKING COMICS. THESE IDEAS ARE MEANT TO SUPPLEMENT AND INFORM THOSE INSTINCTS, NOT REPLACE THEM, TF YOU'RE CREATING A COMIC, AND A PARTICULAR PANEL OR PAGE DESIGN JUST FEELS RIGHT TO YOU, GO FORIT. UST BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T GO DOWN ONE OF MY NERDY CHECKLISTS FIRST DOESN'T MAKE IT ANY LESS VALID. BUT, WHEN YOU COME BACK TO THAT Comic AND SOMETHING NO LONGER FEELS QUITE RIGHT, OR WHEN A FRIEND READS IT AND DOESN'T GET IT, THAT'S WHEN T CAN PROMISE THAT YOUR SOLUTION LIES IN ONE OF THOSE FIVE COLUMNS. THAT'S WHEN YOU MAY WANT TO RECONSIDER SOME OF THE CHOICES YOU'VE MADE AND CONSIDER THE ALTERNATIVES, PAGE 38 - ART STAGES CREATING FINISHED ART HAS TRADITIONALLY INCLUDED SOME KIND OF UNDER-DRAWING WITH LIGHT (HARD) PENCIL AND/OR LIGHT BLUE PENCIL TO GET DETAILS [AND PROPORTIONS RIGHT, FOLLOWED GY FINISHED INK DRAWINGS. IN THE INDUSTRY OVER THE YEARS, THESE SEPARATE TASKS ~- OFTEN PERFORMED BY SEPARATE. ARTISTS ~~ BECAME KNOWN AS “PENCILLING” (SIC) AND. “iniENG." ALOT OF LONE COMICS ARTISTS STILL SPLIT THEIR COMICS ART INTO THESE SEPARATE STAGES. IT MAKES SENSE TO HAVE A NONPERMANENT IWy TO WORK OUT WHERE LINES ARE GOING TO GO BEFORE INK HITS PAPER. STILL, I'M RELUCTANT TO USE THE TERMS BECAUSE THEY DON'T FIT WELL WITH OTHER TYPES OF FINISHED [ART LIKE PAINT OR DIGITAL MEDIA. THAT SAID, MOST CARTOONISTS Go THROUGH A FEW STAGES.ON THEIR WAY TO FINISHED ART, INCLUDING: + A ROUGH LAYOUT STAGE WHEN THEY FIGURE OUT WHERE EVERYTHING IS GOING TO GO ON THE PAGE. + A PENCILLING-LIKE STAGE WHEN THEY WORK OUT THE PROPORTIONS AND DETAILS OF CHARACTERS. AND OBJECTS IN THEIR STORY + A FINISHED ART STAGE WHEN RENDERING DECISIONS, [ARE MADE FINAL. PAGE 46 - INTENSITY BOOSTERS ALTHOUGH THESE TECHNIQUES ARE DISCUSSED HERE AS WAYS TO PUNCH UP THE SURFACE APPEAL OF A WORK, ‘THERE ARE ALSO PLENTY OF STRAIGHTFORWARD NARRATIVE USES, INCLUDING: EXTREME DEPTH CUES TO IMPLY THE EXTREME SIZE OR MASS OF A CHARACTER OR OBJECT! ie Up y om Se TILTED ANGLES TO REFLECT A CHARACTER'S SENSE OF DISORIENTATION: (OR HYPER-RENDERING TO SHOW IMPORTANT DETAILS OF AN OBJEC’ PAGE 447, PANEL 7 ~ CLARITY WITHOUT INTENSITY IT’S ACTUALLY PRETTY INTERESTING WHEN CARTOON= ISTS TRY DIALING DOWN THE INTENSITY NEARLY ALL ‘THE Way. CHESTER BROWN'S LOUIS RIEL INCLUDES STATIC CHARACTER POSTURES, VERY FEW CLOSE-UPS AND SOME DELIBERATELY MONOTONOUS LAYOUTS, SUT ‘THE DRAMATIC EVENTS STILL PULL THE READER IN: 55Cae GENERALLY SPEAKING, THE “ALTERNATIVE ComICS™ SCENE, INCREASINGLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE LITERATE, GRAPHIC NOVEL MOVEMENT, USES THE DYNAMIC ACCENTS DISCUSSED ON PAGE 46 ONLY SPARINGLY, CREATING MOODS MORE AKIN TO A STAGE PLAY THAN A HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTER. BROWN'S LOUIS RIEL IS AN EXTREME EXAMPLE, BUT LOOK AT MATURE GRAPHIC NOVELS LIKE SPIEGELMAN’S MAUS, WARE'S JIMMY CORRIGAN OR MARJANE SATRAD!'S PERSEPOLIS FOR EXAMPLES OF THAT GENRE’S MORE RESTRAINED ANGLES AND COMPOSITIONS. OPTIONAL EXERCISES NOTE: IF YOU'D LIKE TO EXPLORE SOME OF THESE “TOPICS FURTHER (OR IF YOU'RE A TEACHER WHO'D LIKE ‘TO INCORPORATE SOME OF THESE IDEAS INTO A CLASSROOM SETTING) I'VE INCLUDED SUGGESTIONS FOR EXERCISES IN THE NOTES SECTIONS OF THE FIRST FOUR CHAPTERS. THEY AREN'T NECESSARY TO GRASP ‘THE IDEAS IN THIS BOOK, GUT YOU MIGHT FIND THEM USEFUL FOR GETTING A MORE HANDS-ON UNDERSTAND- ING OF THE COmiCS-MARING PROCESS, #1 CHOICE OF MOMENT (PAGES I-18) PICK A FAVORITE MOVIE AND TRY ROUGHLY BREAKING DOWN THE STORY INTO JUST SIXTEEN KEY MOMENTS USING ONLY PICTURES, NO WORDS. MAKE SURE THEY'RE CLEAR ENOUGH AND CONNECTED ENOUGH THAT A FRIEND WHO HASW'T SEEN THE MOVIE CAN TELL YOu WHAT'S GOING ON WITHOUT ANY ADDITIONAL EXPLANA TION. QUESTION: IF YOU HAD TO CUT TO JUST EIGHT PANELS, WHICH ONES WOULD YOU DROP? HOW MANY PANELS WOULD GE ENOUGH TO SHOW ALL OF THE KEY MOMENTS OF THE STORY? (See ART CREDITS, PAGE 258). # 2 - CHOICE OF MOMENT/CONNECTING THE DOTS (PAGES |3+14) PICK & FEW OF YOUR FAVORITE COMICS AND TRY TO FIND ‘AT LEAST ONE PANEL THAT COULD HAVE BEEN CUT WITHOUT ADVERSELY AFFECTING THE CLARITY OF THE STORY. CONSIDER WHAT MIGHT HAVE PROMPTED THE CREATOR(S) OF THE COMIC TO INCLUDE IT INTHE FIRST PLACE, NAS IT MEANT TO SLOW DOWN THE ACTION? OR FILL SPACE GEFORE A PAGE TURN? WAS IT GENUINELY USELESS OR WAS THERE A SUBTLER PURPOSE Int MIND? # 3+ THE SIX TRANSITIONS (PAGES 15-18) PICK ONE OF THESE THREE MINI-PLOTS AND CREATE A ROUGH SINGLE PAGE COMIC ABOUT IT USING ONLY ONE. OF THE TRANSITION TYPES FROM PAGES 16 AND I7: + THE QUEEN DIED AND THE KING DIED OF GRIEF AFTER HER. + BOY MEETS GIRL, BOY LOSES GIRL. + DOG EATS DOG, DOE BURPS, DOG FIGURE SKATES. ‘THEN TRY DRAWING A NEW PAGE OF THE SAME PLOT USING A DIFFERENT KIND OF TRANSITION AND SEE HOw IT AFFECTS THE STORYTELLING STYLE AND MOOD OF ‘YOUR COMIC. #4 CHOICE OF FRAME (PAGES 17-25) ‘GUY THE LATEST COMIC BY YOUR FAVORITE CREATOR. DON'T LOOK INSIDE, BUT INSTEAD GET A COMICS-SAVWY FRIEND TO COPY JUST THE PANEL BORDERS FROM A FEW PAGES AND WRITE A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF WHAT'S GOING ON IN EACH PANEL. TRY TO GUESS HOW YOUR FAVORITE CREATOR COMPOSED EACH PANEL AND [DRAW A ROUGH VERSION INSIDE THE SORDERS. THEN ‘TAKE A LOOK AT THE PRINTED COMIC AND COMPARE {YOUR ROUGH VERSION TO THE REAL THING. #5 CHOICE OF FRAME (PAGES 19-25) SKETCH A I6-PANEL GRID ON A PIECE OF TYPING PAPER WITH A SIMPLE STANDING FIGURE IN THE FIRST PANEL: 56ASK A FRIEND TO DECIDE WHAT YOUR CHARACTER SHOULD DO IN PANEL TWO. DRAW THE SUGGESTION AND CONSIDER WHETHER IT WAS NECESSARY TO CHANGE THE VIEWING ANGLE. IF YOUR CHARACTER ENCOUNTERS AN ELEPHANT, DO YOU HAVE TO PULL BACK? IF HE/SHE CLIPS A TOENAIL, DO YOU HAVE TO PULL IN? DO ANY OF THE SUGGESTIONS REQUIRE A TILT OR ROTATION OF VIEWING ANGLE? DO ANY REGUIRE A CHANGE OF ELEVATION? REPEAT UNTIL THE PAGE IS FILLED! #6 - CHOICE OF IMAGE (PAGES 26-29) ‘TEST YOUR VISUAL MEMORY. TRY MAKING SIMPLE DRAWINGS OF FIVE COMPLEX ITEMS FROM MEMORY (EXAMPLES: & FIRE HYDRANT, YOUR FAVORITE SKYSCRAPER, A PAIR OF SCISSORS, A SNEAKER, A GAME CONTROLLER... THEN FIND THE REAL THING OR CHECK ‘THE WEB FOR PHOTOS. STUDY THE DIFFERENCES. THEN [DRAW THE SAME ITEMS AGAIN FROM MEMORY AND SEE IF YOU CAN CAPTURE THEM MORE EFFECTIVELY. ALTHOUSH DRAWING FROM MEMORY ISN'T AS NECESSARY: TODAY AS IT WAS FOR MY GENERATION (YOU CAN PRETTY MUCH FIND A PHOTO OF ANYTHING ONLINE) PRACTICING IT CAN HELP ISOLATE THE MOST IMPOR= ‘TANT STRUCTURAL DETAILS OF SUGJECTS THAT CAN JOG READERS MEMORIES WITHOUT OVERLOADING THEM WITH UNNECESSARY DETAILS. FOR EXAMPLE, IF ASKED TO QUICKLY SKETCH A BICYCLE FROM MEMORY, A LOT OF PEOPLE MIGHT SKETCH SOMETHING LIKE THIS: UT WITH REFERENCE, THE SAME NUMGER OF LINES MIGHT SETTER CAPTURE THE BASIC SHAPES OF A REAL BICYCLE: #7 - CHOICE OF IMAGE (PAGES 26-27) CAN YOU DRAW AN UNOCCUPIED ROOM WITH ENOUGH DETAIL THAT A FRIEND CAN TELL YOU AT LEAST TEN MEANINGFUL THINGS ABOUT THE KIND OF PERSON THAT LIVES THERE, JUST BY LOOKING AT YOUR DRAWING? INOTE: SEE CHAPTER 3 FOR CHOICE OF WORD EXERCISES.) # 8 - CHOICE OF FLOW (PAGES 32-36) FIND A COMIC OR GRAPHIC NOVEL WITH A LOT OF ‘VARIATIONS IN FRAME SIZE AND SHAPE. PICK AT LEAST ‘TEN PAGES AND CONSIDER HOW YOU MIGHT ARRANGE THE SAME PANELS IF YOU HAD TO FIT THEM ONTO THE PAGES OF & DIFFERENTLY-SHAPED BOOK WOULD SOME PANELS HAVE TO BE ADDED OR SUBTRACTED? HOW DOES THE NEW LAYOUT AFFECT TURN-OF-PAGE MOMENTS? CAN YOU KEEP THE READING ORDER EASY TO. FOLLOW? #7 - CLARITY VERSUS INTENSITY (PAGES 45-52) CAN YOU FIND A COMIC WHERE THE CLARITY OF SOME [SCENES COULD GE IMPROVED BY DIALING DOWN THE INTENSITY OF SOME LAYOUTS? CAN YOU DO A ROUGH ‘SKETCH OF YOUR IMPROVED VERSION? CONVERSELY, CAN ‘YOU FIND A COMIC WHICH COULD BENEFIT FROM THE ADDITION OF SOME INTENSITY, WITHOUT SACRIFICING CLARITY IN THE PROCESS? HOW WOULD YOU GO ASOUT im #10 - LOOSENING-UP EXERCISES ‘A. QUANTO COMICS CINVENTED By THE LEGENDARY DEWAN GRGTHERS, TED AND GRIAN?. GET TOGETHER WITH ONE OR MORE COMICS-MAKING FRIENDS. GET A FEW BLACK MARKERS AND SOME PLAIN WHITE PAPER. EACH ARTIST TAKES A FEW MINUTES MAKING A TITLE LOGO ON THE TOP OF A PAGE CTITLES SHOULD BE SOMETHING GENERAL LIKE “IS THAT YOUR DAD?,"" MGLIND DATE." “IGNORE IT AND IT WILL GO AlNay,” NCLOSED MONDAYS,” ETC; AVOID OVERLY SPECIFIC ‘TITLES LIKE “POPE BENEDICT AND JAMIROGUAL GO SKYDIVING OVER PENNSYLVANIA”). EACH ARTIST THEN TRADES PAGES AND DRAWS A ONE-PAGE COMIC TO MATCH SOMEONE ELSE'S TITLE. REPEAT UNTIL SLEEPY. B, THE 24-HOUR COMIC (BEGUN IN! 1990 AS A CHALLENGE TO MY PAL STEVE BISSETTED. DRAW AN ENTIRE 24 PAGE COMIC BOOK INA SINGLE 24-HOUR PERIOD. NO SCRIPT. NO PREPARATION. ONCE THE CLOCK STARTS TICKING, IT DOESN'T STOP UNTIL YOU'RE DONE. GREAT SHOCK THERAPY FOR THE CREATIVELY BLOCKED. (OVER 1,000 ARTISTS HAVE GIVEN IT A TRY SO FAR! ‘SUGGESTIONS: START IN THE MORNING, AFTER A FULL NIGHT'S SLEEP. PLAN TO HAVE PLENTY OF FOOD. CAFFEINE AND MUSIC AT THE READY. AND IF YOU DON'T. DO IT AT HOME, YOU MIGHT WANT TO HAVE A FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMGER GIVE YOU A RIDE WHEN YOU'RE DONE. HF YOU WANT TO MAKE YOUR COMIC IN THE COMPANY OF ‘OTHER CRAZY ARTISTS. CHECK OUT 24HOURCOMICS.COM, FOR DETAILS ON 24-HOUR COMICS DAY, AN ANNUAL CELEBRATION DURING WHICH GROUP EVENTS ARE HELD [AT COMICS STORES AND OTHER LOCATIONS IN SEVERAL ‘COUNTRIES. ADDITIONAL NOTES (INCLUDING MORE DETAILS ON THE 2ucHOUR COMICS CHALLENGE) CAN BE FOUND AT: WWW.SCOTTMCCLOUD.COM/MAKINGCOMICS 57p Character Design, Facial Expressions and Body Language Chapter Two Stories for Humans ri £ FOR MOST OF US IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM, IT STILL you PROVIDE THE == Ano THe READER || “TAKES TWO TO CREATE NEW LIFE, AND CREATING SHAPES, LINES AND PROVIDES THE | NeW LIVES THROUGH COMICS IS WO DIFFERENT. COLORS OF YOUR HUMAN EXPERIENCE BUT THEY CAN'T BE JUST ANY SHAPES, LINES AND COLORS. CHOSEN ART — NEEDED TO GREATHE LIFE INTO THEM ‘THEY NEED TO. -- STARTING WITH ONE OF THE MOST BASIC INCLUDE JUST A FEW VISUAL QUALITIES THAT MARK ALL LIVING THINGS, KEY ELEMENTS AND SEPARATE US FROM THE NON-LIVING WORLD ~~ THAT WILL TRIGGER = RECOGNITION IN YOUR, READERS —- SeSymmerey ts LiFe’s CALLING CARD, THE WAY WE'VE LEARNED TO RECOGNIZE Each OTHER IN THE WILD. (7's THE KEY INGREDIENT THar says “YES, THIS IS AN ANIMAL LIKE ME, THIS IS ALIVING THING.” Wy i 4 |) i jun ij i (| i ial ul | ‘Zz 59 IT'S THAT BIT OF OURSELVES THAT BREEDS AFFECTION WHEN WE SEE IT IN OUR NEARER RELATIVES -- EVEN WHEN NOTHING cout ae FURTHER FRom Te TRUTH. WHILE THE DIFFERENCES IN LIFE EXPERIENCE BETWEEN ONE ‘CHARACTER AND ANOTHER CAN TRIGGER MANY STORIES. A CHARACTER RAISED IN POVERTY, FOR EXAMPLE, MAY HAVE TROUGLE RELATING. TO A SHOPPING-ADDICTED HEIRESS. MIGHT FIND ROMANCE PROSLEMATIC WITH THE DAUGHTER OF AN ANTHROPOLOGIST. ‘A RUNNER WHO'S BEEN ON THE WINNING SIDE [ALL HIS LIFE MIGHT APPROACH & COMPETITION DIFFERENTLY FROM A RUNNER FIGHTING TO OVERCOME A LIFE FILLED WITH LOSSES. THESE LIFE HISTORIES —— OR “BACKS TORIES” -- DON'T HAVE TO BE TOO ELABGRATE, ESPECIALLY FOR MINOR CHARACTERS, MUCH OVER SUCH DETAILS ISA classic BEGINNER'S MISTAKE! BUT BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR FACTORS THAT COLOR YOUR CHARACTERS’ EVERYDAY OUTLOOKS, HELP. (OF HINDER THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF OTHERS: AND INFLUENCE THEIR ACTIONS, IN OTHER WORDS, CONCENTRATE ON THE DETAILS ‘THAT SHAPE WHO THEY ARE TODAY,SOMETIMES, A PETER PARKER'S ONLY AFTER PETER’S. SINGLE, LIFE-CHANGING | | FIRST IMPULSE WHEN UNCLE IS MURDERED SY EVENT CAN! BECOME GETTING HIS UNIGUE ACROOK HED EARLIER ACHARACTER’S, POWERS WASN'T TO REFUSED To carcH DEFINING FIGHT GRIME AT ALL AS SPIDER-MAN = GUT TO MAKE MONEY AS A CELEBRITY. < WITH THEIR HERO'S MORAL BURDEN FIRMLY ESTABLISHED, WRITERS HAD A FIELD DAY THROWING ONE THORNY MORAL DILEMMA AFTER ANOTHER AT THE POOR GUY, GENERATING ALONG RUN OF SUCCESSFUL STORIES. 4 ALTHOUGH RARE Ist REAL LIFE, Suc EMOTIONAL Bic BANGS HAVE PROVED USEFUL OVER THE YEARS AS A SOURCE ? OF MANY SUPERHERO cm) “ORIGIN STORIES" STH Nee Z AC SU | | : =incwwonsuce SH =H AND DITKO"S 176! Tt % eee caicel con nana. is COMICS’ SPIDER-MAN. t | i ! 5S AND WHEN THOSE DESIRES AND EXPECTATIONS COLLIDE weTH THE DESIRES OF OTHERS OR WITH NATURE == FECTS HOW WE SEE “THE WORLD. Gassrcsonsmecan 66 >= DOES PETER UNDERSTAND THAT WITH GREAT POWER COMES “GREAT RESPONSIBILITY” AND EMBARK ON THE DIFFICULT PATH OF DOING 6000. THEY KNEW THAT AS MANY STORIES. GouLD STEM FROM CONFLICTS UNDER THE MASK AS OUT ON THe STREET. THAT'S, ‘THE SOURCE OF MANY OF THE BEST STORIES EVER TOLD, 7IN SCHOOL, WE'RE TAUGHT THaT SToRIES —\| conruict RELY ON “CONFLICT” AND |, MEANS THAT SOME CONFLICTS ARE FIGHTING, INTERNAL WHILE SOME ARE. RIGHT? ' EXTERNAL, Wt SS yy ont lich 7 iy \y RA ic f OT Track THem 70. \| Tein SOURCE, THOUGH, AND NEARLY \ ALL conruicts are \ teRvat — -- BECAUSE THEY ALL START WITH SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, WANTING SOMETHING. wet f WE CAN ADD TO A CHARACTER'S PERSONALITY ALL WE WANT =~ MAKE THEM KIND-HEARTED OR WITTY OR SENTIMENTAL OR NEUROTIC == = BUT IT'S ONLY WHEN THEY START TO WANT SOMETHING THAT THOSE TRAITS ARE SET IN MOTION AND GIVEN A PURPOSE. EVERYBODY IS AHERO IN THEIR ‘OWN MIND. FULLY REALIZED CHARACTERS DON'T SEE THEMSELVES AS PART OF YOUR STORY AT ALL. 67 == AND How IT AFFECTS THEM IS ‘THEIR PRIMARY MEASURE OF EACH MOMENT'S. IMPORTANCE, WHATEVER, You THROW aT THEM 5 JUST PART OF THEIR OWN story —MOST WRITERS PUT A GIT OF THEMSELVES WTO EVERY CHARACTER, HICH CAN ADD WARMTH AND CREDIBILITY To A STORY, SUT CAN ALSO DULL THE VARIETY OF & CAST IF TAKEN TOO FAR. ONE. way TO BOLSTER THAT VARIETY IS TO BASE EACH CAST MEMBER ‘ON A DIFFERENT UNIFYING: IDEA. THAT'S WHAT T DID IN THE EARLY '80S WHEN T PARTIALLY MODELED THE FOUR MAIN CHARACTERS. FOR My FIRST COMIC BOOK SERIES 207! AFTER ‘CARL JUNG'S FOUR PROPOSED TYPES OF HUMAN THOUGHT. ZOT JENNY PEABODY BUTCH INTUITION FEELING INTELLECT SENSATION SOUNDS WEIRD, T KNOW, BUT BECAUSE OF THAT, I COULD PREDICT How EACH CHARACTER WOULD REACT IN ANY GIVEN SITUATION. GUYS! WAKA ‘CRASH THE ARCHETYPES FROM MYTH AND LEGEND LiKE THE SOLD WISE MAN,” THE "HERO" OR “THE TRICKSTER™ CAN ALSO BE USED TO INSURE A WARIETY OF DESIRES AND WORLD VIEWS ~~ RING MUST BE DESTROYED! THE “OLD WISE MAN” CLUS — WHILE TAPPING INTO UNIVERSAL VALUES. THAT TRANSCEND ANY ‘ONE GENRE OR ‘CULTURE, [concer vou 68HUMAN Benes ARE COMPLICATED CREATURES wiTH 4 LOT oF suBTLE VARIATIONS. CAPTURING iy’ Tear sustuery AND COMPLEXITY 15 A CHALLENGE MANY MODERN CARTOONISTS ARE TRYING TO MEET, ESPECIALLY IN! THE GRAPHIC NOVEL OF THE REASONS: WE ALL LOVE STORIES 1S THAT THEY OFFER PROPOSALS FOR, LIFE’S MEANING AND PURPOSE. (SEE ART CREDITS age 6 ‘THE RELIANCE On A == AND IT CAN IF SINGLE THEME USING SUCH THEMES FORA CHARACTER'S ‘JUST PRODUCES. INNER LIFE May SEEM CHARACTERS MIRED TO RUN AGAINST I CLICHES AND ‘THAT AMBITION — STEREOTYPES — THE IDEA (ST To SIMPLIFY A CHARACTER AT ALL, BUT ‘TO INSURE, Gy WHATEVER MEANS, THAT YOUR ‘CAST OF CHARACTERS REPRESENTS A FULL SPECTRUM OF APPROACHES TO LIFE BY PRESENTING CHARACTERS WITH COMPETING: PHILOSOPHIES OF LIFE YOU CAN OFFER A ‘TRIANGULATED, FULLER PICTURE OF THE WORLD YOUR CHARACTERS LIVE IN. — SUT EVEN GROADLY-CONCEIVED (CHARACTERS CAN EVOKE SUBTLER, ASPECTS OF THE HUMAN CONDITION THROUGH THEIR INTERACTIONS: WITH ONE ANOTHER, + BECAUSE WITHOUT THar ‘VARIATION, YOUR CHARACTERS AREN'T GOING TO HAVE MUCH TO TALK ABOUT! ‘AND FOR ALL THE BEAUTIFUL ART OR WORDPLAY YOU MIGHT DELIVER, IT'S THAT PICTURE OF THE WORLD THar YouR READERS May REMEMBER SEST.OF course, comics =" 50 VARIETY AND ISA VISUAL THAT INTERNAL VARIETY OF DISTINCTION MEDIUM CHARACTER TYPES WILL NEED AN CHARACTER DESIGN OUTWARD varieTy oF VISUAL [ARE IMPORTANT FOR DESIGNS To MATCH, ‘A FEW REASONS. ‘ON A PURELY PRACTICAL LEVEL, THEY HELP AND EVEN IF DETAILS LIKE FACIAL HAIR AND ‘THE READER KEEP TRACK OF WHO'S WHO. CLOTHING ARE THROWN IN To DISTINGUISH ACAST OF CHARACTERS THAT ALL LOOK THE THEM, TOO MUCH SIMILARITY IN CHARACTERS? SAME CAN BE CONFUSING. UNDERLYING APPEARANCE CAN LEAD TO A BLAND COOKIE-CUTTER Loox. BUT BEAUTY IS MORE = AND THERE ARE SOME STRIVE TO MAKE EVERY ONE OF THEIR EFFECTIVE WHEN MANY DIFFERENT. CHARACTERS BEAUTIFUL, AND IN DOING GIVEN A BASIS FOR KINDS OF BEAUTY 50 RELY ON THE SAME IDEAL FACE AND COMPARISON - To CHOOSE FROM. BODY REPEATEDLY. "f Y 2 l rie SEVER ART By RUN TAKANASH (SEE ART CREDITS, PRE 259,NOW, DRAWING PEOPLE IS HARD FOR SOME GF US, SO T UNDERSTAND Wty MANY ARTISTS RELY ON THE SAME BASIC FACE AND FIGURE AGAIN AND AGAIN, i. |,2e serine iT : RigHT ONCE (5 [SSS { oirmcutr enouch Ie ‘ WITHOUT Havin = TO REINVENT THE es - WHEEL EACH % TIME. SUT ADDING VARIETY DOESN'T REGUIRE YOU To BE AMASTER DRAFTSMAN. IT JUST MEANS TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT YOUR ARTWORK AND ASKING YOURSELF A FEW QUESTIONS. SUCH AS: “ARE ALL "DO KNOW EACH OF My CHARACTERS CharacTeR’s THE same WEIGHT HEIGHT? 00 my AND BUILD?” THEY ALL STAND. EYE TO EYE?” DRAWING THE SAME NOSE AND. UPPER LIPS OVER AND OVER?” “DOr KEEP 5 “DOES EVERY WOMAN 1 DRAW HAVE THE SAME BUST oR HIPS?” DEEPER DIFFERENCES oF FACE AND BODY TYPE HELP READERS KEEP TRACK OF YOUR CAST, AND GIVES THEM & UNIQUE VISUAL REMINDER oF CHARACTERS’ DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES. AS YOUR READERS GET To KNOW YOUR CAST, ‘THOSE FEATURES WILL come 10 SYMBOLIZE WHAT EACH CHARACTER MEANS TO THEM == p ~ JUST AS. REAL-LIFE PHOTOS OF ‘OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY CAN RECALL ‘THE WHOLE PERSON IN ‘OUR MEMORIES, 7CARTOONY STYLES ACCOMMODATE MORE DRAMATIC VARIATIONS IN BODY TYPES, SO SUCH BUT IN Some comics, EXTREME DIFFERENCES HAVE TRADITIONALLY CULTURES, DRAMATIC GEN ASSOCIATED WITH ALL“AGES TITLES. STORIES HAVE ALSO BENEFITED FROM, = AS WITH INNER DRIVES, SOMETIMES A CHARACTERS OUTER APPEARANCE CAN GE GUILT AROUND & SINGLE IDEA. JAIME HERAANDE® (SEE ART AND COPYRIGHT CREDITS, 72 == AND EVEN REALISTICALLY PROPORTIONED PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION To EYES. I FOUND WHEN FIGURES CAN SHOW DISTINCT VARIATIONS IN DOING ZOT/ THAT £ COULD HIGHLIGHT CHARACTERS’ SHAPE, SIZE aND OTHER FEATURES. UNIGUE QUALITIES BY GIVING EACH ONE A UNIQUE AND EASILY RECOGNIZED PAIR OF EYES. = OR JUST UNDER ‘THE SURFACE, AS IN LEE AND KiRGY'S FANTASTIC FOUR. SUCH THEMATIC “CASTING” CAN BE OPENLY ACKNOWLEDGED, AS IN NEIL GAIMAN'S SANDMAN SERIES ~~ DESPAIREISNER SUGGESTS USING ANIMALS* AS A BASIS ANYTHING GOES. EVEN AFTER ONE SET OF FOR CHARACTERS, IN PART TO TAD INTO READERS? ‘THEMES HAS BEEN USED, IT CAN ALWAYS BE USED PRIMORDIAL REACTIONS, AND LUCKILY THERE ARE A [AGAIN -- 50 LONG AS YOUR TAKE ON IT 15 FRESH, LOT OF ANIMALS OUT THERE TO CHOOSE FROM! ese YOU MAY EVEN WANT TO TAP SOME OF THE VARIOUS ‘THESE HAVE THE IMAGINATION and \ | PHYSICAL STEREOTYPES can ToonisTs Have USED ADVANTAGE OF pepgyhlenyty (OVER THE YEARS, THE FACE AND BODY TYPES. EING INSTANTLY Bone up WT MANY THAT CAN MARK A CHARACTER AS “HEROIC” OR RECOGNIZABLE AND spe pales “BRUTISH” OR “NERDY;” ETC. | CONFORMING TO GROUPS TO.USE. 4 4 READEH EXPECTATIONS. — 2 SOME SUGGESTIONS: + THE FOUR SEASONS “CHESS Pieces “THE FIVE SENSES ‘AT TIMES, £ THINK: POETRY IS CIVILIZATION’S ONLY RATIONAL RESPONSE TO THE FUTILITY OF LINGUISTIC REPRESENTATION. OF COURSE, You COULD ‘ALSO CONTRADICT THOSE ASSUMPTIONS, GIVE YOUR READERS A SURPRISE, AND PUNCTURE “MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURES *S COUNTRIES/STATES \CRSORAL ERAS SOME REAL-LIFE HEY! “THE PLANETS STEREOTYPES IN THE war THE HELL) LZ ARE YOU TALKING “HISTORICAL FIGURES STREES/PLANTS sTO¥s TAROT CARDS: “THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS Sones HAND TOOLS “ASTROLOGICAL SIGNS 73 ‘0145 8008 GRAPHIC STORYTELLING (See siaUoGRAEHY)‘once you've DECIDED ON A BASIC DESIGN FOR YOUR CHARACTER, YOU MAY WANT TO. LOCK THAT DESIGN IN, WITH A “MODEL KIND OF BLUEPRINT YOU CAN REFER TO ‘WHEN DRAWING. A Good MODEL SHEET Will USUALLY INCLUDE BOTH FULL FIGURE AND FACIAL ‘CLOSE-UPS —AS WELL AS NOTES on HOW THE BODY IS CONSTRUCTED, SoTH UNDER THE. CLOTHES; aND UNDER THE ~- COSTUME DETAILS, IF THERES & cosTUME -— DIFFERENT STYLES ‘OF CLOTHING YOUR CHARACTER LIKES TO WEAR. 75“THIS IS WHEN YOU CAN START PLANNING FOR WHAT KINDS. OF EXPRESSIVE TRAITS YOU'D LiKE EACH CHARACTER TO HAVE. ‘THESE ARE THE VARIQUS TENDENCIES oF BODY LANGUAGE -- = AND OTHER PERSONAL QUIRKS. “THIS IS WHERE YOU GET TO MAP OUT THE EMOTIONAL TERRITORY EACH CHARACTER OPERATES WITHIN! — 76— = AND LOOK. FOR THOSE TWO OR THREE KEY EXPRESSIONS or POSES UNIQUE To EACH CHARACTER. eu) SLIGHTLY CROSSED uctiane\ | Meecrossen YOUR CHARACTERS: FLAKY CHARACTER, iincameris, |) | Rs ca care re a OR A FULL SUPPLY OF WRINKLES, TAILOR-MADE FOR SNEERING. OR A PERMANENT SLOUCH For GRUMPY, DEFEATED. PERSONALITY, MINOR CHARACTERS. SOME TRUST ‘THEMSELVES TO DESIGN CHARACTERS ON THE FLY =~ -- AND MANY MODEL SHEETS ARE LITTLE MORE THAN ROUGH SKETCHES. 4 NOW, TO GE HONEST, NOT EVERY CARTOONIST GOES sor ‘TO THIS MUCH TROUBLE, ESPECIALLY FOR ONE-SHOT Prrdineny we PLAN To THE LAST DETAIL oR PREFER TO WING IT, your coals. SHOULD Be THE SAME == To Figure our WHAT MAKES EACH CHARACTER UNIQUE AND PUT THOSE QuaLiTies FRONT ‘AND CENTER, 77THESE ARE THE THREE COMPONENTS OF SUCCESSFUL CHARACTER ‘TO MAKE SURE EACH CHARACTER HAS A MENTAL) VISUAL AND BEHAVIORAL TERRITORY ALL THEIR OWN, BY HIGHLIGHTING ‘THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CHARACTERS ~~ ‘THE READER WILL BE GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CHARACTERS ACROSS HUNDREDS OR EVEN THOUSANDS OF PANELS, THROUGH SMALL FRAGMENTS OF SPEECH, SIGHT AND ACTION ~~ THEY PRESENT AN INNER DIFFERENT. LIFE CHALLENGES, SUT ALL SHARE A COMMON STRATEGY: VISUAL DISTINCTION EXPRESSIVE TRAITS ano oN Lie PLANETS, ‘at vooe ae aon sepanare re within Tue Sepa, EACH ONE. ree > — WHICH CAN ADD F THose UP TOA SINGLE FRAGMENTS CONTINUOUS ILLUSION DO THEIR JOB, oF HUMAN LIFE ~~ CONSISTENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY FROM GEGINNING TO END.MAINTAINING = AND OVER THE YEARS, SOME CHANGES are BOUND TO OCCUR IN “THE WAY YOU DRAW YOUR CHARACTERS J wae soTw corre a ar ‘GH ROUNDER ovix THE YEARS, FoR EWA CONSISTENT LOOK FOR YOUR CAST IS PART “OF THAT CHALLENGE —— WAY IN WHICH MODEL, ~ AND ANOTHER SHEETS CAN HELP. BUT WITHIN A SINGLE, SELF-CONTAINED WORK LIKE A GRAPHIC NOVEL, CONSISTENCY IS IMPORTANT FOR KEEPING READERS IN YOUR SPELL. By b] Dow worey asour MATCHING youR ART 0 (| THE MODEL SHEET EXACTLY. THERE'S NOTHING WITH IT. You CAN CREATE A SENSE OF A SINGLE CHARACTER PASSING ‘THROUGH LIFE IN PANEL AFTER WITHOUT 17, THAT SPELL CAN BREAK, AND Leave YOUR READERS WITH NOTHING BUT LINES DRAWING THE SAME CHARACTERS OVER AND OVER IS HARD WORK. ALL THE MORE REASON To Pick. DESIGNS THAT ARE A JOY TO DRAW RATHER ‘THAN A CHORE. AFTERALL, YOU'RE GOING TO SE FACE-TO- FACE with THESE GuyS ALOT. ‘aL TWor ART By CRAIG THOMSON {ELART CREDITS Pat 230),EXPRESSIONS AREN'T ‘THEY'RE A COMPULSIVE WE ALL KNOW HOW == BUT FEW OF US CAN SOMETHING WE CAN! FORM OF VISUAL To “READ AND CONSCIOUSLY REPRO- ‘OPT OUT oF Easily, COMMUNICATION “WRITE” THEM DUCE THEM IN ART ‘AS WITH WORDS. ALL OF US USE. WITH GUR FACES ~~ WITH AS MUCH STYLE ALMOST ANY STORY CAN SE EVALUATED Gy ITS AGILITY TO PROVOKE EMOTION IN THE READER, COMICS ARTISTS. we NeeD 70 0 EVEN IF EMOTIONS AREN'T IT'S PRIMARY FOCUS == EXACTLY THAT IF WE WANT THE EMOTIONS OF OUR CHARACTERS TO COME THROUGH ON THE PAGE. ‘== AND THERE'S NO STRONGER CONDUIT TO YOUR AND READERS’ EMOTIONS THAN THROUGH THE EMOTIONS WITH FOUR ~ you, OF THE CHARACTERS YOu CREATE FOR THEM, SENSES, MOST WANT To GET Nataly SOUND, THE MOST OUT OF UNAVAILASLE TO. ‘THE ONE YOU you =- HAVE.PUTTING FACIAL EXPRESSIONS To USE IN COMICS REQUIRES YOU To TACKLE FOUR SUBJECTS: “THe DIFFERENT How THOSE ‘THe various [AND HOW FACIAL KINDS oF Facial EXPRESSIONS ARE STRATEGIES FOR EXPRESSIONS WORK EXPRESSIONS AND: FORMED BY THE RENDERING IN CoMICS-STYLE WHERE THEY COME MUSCLES oF THOSE EXPRESSIONS SEQUENCES. FROM. THE FACE. GRAPHICALLY. her} LS it ~ _ inv1872, DARWIN WROTE THAT SOME THE HUMAN ‘ Re een BUT THE Lion's “THe RESULTS EXPRESSIONS MIGHT BE [ANY NUMBER OF SHARE OF THE OF THAT PROCESS UNIVERSAL. A view SHADES IN THE FACE'S POWER TOMOVE CAN BE VARIED AND | sHaReD @y MODERN wun ew! US LIES IN ITS ABILITY — compLEx, auT AT TS | ExPRESSIONS EXPERTS : TO CONVEY BASIC SOURCE ARE A FEW oo LIKE PAUL EXMAN.* EMOTIONS. SIMPLE BUILDING SOME INDICATE PHYSICAL STATES SucH AS PAIN OR EXHAUSTION. SOME ARE MEANT TO COMMUNICATE WITH OTHERS DIRECTLY. i ‘THESE ARE THE BASIC EMOTIONS WHICH ALL HUMAN BEINGS EXHIGIT, REGARDLESS OF CULTURE, LANGUAGE oR AGE, A SMALL HANDFUL OF “PURE” EXPRESSIONS FROM WHICH OTHERS ARE DERIVED. 2 a Wy * see nauosaamn.NOW, SOME OF YOU MIGHT BE THINKING: “THAT CAN'T GE ITI THERE ARE FAR MORE EXPRESSIONS THAN THOS! AND THERE ARE! UT JUST AS THREE PRIMARY COLORS CAN BE MODIFIED on MIXED TO ACHIEVE EVERY COLOR OF THE SADNESS SURPRISE 83 n= $0 TOO CAN THESE EMOTIONAL PRIMARIES ge MODIFIED ano MIXED To creare ‘MANY OF THE EXPRESSIONS WE SEE EVERY DAY.FOR EXAMPLE, 8Y ‘VARYING THE INTENSITY oF (OUR PRIMARIES YOU cant SEE OTHER FAMILIAR EMOTIONS SO INGRAINED ARE THESE INTERMEDIATE EMOTIONS THAT EACH ONE CARRIES A SPECIFIC MEANING = == AND EACH GETS ITS OWN STERNNESS CONCERN SATISFACTION EJECTION ALERTNESS INDIGNATION ANMIETY LAUGHTER AMUSEMENT soy MELANCHOLY WONDER a4AND BY MIXING any TWO oF ouR EMOTIONAL PRIMARIES, WE CAN PRODUCE A THIRD EXPRESSION —- WHICH, IN MANY CASES, IS ALSO DISTINCT AND RECOGNIZABLE ENOUGH TO EARN ITS OWN NAME, 9-8 cnr acer saoness =a aa +S s aver surest piscust“THROW IN MIXTURES oF THE OTHER. INTENSITIES -— AND THERE ARE OTHER FACTORS wHic CAN ADD EVEN MORE vaaiery. REMEMBERING A DECEASED LOVED ONE. FOR EXAMPLE, NOTICE How ALL OF THE FACES STEMMING FROM THE EMOTIONAL PRIMARIES HAVE GEEN LARGELY SYMMETRICAL? = OR EVEN. COMBINATIONS OF THREE on MORE « <= AND THE NUMBER OF DISTINCT EMOTIONAL EXPRESSIONS You Have aT YOUR ft) FINGERTIPS CAN GROW TO WELL ‘over A THOUSAND. Gi a1 EMOTION GUT THERE'S A HAS NO woRLD OUTSIDE DIRECTION. ‘THOSE FACES THAT IT COMES FROM CAN ALSO PLAY A Part IN FACIAL EXPRESSIONS.PHYSICAL STATES ARE AS INBORN AND: ANCIENT 4, FACTOR IN FACIAL = BUT BECAUSE THEY INVOLVE ‘GuR CHAOTIC INTERACTIONS WITH THE PHYSICAL WORLD. THE SHADES THEY TAKE CAN BE LESS BALANCED ano PREDICTABLE. HEAT OVERLOAD CRA BODILY f AND NATURALLY, THESE EXPRESSIONS CAN BE y THIS LEADS TO ON ARE COMBINED WITH THE VARYING INTENSITIES ‘AN EVEN GREATER “THE EXTERNAL [AND COMBINATIONS OF THE EMOTIONAL NUMBER AND SOURCES oF |) PRIMARIES. VARIETY:0F STIMULATION ALL \ EXPRESSIONS ~~ YET COME INTO PLAY. l l I's STILL JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG —= BECAUSE WHEN YOU THROW IN) ALL ‘THE MANY WAYS WE USE OUR FACES AS A FORM OF DIRECT SPECIALIZED SIGNAL ~~ — No SYSTEM OF ANALYSIS COULD EVER BEGIN TO. CATALOG ALL THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF FACIAL EXPRESSIONS YOUR CHARACTERS COULD WEAR! OF CULTURALLY-SPECiFiC SIGNS AND SYMBOLS. UNDERSTOOD GY BOTH SENDER AND RECEIVER. ‘THESE ARE THE VISUAL SIGNALS WE SEND TO EACH OTHER DIRECTLY, OFTEN INN COMBINATION WITH BODY LANGUAGE SIGNALS LIKE HEAD AND HAND POSITION AND GAZE DIRECTION. ‘THEY'RE DEEPLY ROOTED IN OUR INGORN EMOTIONAL EXPRESSIONS An STILL AFFECTED 8Y PHYSICAL STATES ~ ‘THEY ARE, FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES, LANGUAGE — THOUGH A LANGUAGE ONLY PARTIALLY UNDER OUR CONSCIOUS CONTROL.‘AS FORMALIZED AS TRAFFIC THE THE THE WINK, OUTSTRETCHED “OH, MOM...” TONGUE. LooK. gut most ARE MORE SUBTLE AND IDIOSYNCRATIC. TAILORED TO SPECIFIC | PEOPLE ww seeciric SITUATIONS, ano SUBJECT TO THE WWOWVIDUAL STYLE OF THE SENDER. BY ADDING HEAD POSITION AND GAZE DIRECTION To THE Mix, AND ALLOWING FOR ASYMMETRY, THEY ACHIEVE FAR MORE VARIETY THAN THE BASIC EMOTIONAL EXPRESSIONS -- SUSPICIOUS coy SELF-RIGHTEOUS = BUT THEY'RE ALSO HARDER TO PIN DOWN, OR MAKE UNIVERSALLY RECOGNIZABLE, SO CONTEXT IS IMPORTANT WHEN SEPARATING “PLEADING,” SAY, FROM MERELY SAD, OR “REGRETFUL” FROM FORGETFUL. SELF-SATISFIED. PLEADING REGRETFULEACH EXPRESSION. Has To MATCH AFEW KEY FEATURES: TO 6E RECOGNIZABLE. NARROWED PP ensane Pus + “nl LoweReD ecw EQUALS + SUSPICION ‘BUT, ONCE THOSE KEY FEATURES ARE IN PLACE, THE SENDER CAN SPIN THAT EXPRESSION IW ANY NUMBER OF DIRECTIONS, FOUR VARIATIONS ON SUSPICION: i, e*MoRL YOU. we CATCH YOU ‘YEAH, 70U"RE A DON'T REALLY MAKING PERSONAL ) LIAR. BUT YOU'RE 19 KIND OF LAR! MSTREST My DAUGHTER AND PLL HAVE YOU EXPECT ME TO ALLS AGAIN, KILLED. GELieve THAT? ‘YOU'RE FIRED, ‘A BIT OF AN EMOTION BUT IF THAT EMOTION IW REAL LIFE, WE LiKE DISGUST CAN BE BECOMES THE FACE’S ACHIEVE THESE KINDS ADDED, FOR EXAMPLE, DOMINANT VISUAL (OF PRECISE EFFECTS TO GIVE SUSPICION A STATEMENT, THE WITHOUT Much DISDAINFUL AIR. EXPRESSION CAN SE CONSCIOUS KNOWLEDGE HIJACKED. oF HOW we DO IT. YET, WE MUST UNDERSTAND ON SOME LeveL How (OUR FACES ACHIEVE THESE LOOKS —- == BECAUSE WE CAN ALSO CONSCIOUSLY IMITATE ANY OF THESE EXPRESSIONS, AND EVEN ADD AN ELEMENT OF STYLIZATION OR EXAGGERATION TO PRODUCE AMOCK VERSION OF EACH ONE.IWSOME CASES, AN ATTEMPT TO STOP INFACT, ADULT SOCIETY RELIES, IN LARGE PART, SHOWING EMOTION CAN ACTUALLY BE ONE OF ‘ON THE SUPPRESSION GF BASIC EMOTIONS. THE THE KEY FACTORS THAT MAKE A GIVEN FACIAL WAYS IN| WHICH WE SUPPRESS AND REDIRECT THEM EXPRESSION RECOGNIZAGLE. ARE THE SOURCE OF MUCH OF OUR EXPRESSIONS? VARIETY AND DEPTH. RTF, EMBARRASSMENT: RESENTMENT: AVERTED, FEARFUL GAZE. AVERTED, ANGRY GAZE. MOUTH EXPRESSIONLESS, MOUTH CLOSED TIGHT. LOOK AT THE ‘AS PART OF HUMAN WE DON'T WANT TO y UT AS q ‘SMILES SOCIETY, WE ALL WANT DECONSTRUCT THEM ARTISTS HOPING SNAPSHOTS AND To SEE PAST cach TO THE PONT WHERE ‘Jo REPRODUCE EACH WILL SEEM AS ‘OTHER'S FACES TO THE ‘THE HUMAN FACE THOSE INNER UNIQUE As a PERSON WITHIN. ‘SEEMS LIKE A PERSONALITIES IN SNOWFLAKE. MACHINE. THE MINDS OF OUR READERS ~~ w a7 ol AND THE ONLY Way TO -- We NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT. UNDERSTAND THAT MACHINE {5 TO GO THE HUMAN FACE 1S. BENEATH THE SUI A MACHINE OF SORTS, FOR ALL ITS BEAUTY as ‘AND SUBTLETY. bein ITS PARTS IN ACTION. BUT UNDERNEATH THEM ALL ARE. THESE Same BASIC PRINCIPLES PLAYED OUT AGAIN AND AGAIN,Die mown, ‘THe CORRUGATOR, wich vestoun PUSHES DOWN THE SROW. KNOWN BROW-LIFTER. AS THE “FROWNING MUSCLE” BUT. THAT'S JUST CONFUSING, FACIAL MUSCLES onsicuaRs (OCU, wie ‘SQUEEZES THE EyEASIN SSQUINTING, 30, ters eau rt THe SQUINTER, (Canady "CORRUGATOR JUST Levaror PALPESEIAE, WHICH ‘ALS@ SOUNDS coat, BUT LID~ LIFTER is EAsien 0 REMENGER secause THAT'S ALL IT Does. (ar steenons S ‘THREE RANCHES (OF MUSCLES, KNOWN COLLECTIVELY AS, THE SNEERING MUSCLE. 2¥GOMATIC MAJOR, ‘sown aS THE SMILING MUSCLE. ‘TRIANGULARIS which PuLLs DOWN THE MOUTH'S CORNERS. (WOULD CALL IT THE “FROWNING MUSCLE” BUT.D 10 DEPRESSOR LABI NFERIONS XY PULLS THE BOTTOM LIP DOWN AS IW SPEAKING, SOLET'S CALL IT THE ep) @ /- SPEAKING MUSCLE. ISORIUS (8), KNOWN AS THE UP-STRETCHER, USED In ‘CONJUNCTION WITH THE NECK MUSCLES KNOWN AS PLATYSMA (3). THERE ARE MANY muSCLES THAT MOVE ‘THE FACE, BUT THESE MUSCLES STRETCH FROM A [ARE THE ONES THAT “oe ewTaLis. om onsicutaRs CONTRISUTE PRIMARILY POUTING MUSCLE, ‘ORNS, THE LIP= BONE OUTWARD To EXPRE SSION.* WHICH PUSHES UP THE TiGHTENER. 0 THE SURFACE 7 CHIN AND LOWER LIP, WaicH CURLS AND OF THE SKIN. CREATING A BULGE WY STATENS THE Se oH tes. 5 a K YY ap M anenonss’ / 7 ||P BONE / ose wuse.es \y INTHE BoDy Connect cme BONE-TO- 3 j BONE Across ! A JOINT. THEY ; Ueeenn CONTRACT, 3 we MOVE. i? st Gor THESE TWELVE FROM Gan Plc EFCELLENT {00K On THE SUBDECT (SEE BBLIGRABD, THOUGH TWHEN vou SMILE, FOR EXAMPLE, THE SURFACE END oF THAT MUSCLE (#6) IS PULLED TowarD ‘THE ANCHORED. END ULLING THE FLESH FROM UNDERNEATH i TOWARD THE CHEEK GONE WHERE (T BUNCHES [| UP AND LEADS 70 THE IRREGULAR WRINKLES WE fF CALL “DIMPLES.” q TAKE ANOTHER LOOK aT ‘OUR EMOTIONAL, PRIMARIES wit ‘THESE MUSCLES IN MIND. CCORRUGATOR PLUS LiD-LIFTER ADDS. UP TO AN ANGRY GLARE, Whe THE ACTIVE SNEERING, SPEAKING AND Up-STRETCHER muscies PRODUCE THE SQUARE MOUTH OF THE (CORNERED PREDATOR. CoRRcaTOR PLUS SQUINTING MUSCLE SHUTS THE EYES TIGHT Im REACTION To THE DisaUST- Ing o@sEcT OF ATTENTION, WHILE ‘THE MOUTH AND NOSE RECOL VA ‘THe POUTING, aND SNEERING MUSCLES. eoRRUGATOR AND [BROW-LIFTER. ‘COMPRESS AND RAISE THE FOREHEAD OVER THe LirteD Lips OF FEAR-FRLLED EYES, WHILE THE LS Re TigHTLy STRETCHED APART [AND OPENED. By LEARNING WHAT'S GOING ON UNDER THE SIKIN You can BETTER SHOW WHAT'S HAPPEN ING ON THE SURFACE -. “THe smn Muscle PULLS THE CORNER OF THE. MOUTH UP AND (UT, COMPRESSING CHEEKS Wice, TOGETHER wTH THE SOUINTER, PRopUCE THE ARCHED EYES OF Joy. CORRUGATOR/BROW- LIFTER STRUGGLE VER SQUINTED EVES, WHILE THE LIB-STRETCHER, TRANGULARS AND POUTING MUSCLE PRODUCE THE SIDEWAYS "8 SHAPE (OF THe CRYING: THe BROW-LETER PULLS THE UPPER PACE STRAIGHT UPN SURBRISE OVER WIDE OPEN LiD-LiFTED evES, WHILE THE MOUTH FALLS. OPEN. ALL OTHER Muscles REMAIN ACTIVE, AND ‘SHOW YOUR READERS: WHAT'S GOING ON INSIDE, Your CHARACTERS MINDS.EXAGGERATION. AMPLIFYING THE KEY FEATURES THAT MAKE AN EXPRESSION RECOGNIZABLE. IF CHOOSING A MORE REALISTIC APPROACH, YOU MIGHT NEED TO USE LIVE MODELS or PHOTOGRAPHIC REFERENCE. WHEN DRAWING EXPRESSIONS, YOU CAN CHOOSE FROM A FEW DIFFERENT GRAPHIC STRATEGIES. SYMBOLISM. Images THAT DEPICT EMOTIONS SYMBOLICALLY RATHER THAN WITH REAL~ WORLD RESEMBLANCE. REALISM. SIMPLIFICATION. REPRODUCING THE SEARCHING FOR A FEW REAL-LIFE APPEARANCE —_KEY LINES OR SHADES (OF EXPRESSIONS WITH WHICH CLEARLY CONVEY REALISTIC TONES AND [AN EXPRESSION. DETAILS, WORDS. EXECUTE HE PRISONERS AND YOU GAs INDIRECTLY AFFECT HOw! YOUR [AUDIENCE READS AN EXPRESSION BY ITS CONTEXT. WITHIN A STORY, OR HOW IT'S PAIRED WITH BECAUSE T LOVE vou, -- 50 GET READY TO USE YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF EXPRESSIONS TO BRIDGE THE GAP WHEN NECESSARY, OF COURSE, YOUR FRIENDS MAY NOT aLwayS GE GREAT ACTORS ~~] EVEN IF YOU'RE WORKING IVA SIMBLE OR re: Ps. EXAGGERATED STYLE, REAL-LIFE REFERENCE sui Jeha Do. SeenON i. CAN IMPROVE YOUR RESULTS. ee Sereeriye : start Drawing att} |) Wen it your cHaracters to] || caprunes THE A LOT OF ARTISTS REFER LOOK Like YOU! KEY FEATURES TOA MIRROR WHEN DRAWING (OF AN EXPRESSION, EXPRESSIONS, pS Fy ‘THE ARCHED eves OR THE PINCHED GROW OR THE RAISED AND How iT AND BUNCHED AND NOSE, SQUARED ROW, POPPED EVES DIFFERS FROM THE CHEEKS OF JOY. UPPER LIP AND AND SLACK JW OF TORTURED ROW AND FOR EXAMPLE. BULGING CHIN) OF ‘SURPRISE -- STRETCHED MOUTH DisGusT. ‘OF FEAR. EXAGGERATION SEIZES ON THESE SAME KEY FEATURES AND SIMPLY RAMPS UP THEIR. GEOMETRIC EXTREMES. CHEEKS BULGING AACE PINCHED NEARLY AHEAD STRETCHED EYES LITERALLY LIKE GRAPEFRUIT... OUT OF EXISTENCE... THIN... “BULGING OUT OF THEIR SOCKETS. an biSOME BEGIN THEIR == THEN parr | LINES as SMDLE INTO THE MORE ) | pictures o ABSTRACT ACTUAL PHYSICAL TERRITORY OF REACTIONS SucH PURE SyMaOLS. AS SWEAT -— FURIOUS ‘ANIOUS CRAZY SPITEFUL EMBARRASSED PRouD OTHERS ARE STRICTLY METAPHORICAL AND REGUIRE YOU [AND YOUR AUDIENCE TO GOTH “KNOW THE CODE” SEFORE THE MESSAGE (CAN GET THROUGH. SYMBOLIC EXPRESSIONS DON'T RELY ON AN UNDERSTANDING OF REAL FACIAL EXPRESSIONS TO WORK. a SIMPLE DOODLE OR TWO. 1S USUALLY ALL IT TAKES. GT. 2 TNA => Anxious = JUST ASA WORD means THE SAME THING REGARDLESS OF HANDWRITING OR FONT CHOICE. ‘SYMBOLIC EXPRESSIONS ARE CLOSER TO ‘THE WRITTEN WORD IN ‘THE SENSE THAT THEIR MEANING 15 FIXED REGARDLESS OF HOW ‘THEY'RE RENDERED ~~ Caan %RECENTLY SOME ~- BUT OTHER MANGA SYMBOLS STILL SEEM PRETTY STRANGE TO WESTERN READERS, SO” SEFORE USING ANY SYMBOL, CONSIDER WHETHER YOUR READERS CAN DECODE IT OR NOT, 2 BUT THE RIGHT EXPRESSION WILL ADD. STRENGTH AND PRECISION THaT YOU CAN'T ACHIEVE ‘ANY OTHER WAY, uNuixe SYMBOLS FROM ‘THE gasic JAPANESE comics, EMOTIONAL LIKE THE BULGING EXPRESSIONS, VEIN-ON-FOREHEAD, WHIcH ANYONE, Have BECOME MORE ANYWHERE FAMILIAR IN CAN RECOGNIZE, ENGLISH LANGUAGE SYMBOLIC EXPRESSIONS VARY FROM CULTURE To CULTURE, SYMBOLS ARE A GREAT WAY TO GET [AN EXPRESSION ACROSS, REGARDLESS OF YOUR DRAWING OF NOSE = ASLEEP A FACE SURROUNDED ABILITY — IN THE END, MOST Comics ARTISTS INCORPORATE AT LEAST A LITTLE REALISM, SIMPLIFICATION, EXAGGERATION AND SYMBOLISM INTO THEIR STYLES -- == BUT DON'T Sy SWEAT BEADS: LET THEM WILL READ AS ANXIOUS BECOME A NO MATTER HOW IT’S CRUTCH! DRAWN Q 9 P o ? i WHATEVER IT TAKES TO SPECIFY THE EMOTION AND GET THE JoB DONE.| FACE LIKE THIS MIGHT SEEM MILD AND UNTHREATENING ~~ WHEN CREATING FACIAL EXPRESSIONS FOR COMICS SEQUENCES, PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO HOW THOSE EXPRESSIONS WILL BE READ IN CONTEXT, ESPECIALLY IN COMBINATION WITH WORDS. = COMPARED TO BUT INTHE (OUR “CRUEL” FACE RIGHT CONTEXT, TM GOING TO TELL = evEN THE KINDEST My FRIEND TO CUT OFF YOUR TS are SMILE CAN CONVEY FINGERS now. ec ee | soceroscauecesusraom psriame | || oveRuy st#ONe eworions, 30 NOST OF US AS SOCIAL CREATURES, YOUR READERS WiLL | NOTICE SMALL CHANGES OF EXPRESSION IN ||| | your cHaRacTeRS, JUST a5 YOUR CHARACTERS NOTICE SUCH CHANGES IN EACH OTHER. KEEP iT DIALED DOWN MOST OF THE TIME. iDON'T GET TOO SUBTLE, THOUGH! IN REAL LIFE, WE CAN COMMUNICATE THE INTENSITY OF OUR FEELINGS THROUGH VOCAL INFLECTION, WHILE OUR FACES’ EXPRESSIONS STAY FAIRLY MUTED — FINE, WE'LL ALL GO FISHING NEXT WEEK == BUT IN COMICS, we CAN ONLY APPROXIMATE THE SOUNDS oF woices — == AND READERS AREN'T LOOKING DIRECTLY AT YOUR CHARACTERS’ FACES AS THEY READ THEIR WORDS — — $0 You MIGHT NEED TO TURN UP THE EMOTIONAL VOLUME (ON SOME FACES TO COMPENSATE. FINE. WELL ALL GO FISHING NEXT WEEK mii CHOOSING THE RIGHT EXPRESSION CAN BE A, FUNCTION OF CHOOSING THE RIGHT MOMENT. (OUR FACES CYCLE THROUGH A LOT OF EXPRESSIONS WHEN SPEAKING. SURE, WE COULD Buy THE THEATER, BUT WED HAVE TO SELL THE HOUSE 70 cet WHEN A SINGLE RACE HAS TO REPRESENT ALL THE WORDS IN A BALLOON OR TWO, SUCH FACES ACT AS A SORT OF “EMOTIONAL AVERAGE” SUMMING UP THE BALLOON AS A WHOLE, THEN AGAIN, IF EMOTIONAL CHANGES ARE THE FOCUS oF a GIVEN SCENE —— = DEVOTING A PANEL TO EACH CHANGE OF EMOTION MickT ACHIEVE THE INTENSITY THE SCENE REQUIRES,TO BE HONEST, ¥0U DON'T HAVE TO SE A MASTER OF SUBTLE EXPRESSIONS To (MAKE EFFECTIVE COMICS. ‘SOME comics CHARACTERS Have JUST A HANDFUL OF BASIC EXPRESSIONS, 70 FILL IN THE GLANKS Het, 3 EMOTIONALLY, JUST yourRe AS: YOU FILL IN THE LOOKING BLANKS BETWEEN AT ONE! PANELS. EVEN WITH THE GAREST OF EVIDENCE YOU'LL WANT TO SEE ME ASA PERSON, NOT JusT A SERIES OF DRAWINGS, TRNOW I CAN TRUST YOU READERS MAY EVEN “SEE” EXPRESSIONS THAT AREN'T THERE. BASED SOLELY ON THE ‘SURROUNDING STORY AND TEXT. PANELS FROM JACK'S LUCK RUNS OUT BY JASON LITTLE, A COMIC WITH UNCHANGING FACES TAKEN FROM BLAMING CARDS. PAMIL FIVE ART BY ART SPRGELMAN AND CIS WARE. PANEL Sh ART BY JASGN LITLE (SEE ART CRED Pa 280). 100 SOME OF THE MOST EMOTIONALLY COMPLEX COMICS IN| HISTORY HAVE FEATURED PROTAGONISTS WITHA LIMITED PALETTE OF EXPRESSIONS, YET Iw CONTEXT. THOSE FACES SEEM TO HAVE BOTH BREADTH AND DEPTH. ART SPIEGELMAN'S MAUS (LEFT) FEATURES ONLY A FEW BASIC EXPRESSIONS, WHILE CHRIS WARE'S CHARACTER “JIMMY CORRIGAN STICKS MOSTLY TO JUST THIS ONE. BUT IN MANY POPULAR COMICS ‘OVER THE YEARS, CHARACTERS FEATURE SEVERAL BASIC TYPES of EXPRESSIONS= WHICH CAN THEN BE FINE~TUNED ay THEIR, ‘CORRESPONDING WORD BALLOONS. BUT ALSO BECAUSE FACIAL THs coud) MEAN THE END oF ALL MANKIND. EXPRESSIONS -- iN PART, AS A RESULT (OF THEIR TRADITIONALLY LIMITED ROLE -— MAY REPRESENT ONE OF COMICS’ GREATEST ‘AREAS OF UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: A CHANCE FOR & NEW GENERATION OF CREATORS To CONNECT WITH & NEW GENERATION OF READERS -- 50 WHY BOTHER LEARNING TO MAKE A THOUSAND EXPRESSIONS WHEN Just A FEW wit, IN PART, BECAUSE UNDERSTANDING ‘THE THOUSANDS WILL HELP YOU DRAW THE FEW wiTH GREATER CONTROL and PRECISION. lol -- MANY OF WHOM FIND THE EMOTIONAL ARENA AS COMPELLING AS THE PHYSICAL =~ AND WHO WILL EXPECT, WHEN THEY LOOK INTO THE EYES.OF YOUR CHARACTERS -~3, BODY LANGUAGE. LANGUAGE AN DousTr DOUBTFUL oR TELL READERS WHO encers WHE CONFIDENT? ‘ARE GEFORE THEY EVEN SPEAK. JUST AS. FACES EXPRESS ALOT OF WHAT'S GOING ON INSIDE A CHARACTER EMOTIONALLY, ‘THEIR BODIES CAN SEND SOME POWERFUL MESSAGES OF THEIR OWN. AND AS. WITH FACES, THEY CAN SEND SOME OF THOSE MESSAGES DELIBERATELY — == AND SEND OTHERS WITHOUT EVER REALIZING i IT-TARES TIME TO LEARN HOW 4 To PORTRAY IT IN COMICS, SUT WHEN DONE WELL, BODY LANGUAGE CAN FILL @ PAGE WITH LIFE, ENERGY anid PERSONALITY FROM TOP TO SOTTOM! Eealitirn 10a Sa GeUaNINAN EI : ‘908 08 WORD GALLOON PLACEMENT N CHABTER 3. lo2FACIAL EXPRESSIONS AND SODY LANGUAGE EXPRESS MANY OF THE SAME FEELINGS AND OFTEN WORK TOGETHER == == BUT THERE ARE IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES. THE Basic EXPRESSIONS ARE FalRLY CONSISTENT IN APPEARANCE, A FACE OF EXTREME FEAR, WHATEVER THE CAUSE, TENDS TOWARD THE SAME FAMILIAR SHAPE, SODY LANGUAGE IS MORE SITUATIONALLY-BASED, AFFECTED By DIRECTION, TERRAIN, SOURCE OF DANGER, PHYSICAL OPPORTUNITY, ETC... BODY LANGUAGE IS MORE GRAVITY= BOUND THAN FACIAL EXPRESSIONS -- - AND EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES LEAD TOA SPLIT BETWEEN WHAT WERE DOING ON THE OUTSIDE AND WHAT WE'RE FEELING ON THE INSIDE. MOST IMPORTANTLY, FOR COMICS ARTISTS, FACIAL EXPRESSIONS ARE MORE SURFACE-ORIENTED, MORE AFFECTED GY NUANCE, SKIN SHADOWS, ETC. —— = WHILE BODY LANGUAGE 1S MORE SILHOUETTE-BASED, ALL AgouT How ouR LIMBS, HANDS AND HEAD ARE POSITIONED, THERE'S A KIND OF CALLIGRAPHY To SODY LANGUAGE, JUST AS AN AMIS AN HA NO MATTER HOW IT’S WRITTEN AY aA AA 103 == $0, T00, Do GESTURES ano POSES commuNicaTe THEIR MEANINGS NO MATTER HOW THEY'RE DRAWN.JUST AS WITH FACIAL EXPRESSIONS, MASTERING BODY LANGUAGE IN COMICS MEANS TACKLING FOUR SUSJECTS: THE VARIOUS KINDS OF S0DY SIGNALS, THE ANATOMY THAT UNDERLIES THEM, STRATEGIES FOR DRAWING SUCH POSES AND. HOW BODY LANGUAGE WORKS IN COMICS SEQUENCES. es maemetoe | | mepardnnenae ee Teirtse | | Swomusteraccs EXPRESSIONS, THESE @ RELATIONSHIPS |S A AND ASKED YOU WHICH “THERE AREN'T INCLUDE: SIMPLE STATEMENT (ONE LOOKED MORE Lee meee | | sexoupe eoment “PRIMARY” GEOMETRY. “THINK IT WAS A WEIRD: orbs see Penne ae crore ioe bom. area ssosnres i “THERE ARE oe as one RELATIONSHIPS: prac ee pore sone rer comma Seas ae ee aa = ur wrtunes ine TSR ‘rena eaaie GUESSING WHICH ONE I sas finwnie oF RR “THAT'S YOUR UNDERSTANDING ‘OF ELEVATION AND STATUS AT WORK. antec ano Saas | LE« GESTURE AND COMMUNICATION A B.FOR ALL THE DETAILS OF ANATOMY, CHARACTER, CLOTHING AND LIGHTING CONTAINED IN A PICTURE LIKE THIS, [TIS THE SIMPLE GEOMETRIC FACT OF A AND B'S POSTURE THaT SPEAKS THE LOUDEST. Low Guy: HUMBLE. HigH Gus POWERFUL, WHETHER IT COMES FROM OUR OLD MAMMALIAN ‘COMBAT INSTINCTS OR THE PARENT/CHILD ARCHETYPE, THE IDEA OF HEIGHT AS POWER CAN USED TO STILL BE SEEN IN EVERYTHING FROM CEREMONIES TO ARCHITECTURE. THOSE PAPERS, SIR. TODAY, WE MAY NOT Bow AS LOW AS WE = guT THAT OLD-BRAIN IDEA OF THE “BOW” IS EVERYWHERE! “THANE You. THAT'LL GE ALL. iN n= WHEN WE'RE ‘SHY — WE "BOW" WHEN WE MAKE MISTAKES ~~ YOU'RE RIGHT; SHOULD Have SEEN THAT. TM SURE You DON'T REMEMBER "OR ASHAMED ~ WHAT ARE YOU HOLDING, RICKY? ~- OR DEFEATED.We ALSO TAKE THE “HIGH GROUND” IN ‘A LOT OF ways, well, WELL... LOOK WHO'S (OH, YOU LIKED. ‘COME BACK. THE Da VINCI CODE, LIKEWISE, A ENT, LOWERED POSTURE WILL BE IDENTIFIED WITH THE WEAK AND DISPOSSESSED, [AND |S FREQUENTLY SEEN ON PROTAGONISTS FROM UNDERGROUND, AUTO-GIO AND ALTERNATIVE COMDX, A RAMROD STRAIGHT POSTURE, LIKE THE (NE SEEN IN ALOT OF SUPERHERO BOOKS, WIKL COMMUNICATE: STRENGTH AND CONFIDENCE sy BEING SYMBOLICALLY TALLER, Passe POSTURE CAN BE SUCH A POWERFUL INDICATOR WarHouT wonos: OF ATTITUDE AND PERSONALITY, IT CAN EVEN TLL BET YOU Con AFFECT HOW WE HEAR CHARACTER’S VOICES. STILL “HEAR? THE DIFFERENCE. mercenaries: (06ANOTHER PRINCIPLE AT WORK IN GODY LANGUAGE IS THE CORRELATION SETWEEN DISTANCE AND RELATIONSHIPS, HAVE HEARD THE TERM “PERSONAL SPACE” == THAT GUSBLE AROUND US THAT DEscrIBeS OUR COMFORT ZONE. THE SIZE OF THAT ZONE DEPENDS ON WHO WE'RE IN SOCIAL GATHERINGS, THAT INTERACTING WITH. FOR PUBLIC ENCOUNTERS WITH BUBBLE SHRINKS AS WE'RE ExPecTeD To) | STRANGERS, WE LIKE TO KEEP A DISTANCE OF INTERACT ON A MORE PERSONAL Level wit | ‘OUR FELLOW HUMANS, bh SEVERAL FEET. FOR EXAMPLE. Hey, Loved THE FIRST Book! BM STbby Ute, EXCUSE ME, DO You HAVE THE TIME? AND IN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY, THE BuBSLE EVEN WHEN SOCIAL SITUATIONS PUT US AT A CERTAIN FIXED DISTANCE FROM OTHERS, WE STILL INDICATE OUR DESIRED CLOSENESS To EACH OTHER THROUGH OUR STANCES. ( 4 SORRY, AM STANDING TOO Lose?ONLY A FEW LOVED ONES CAN GREACH THE ZONE OF PHYSICAL CONTACT, BUT THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF WAYS THEY CAN DOT, AND THAT GIVES CARTOONISTS HUNDREDS OF WAYS TO SHOW INTIMACY BESIDES HUGGING AND RISSING (OR SEX, IF IT'S THAT KIND OF COMI. LIKEWISE, THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF WAYS TO SHOW A CHARACTER RESISTING INTIMACY WITH ]] ANOTHER, THROUGH THE WAYS THEY TURN AWAY, STEP BACK, AVERT THEIR EYES OR ERECT “BARRIERS “THe RELATIONSHPS YOU COME UP AN YOU CAN BuILD AND STRENGTHEN THOSE [A WITH FOR YOUR CHARACTERS CAN HAVE A RELATIONSHPS IN EVERY PANEL, 87 SHOWING Powerrut errect on THe revarionsnies MA] How THEy PLay THEMSELVES OUT IN SPACE. YOUR CHARACTERS HAVE WITH YOUR A - READERS. @ = me | iw CONTRAST, A DOWNTURNED PALM SYMBOLICALLY m= JUST AS AN HANDS ARE A Bic RAISES THe SPcaren clatine AUTHOR. Bout aanrmis fat or toni we POWER ano CONTROL oven ovtune comme oven seer CHILD. EACH OTHER. IF vou CuunacTErS aerect nar — THEN HANDS CAN 0 You BEA SiG PART OF HOW SEE WHAT I MEAN? EM ONLY MAKING YOU communicare DOES THaT SOUND This POINT ONCE, WITH YOUR REASONABLE’ READERS. |e | Q é = S 3NATURALLY, IF YOU WANT TO DRAW CONVINCING BODY LANGUAGE, YOU'LL WANT TO LEARN HOW TO DRAW A CONVINCING BODY. HERE'S WHERE A GOOD WORKING KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN ANATOMY ‘CAN SE INVALUABLE. TWONT ATTEMPT A WHOLE COURSE IN ANATOMY ‘AND FIGURE, DRAWING WERE. THERE ARE SOME 6000 BOOKS on THE SUBJECT, WHICH TLL MENTION IN THE BIBLIOGRAPHY. BESIDES My WHICH, (PD TAKE OWN FIGURE DRAWING ISNT EXACTLY THE ‘GREATEST. AHUNDRED PAGES AND, UM... | BUT EVEN IF YOU'RE LIKE ME AND ANATOMY DOESN'T COME EASILY, YOU CAN STILL IMPROVE YOUR STORYTELLING DRAMATICALLY Sy JUST GETTING THE GESTURE ACROSS IN EVERY FIGURE YOU DRAW. 4‘THE GESTURES OF FIGURES HaWE A FLOW AND RHYTHM WHICH HAVE INSPIRED ARTISTS FOR CENTUREES. . MASTERS USE THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF ANATOMY To MAKE SUCH GESTURES VIVID AND CREDIBLE, ARTISTS WHO CONCENTRATE ON ANATOMICAL ACCURACY SUT NEGLECT GESTURE, MAY CREATE TECHNICALLY “CORRECT” FIGURES, SUT THE RESULTS May BE UTTERLY LIFELESS — — WHILE ARTISTS WITH TECHNICALLY “INGORREGT” Ficus BUT A STRONG: SENSE OF GESTURE MAY PRODUCE ART THAT SEEMS REAL AND ALIVE. ET'S TIME!) 1ETS 60. V7 wy vanes ram reppy)( Fines win “To FIGHT, // \ REMORSE, o THavewT civen UP ON LEARNING TO IMPROVE MY FIGURE DRAWING AND NEITHER SHOULD. DON'T PLAN TO GET BY ON GESTURE JUST REMEMBER THAT (81 ANY COMICS PANEL, IT'S THE MESSAGE OF YOUR CHARACTER’S GESTURE THAT READERS WILL BE WAITING FOR, AND THE FIRST JOB OF FIGURE DRAWING IS TO DELIVER THAT = LOUD AND ses Tow han (Et A AEDT PAE 5LET'S TAKE & LOOK NOW AT HOW FACIAL EXPRESSIONS AND BODY LANGUAGE CAN WORK TOGETHER BY ADAPTING SOME WRITTEN DIALOGUE INTO COMICS FORM. WELL START. X IN A HIGH SCHOOL © STUDY LOUNGE. TWO STUDENTS MEET AND START TALKING. Pete: Hey, are you okay? ‘Carrie: Not so much. | gota” " on the history Pete: Huh Lucky you. !goran “F” ‘Carrie: No way! You always ace those things! ‘Pete: Accualy | think Me Duncan kinda lose i. 1 heard everybody got a ‘D" or an "F” today. ‘Carrie: Really? Wow. He was acting kind of weird (nvelass, All chat stuff about J Peanut Butter and the Communists. Miller entering): Roam for one mote? Cartie: No, Pete: Hey, Miler Miller: So, did you hear? Duncan went on a rampage! (Carrie: What? Miller: | was there! He smashed all the iMacs in Roem 4 with a basaball bt! Then he stole the ‘rhino head off che wall and ran off Pete: You're Riding: Carrie: Oh my God! Pete: Wow. | kinda love Mr: D- now. (Carrie: You swear you're not making this up! Miller: | swear! The police are looking for him and everything. Pete: Y'know, | always heard Mr.D. was nuts: Did you guys know that last year, he was — Carrie: Uh, Pete: What? Mr. Dunean: Hello, children, THESE ARE THROWAWAY CHARACTERS, SO WE CAN! JUST IMPROVISE THEIR DESIGNS ON THE SPOT. LET'S PICK A CRISP, SMART LOOK FOR CARRIE, A LAID-SACK SLOPPINESS FOR PETE AND A DORKY, GREGARIOUS LOOK FOR MILLER. CARRIE STARTS OUT DEPRESSED AND WE ‘CAN SHOW THaT BEFORE SHE EVEN OPENS HER MOUTH, BUT How INTENSE SHouLD ‘THE EMOTION BE? WE COULD DRAW HER CLOSE TO TEARS, aS (F THE TEST WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO HER. ARE You GAA?) (Chor so muer BUT GASED ON HOW QUICKLY SHE RECOVERS IN THE SCRIPT, IT SOUNDS LIKE SHE'S JUST FEELING A GIT DEFEATED. AN EMOTION GEST EXPRESSED BY A SLUMPED POSTURE AND TIRED FACE.LET'S PUT A COUPLE OF IM FACT, WE CAN AN EASY-GOING CHARACTER Lee eve CAN 8 A CHALLENGE. VENDING MACHINES JUST INCLUDE THE SHOE HOME EMOTE Fe ee INTo THAT LOUNGE SO MACHINES INA BiG LANBUAES CHE GE reat PETE WILL aT LEAST ESTABLISHING BOUT OF UNINTERESTING, HAVE SOMETHING TO DO ‘SHOT ON THE WITH His HANDS, FIRST PAGE. Now, NOTICE HOW EVEN. INALONG-SHOT, WE CAN ALREADY READ” CARRIE'S POSTURE? [AND “LISTEN™ TO PETE'S VOICE. wiTH A DIFFERENT POSE. ‘AND EXPRESSION. ‘THE EXACT SAME DIALOGUE WOULD FEEL DIFFERENT. 7NO WA i ACTUALLY, T THINK H.DUNCAN You ALWAYS ACE THOSE THING HE WAS ACTING KINDA WEIRD IN CLASS, ALL THAT STUFF ABOUT JF PEANUT BUTTER. AND THE ‘COMMUNISTS. IWAS THERE! WE SMASHED ALLTHE IMACS IN ROOM 4 WITH A BASEBALL BAT! THEN HE STOLE THE RHINO HEAD ‘OFF Tv WALL Na. CARRIE 1S TRANSITIONING TOWARD THE POSE OF THE | WILLING LISTENER NOW, BECAUSE SOMEONE | SHE LIKES |S SAYING: SOMETHING THAT INTERESTS HER. NOT TRUE FOR POOR MILLER, THOUGH, whose unwetcomeo | INVASION GF HER PERSONAL SPACE EARNS Him EVERY “BARRIER” SIGNAL IN THE BOOK. WITH MILLER'S NEWS. However, HER POSE SOFTENS AND HER EXPRESSION ACKNOWLEDGES HIM (ALL STUDENTS ARE FAMILY WHEN DISSING TEACHERS).SHE STILL DOESN'T PETE SEEMS ALITTLE MEANWHILE, MILLER’S WANT To DATE THE MORE ACCEPTING Bopy Is ALL AOUT GUY OR ANYTHING — OF MILLER, GUT FORWARD THE GARRIERS ARE JUDGING BY THE LEG, MOMENTUM. STILL UP -- BUT LAME WAVE AND HE'S CONFIDENT THAT MILLER AT LEAST HAS FIFTEEN-WATT SMILE, HE'S GOT THE coos. HER ATTENTION. HE'S NOT AIG FAN. ‘SO CONFIDENT, IN FACT, THAT HE'S GOT HIS HANDS DOWN IN THAT “QUIET! YOU WANNA HEAR THIS,” way. 2 He's COMMAND. | SEE CARRIE'S = FOREFINGER JAG? WOW, TKINDA YI I” z swears ‘THAT'S SERIOUS. LOVE HRD. NOW. ‘TE POLICE ARE ‘SHE'D KICK HIS LOOKING FOR. HIM, iy mm AND EVERYTHING! Se aN a , 3 a 2 4 | JL | CY 3 be s Eee YkNOw,r ALWAYS HEARD wear? WORDS HAVE ALSO PLAYED ‘A ROLE IN THE GRAPHIC EVOLUTION OF MODERN COMICS AND THROUGH THEIR OFFSPRING == THE WORD BALLOON, CAPTION AND SOUND EFFECT ~~ HaVE GIVEN RISE TO A WEALTH OF UNIGUE GRAPHIC DEVICES, MANY OF THEM NOW CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH COMICS ‘AND APPROPRIATED IN OTHER MEDIA ON A REGULAR BASIS. + SOME APPROACH THE COMICS PROFESSION HOPING TO WRITE FOR OTHERS TO DRAN, AND FOR THEM, WORDS |ARE THE VERY SUGSTANCE OF THEIR CRAFT. BUT WHETHER YOU PLAN TO WRITE FOR OTHERS, OR WRITE AND DRAW EVERYTHING YOURSELF, IT'S A STRONG VISUAL IMAGINATION AND THE SEAMLESS INTEGRATION OF WORDS AND PICTURES WHICH MARES COMICS? BEST WRITING. + TODAY, WITH A CENTURY OF MODERN % COMICS UNDER THEIR BELT, GARTOONISTS HAVE EVOLVED AN ARTFUL, SOPHISTICATED DANCE BETWEEN WORDS AND PICTURES WHICH EMPHASIZES EACH ONE'S STRENGTHS, SUT ALSO STRIVES, WHENEVER POSSIBLE, TO FIND THE NEN PERFECT -- 3 IN MOST GREAT COMICS, THAT BALANCE IS A DYNAMIC ONE. SOMETIMES WORDS TAKE ‘THE LEAD, SOMETIMES PICTURES D0 -- BALANCE BETWEEN THE THO. -- BUT BOTH WORK TOGETHER To PROPEL THE STORY FORWARD.COMICS IS A MEDIUM OF FRAGMENTS -- A PIECE OF TEXT HERE, A CROPPED PICTURE THERE -- SUT WHEN IT WORKS, YOUR READERS WILL COMBINE THOSE FRAGMENTS AS THEY READ AND EXPERIENCE YOUR STORY AS A CONTINUOUS WHOLE. AND AS NOTED IN CHAPTER ONE, IT'S THAT SENSE OF CONTINUOUS EXPERIENCE THAT CAN HELP MAKE READING FEEL LiKE LIVING. SEA ORT TA REN Ail Ege Nall i UR ri bs aeeN = CAPTURING THE = PLUS THE ART OF USING WORD BALLOONS To GIVE VOICE TO YOUR CHARACTERS — ESSENCE OF SOUND wiTH SOUND EFFECTS — WN THIS CHAPTER, WE'LL EXAMINE SEVEN WAYS WORDS AND PICTURES CAN! COMBINE ‘TO ACHIEVE THAT SEAMLESSNESS ‘AND BALANCE = == AND SOME NOTES ON COMBINING WORDS AND PICTURES THROUGH THE JOINT EFFORTS OF WRITER-ARTIST TEAMS, 129IN UNDERSTANDING COMICS, t IDENTIFIED A FEW DISTINCT CATEGORIES OF MIRANDA GAVE ME THE KEYS. AND SPHILED “DONT FORGET THE 206 F000)" WORD/PICTURE COMBINATIONS.* WORD-SPECIFIC WORDS PROVIDING ALL YOU NEED TO ‘NOW, WHILE THE PICTURES ILLUSTRATE ASPECTS OF THE SCENE BEING ‘DESCRIBED. 2. PICTURE-SPECIFIC PICTURES PROVIDING ALL YOU NEED TO NOW, WHILE THE WORDS ACCENTUATE ASPECTS OF THE SCENE BEING SHOWN. 3. DUO-SPECIFIC WORDS AND PICTURES BOTH SENDING ROUGHLY THE SAME MESSAGE. 4, INTERSECTING WORDS AND PICTURES WORKING TOGETHER IN SOME RESPECTS WHILE ‘ALSO CONTRIBUTING INFORMATION INDEPENDENTLY. 5. INTERDEPENDENT WORDS AND PICTURES COMBINING TO ‘CONVEY AN IDEA THAT NEITHER WOULD CONVEY ALONE. 6. PARALLEL WORDS AND PICTURES FOLLOWING SEEMINGLY DIFFERENT PATHS WITHOUT INTERSECTING, 7. MONTAGE WORDS AND PICTURES COMBINED PICTORIALLY. IT MIGHT HELP TO THINK OF THESE SEVEN CATEGORIES DIAGRAMMATICALLY. WoRD-SPECIFIC 6 PICTURE-SPECIFIC 9 Duo-sPeciric INTERSECTING % INTERDEPENDENT PARALLEL bh MONTAGE o “SEE UNDERSTANDING COMICS pasts 3-55, CATEGORY, “ADDITIVE” (5 NOW “INTERSECTING’ 130WORD-SPECIFIC COMBINATIONS OFFER SOME POWERFUL ADVANTAGES: FOR STORYTELLERS. MIRANDA GAVE ME THE, WORD-SPECIFIC ‘THIS IS ESPECIALLY USEFUL WHEN YOU'RE WRITING A SHORT. AND/OR FIXED=LENGTH COMIC, AND YOU WANT To JUMP AHEAD quickly ‘TO THE HEART OF YOUR STORY, FIVE YEARS LATER, THAT TEN DOLLAR BILL HAD BECOME THIRTY MILLION? ‘THESE SEVEN CAN HELP SO; HERE'S How — HEME ~~ Each OF Go THE FIRST OF THESE ADVANTAGES, COMPRESSION, Makes Use OF ‘THE WRIFTEN WORD'S ABILITY TO REDUCE BIG CHUNKS OF TIME ‘AND INFORMATION DOWN S_ TOAFEW TINY > WORDS. S NO MATTER HOW BIG “THE EVENT, WORDS CAN PACK IT DOWN FOR YOu. YOu JUST NEED TO [DECIDE HOW MUCH YoU WANT YOUR READERS To SEE FOR THEMSELVES ano HOW MUCK YOU WANT ‘THEM TO IMAGINE,ANOTHER ADVANTAGE OF WORD-SPECIFIC comeos 1S THE WAY THEY FREE UP THE PICTURES GY PULLING THINK ABOUT ITH ‘THE WHOLE WEIGHT OF THE STORY USING WORDS ALONE. IF EVERYTHING YOUR READERS NEED TO KNOW IS IN THE WORDS, YOu CaN PUT PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING YOU WANT IN ‘THE PANELS, ART-WISE. WITH EVERYTHING SPELLED OUT IN THE TEXT LIKE THAT, YOUR ART CAN GOIN A LOT OF DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS. WELL, OKAY. NOT “ANYTHING” MavBe = BUT YOU DO HAVE A LOT OF LATITUDE. FOR EXAMPLE: SUPBOSE you HAD A COMPLETE TEXT READING. SOMETHING LIKE THIS: Bob was a happy baby. am At 18, be went to “)) sae? At 36, he bought a me house. | He died at 72 A il YOU COULD ILLUSTRATE THE EVENTS IN A FAIRLY STRAIGHTFORWARD wi. HANDS. BOB WAS A HAPPYYOU COULD SHOW A NARRATOR SPEAKING DIRECTLY TO THE READER. = MOST WORD=SPECIFIC comsas ocauR CARTOONISTS LIKE TO ALONGSIDE OTHER LeT THE PICTURES SORTS OF COMBOS. TELL THE STORY JUST 1AS OFTEN AS PICTURE-SPECIFIC comsinarions SIMILARLY GIVE LICENSE TO THE WORDS, AND ‘THEY OFFER OTHER BENEFITS. : 2. PICTURE-SPECIFIC YOU COULD EVEN ILLUSTRATE IT ENTIRELY WITH SYMBOLS. BOB WAS A HAPPY P=] AT 18, HE WENT BaBy. TO WAR. | | | AT 36, HE BOUGHT F_| ve cep ar 72 A HOUSE. = ® 1S eur THERE ARE LARGELY WORD-SPECIFIC comics THAT MAKE USE OF THAT “ARTISTIC LICENSE” ON A REGULAR BASIS. FACT, YOU'RE READING ONE AMONG THEM, A CLOSER LINK TO ‘THE WHOLE IDEA OF SEQUENTIAL VISUAL STORYTELLING WHICH THE ART OF COMICS 1S BASED ON. 133BECAUSE OF THE PICTORIAL NATURE OF COMICS, PICTURE-SPECIFIC SEQUENCES CAN FUNCTION WITHOUT ANY WORDS AT ALL FOR AS LONG AS NECESSARY iy WORDLESS PANELS CAN PROVOKE. — BUT THERE ARE A SENSE OF DIRECT EXPERIENCE fil ( COMPELLING REASONS AND IMME DIACY wich 15 SOMETIMES ‘TO CONSIDER ADDING GEST LEFT ALONE -~ TEXT -- ae ORGIVE US A WINDOW WTO A CHARACTER'S INNER LIFE AND SENSATIONS. == SUCH ASIF ~- unlike word-specific sequences, which can’t go picture-less for more than a panel or two without simply becoming prose. YOU WANTED TO. EVOKE THE SOUNDS OF A FAMILIAR LANDSCAPE.WHEN BOTH WORDS AND PICTURES: ARE TELLING THE SAME STORY, YOU'VE GOT ‘A DUO*SPECIFIC comao. I 3, DUO-SPECIFIC ime , 1ERE"S ONE NOW: eee WATERMELON ON My HEAD! TAM STANDING IN A, PANEL! SCOTT SAID SADLY. WELL, OBVIOUSLY I'M NOT A FAN OF COMBINATIONS ‘THAT ARE JUST POINTLESSLY REDUNDANT LIKE ‘THAT. FORTUNATELY, MODERN COMICS WRITERS ‘AVOID: REDUNDANCY MOST OF THE TIME. INFO=COMICS, FOR EXAMPLE, USE REDUNDANCY TO INSURE MAXIMUM CLARITY. —a WALK, DON'T RUN, TO THE NEAREST EXIT. | AND q DUo-SPECiFiC COMBINATIONS DO HAVE SOME LEGITIMATE UO-SPECIFIC COMBINATIONS CAN ALSO BE USED TO EVOKE A CHILDREN’S BOOK TONE ~- Rollo and Squeoker, the dummy, shared a bath, PANELS SEVEN-EIGHT: ART GY RENEE FRENCH AND 135 == OR TO LEND AN AIR OF ANTIQUE STORYTELLING ‘TRADITIONS. EY AND JUST 45 HE TOOK HER NYO His ave, THe PomTaess f | WALL GAVE WAY TO THE FLOOD. EnTHESE ARE PANELS IN WHICH THE WORDS AND PICTURES CoveR SOME OF THE Same GROUND, INTERSECTING: BUT EACH ADDS SIGNIFICANT DETAIL OR COMBINATIONS can BE A sit PERSPECTIVE To THE scene. HARDER TO PICK OUT THAN OUR LAST THREE, BUT THEY'RE USEFUL AND PRETTY HOw D'YA LIKE MY NEW THREADS, BABE? IMPORTANT miro ABOUT | [ IMPORTANT INFO ASOUT ‘THE CHARACTER'S “THE CHARACTER'S APTITUDE AND HIS PHYSICAL. APPEARANCE ‘TARGET AUDIENCE. [AND FASHION CHOICES: Lert To THEIR INSTINCTS, MANY CARTOONISTS WILL USE A LOT OF INTERSECTING COMBINATIONS, CREATING PAGES WHICH READERS COULD PARTIALLY MAKE SENSE OF WITHOUT THE WORDS, AND PARTIALLY MAKE SENSE OF WITHOUT THE ART. eae Ed te WHATS YOUR NAME, KI02, serene ares 136HERE, THE RESULT OF WORDS AND PICTURES IN COMBINATION IS UTTERLY UNLIKE WHAT EITHER INTERDEPENDENT comaiNaTIONS COULD ACHIEVE ALONE. AREN'T AS COMMON, SUT WHEN DONE WELL THEY CAN ACHIEVE MEMORABLE EFFECTS. warvour 1H rt acc en (CM SO HAPPY FOR VOU. ono ar race ne warraour THE WORDS, we WOULDN'T NOW SHE Wass Lyn. P IN THE COMICS ADAPTATION OF PAUL AUSTER’S \ IN PANEL TWO, ONLY THE WORDS TELL q CITY OF GLASS, STORYTELLERS KARASIK AND US THE SOURCE OF QUINN’S EMOTIONAL MAZZUCCHELLI USE SUCH A COMBINATION TO SYMBOLICALLY —_—“WOUND" AND ONLY THE ART PORTRAYS THE SHOW THE INNER TURMOIL OF A MAN C*QUINN"? MOMENT AS ANYTHING MORE THAN A WHOSE WIFE AND CHILD HAD DIED. POLITE CONVERSATION. Bunn FELT AS THOUON NUSTER WERE TAUNTING Hine wits THE THINGS Ke WA LOST. 7 Know soar oF LAST MINUTE BUT Way DONT YOU STAY AND. RAVE DINNER? Bia FWA VERY IND: Bor Emus Be borne. INTERDEPENDENT COMBINATIONS KEEP READERS’ MINDS FULLY ENGAGED. ECAUSE THEY REQUIRE THEM TO ASSEMBLE MEANINGS OUT OF such DIFFERENT PARTS. SUCH EFFECTS CAN BE STIMULATING, GRATIFYING KIND oF EXPERIENCE RARELY FOUND OUTSIDE OF ‘AND THIS 1S HY DEAR WIFE HELEN. {SexanT ener, Pace 260. 137IN PARALLEL COMBINATIONS, WORDS [AND PICTURES DON'T CONNECT AT ALL — “DONT FORGET THE B0e F000!" SUCH COMBINATIONS CAN HAVE GOTH PRACTICAL AND AESTHETIC APPLICATIONS. = THOUGH THEIR PATHS MAY BEND TOWARD Each OTHER IN LATER PANELS. TED! ARE YOU LISTENING TO) DIALOGUE FROM ONE SCENE CAN RUN THROUGHOUT ANOTHER TO SAVE ROOM AND CREATE A DENSE, LAYERED TEXTURE ~~ Do YOU Miss “MIND GIVING ME. i CHARLIE?" A BACK-RUB ? ~- OR IT CAN BE USED TO SOFTEN A TRANSITION FROM ONE SCENE TO ANOTHER r JAND THAT'S HOW | LET ME DRIVE iner My REAL FATHER. 8 PP mans COMBINATIONS CAN ‘ALSO BE PUT TO MORE EXPERIMENTAL oe iq oe pe IN ART SPIEGELMAN'S 1773 PAGE “DON?T GET AROUND MUCH ANYMORE” WHERE THE CONTENTS OF THE CAPTIONS REFER PRIMARILY TO THE PICTURES THAT PRECEDE THEM, CREATING A DISORIENTING SENSE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL INERTIA.*AND FINALLY THERE'S THE MONTAGE WHERE WORDS AND LETTERS ‘TAKE ON PICTORIAL QUALITIES AND ARE COMBINED MORE FREELY WITH THE PICTURES “THAT SURROUND THEM. 7. MONTAGE ‘THE USE OF PURE COLLAGE TECHNIQUES IN’ Comics. HAS BEEN PRETTY RARE OVER THE YEARS, GUT CARTOONISTS DARBLE IN IT FROM TIME TO TIME — ~ THE MOST FAMOUS EXAMPLE BEING WILL EISNER WHO DEVISED MANY INGENIOUS WAYS TO INCORPORATE LOGOS DIRECTLY INTO A STORY'S OPENING PANEL. “THE IDEA THAT WORDS MIGHT “CROSS THE FENCE” INTO PICTORIAL TERRITORY ONCE IN A WHILE SEEMS. REASONABLE ‘SOME MODERN CARTOONISTS HAVE TESTED THE POTENTIAL OF TREATING COMMON ELEMENTS LIke CAPTIONS AND WORD BALLOONS WITH & STRONG PICTORIAL SENSIBILITY ~~ AND OF COURSE THE SOUND EFFECT sPitis OVER INTO THIS TERRITORY OFTEN — Jel far Least -- UT FOR THE MOST PART, MONTAGE REMAINS A LARGELY UNEXPLORED TERRITORY. INNOVATORS: OF THE FUTURE TAKE Akl TWO, THREE AND Se ART By STEVE OYTO, WAL SER AND CHOE AND OFS WARE (SEE ART CRED. BAG 250)1. WORD-SPECIFIC We 2. PICTURE-SPECIF| @») 3, DUO-SPECIFIC 4, INTERSECTING (CP CD & PARALLEL Cw) Cr 1c 5. INTERDEPENDENT ‘THERE'S NO SET RULE FOR WHEN AND HOW TO USE A GIVEN TYPE OF WORD PICTURE COMBINATION, MOST CARTOONISTS JUST RELY ON THEIR, INSTINCTS AND DON'T GET HUNG UP ON ANYONE'S NERDY CATEGORIES. PLAY AROUND, SEE WHAT WORKS FOR YOU, AND BUILD YOUR OWN INSTINCTS THROUGH PRACTICE. UT WHEN THOSE INSTINCTS FAIL -- AND IT HAPPENS TO ALL OF us -~ ROAD Map. THAT CAN HELD you 6eT Back ON COURSE. (sou 7] 7. MONTAGE en Ask YOURSELF A FEW QUESTIONS NOW AND THEN: ADVANTAGE OF THE FREEDOM WORDS GIVE TO. AT 36, HE BUG! HT a AM I TAKING FREEDOM MY ART. Gives To My WoRDS? ADVANTAGE OF THE [ARE THERE GOOD REASONS TO TELL MY READERS. ANYTHING: TWICE? lois sins THE FORTRESS GAVE WAY TO THARE BOTH PICTURES AND WORDS CONTRIBUTING SOMETHING OF VALUE 70 EACH PANEL? COULD THE TWO TOGETHER SE MORE THAN THE SUM OF THEIR PARTS? ‘OR COULD THEY EACH CARRY A VASTLY DIFFERENT Messace? DO WORDS AND PICTURES NEED TO BE TREATED ALL THAT DIFFERENTLY? BUT WAY DONT You STAY AND HAVE DINNERT ‘ONCE AGAIN, THERE'S NO “WRONG” Way TO MIX WORDS WITH PICTURES, BUT IF YOU WANT TO HOLD YOUR READERS? ATTENTION —— = THERE ARE ACOUPLE OF THINGS TO WATCH FOR, MOST OF ALL, KEEP FOCUSED ON YOUR STORY, WHICH BOTH WORDS AND PICTURES SHOULD EQUALLY P ~ BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT YOUR READERS WiLL 82 FOCUSED ON IF YOU DO ‘YOUR JO8 RIGHT. “MIND GIVING Me. | J A BACK-RUB 7" FIRST: KEEP YOUR WORD COUNT UNDER CONTROL! IF HALF OF EVERY PANEL CONSIDER USING A HEALTHY WARIETY OF COMBINATIONS 50) ‘THAT NEITHER SIDE: 1S COVERED IN WORDS, ‘er Roun READERS: YOU MIGHT WANT TO eran CONSIDER SAYING MORE NeeLecreD. WITH THE PICTURES, ADDING MOMENTS TO BREAK UP THE TEXT INTO SMALLER CHUNKS, OR SIMPLY USING FEWER WORDS TO GET YOUR MESSAGE ACROSS. ALSO, DON'T or dase He atte “BoNtT'bO THIS! NOW THAT WE'VE COVERED THE DIFFERENT WAYS OF MIXING WORDS AND PICTURES TO TELL A STORY, LET'S EXAMINE HOW THE TWO ARE COMBINED GRAPHICALLY — = STARTING WITH THESE FREAKY, WORD-FILLED BLOBS: (OVER MY HEAD! PRAELS ON, Two AND FOUR: SE ARY eaEDWTS, PAGE 58, l41TAU ol TT \N COMICS AND x THE RELATIONSHIP OF WORD SEQUENTIAL BALLOONS To THE DRAWINGS ART, WILL EISNER: Mi ‘THAT SURROUND THEM HAS ALWAYS CALLS THE WORD BEEN AN UNEASY ONE. BALLOON A “DESPERATION ; DEVICE”; an * ATTEMPT TO SCAPTURE AND MAKE VISIBLE AN ETHEREAL ELEMENT: SOUND.” My WORDS CANNOT BE ‘SEEN! BALLOONS DON'T EXIST IN ‘THE SAME PLANE OF REALITY [AS THESE PICTURES, YET HERE THEY ARE, FLOATING ABOUT LIKE PHYSICAL OBJECTS! ASIF TO Say SHE, PM NOT REALLY HERE, THIS 1S JUST WHERE ‘THE PICTURE, ENDS" -~ ‘SOME RESPOND TO THIS PARADOX BY DE-EMPHASIZING THE PHYSICALITY OF THE GALLON SHAPE USING HAIRLINE BORDERS (OR NO BORDERS AT ALL == Whatday wednesday, Thought I'd s| Seton” | Sharlene” out...go into B =o 2 plunger...hi rods..or may @ plumber. | ohil would've SHAPE AND STYLE ‘ARE ENTIRELY UP TO YOU, OF COURSE — =" BUT DO KEEP AN EYE ON THE SIZE oF ‘YOUR GALLOONS. = WHILE OTHERS EMBRACE THE PHYSICAL PRESENCE OF BALLOONS WITH HEAVY CONTOURS, MORE DELIGERATE SCULPTING OR DIRECT INTERACTIONS WITH THE SURROUNDING ART. PARTIALLY FOR THE REASONS OF TEXT/IMAGE BALANCE CITED EARLIER —~ Shoes brennan sh 2== BUT ALSO To AVOID FORCING PicTuREs TO REPRESENT Too Many EMOTIONS INA SINGLE IMAGE. THs WiLL BE THE BEST PARTY EVER! wiy,1F- WAIT A MINUTE... WHAT DIDHE SAY ABOUT “FRANCE” > OH MY GOD, HE WONT BE HERE! My PARTY THAT'S THIS WEEKEND.! 's RUINEDY THis WILL BE THE |BEST PARTY EVER! WAIT A MINUTE, WHAT DIDHE SAY ABOUT PFRANCE” ? on My GOD, THAT'S THIS WEEKEND! HE wonT BE HERE! ALSO, WHEN OVERSIZED WORD BALLOONS TP THE TEXT/IMAGE BALANCE TOO FAR, A KIND OF NEUTRALITY OF IMAGE KICKS IN ~~ AN EXTREME VERSION OF THE “EMOTIONAL AVERAGE” MENTIONED EARLIER ~~ AND ‘A COMIC CAN START TO FEEL MORE LIKE ILLUSTRATED PROSE. ALSO, IN PANELS LIRE THIS ONE, OR THIS CHAPTER'S FIRST PAGE, THE READER IS LIKELY TO START NOTICING THaT THEYRE JUST READING TEXT ~~ EVEN TO THE POINT OF DEBATING WHETHER TO SkIP PARTS OR NOT == = WILE 1 MORE BALANCED COMBINATIONS TEXT. AND IMAGE KEEP ‘TAPPING EACH OTHER ON THE SHOULDER ~~ 143 READER NEVER LOOKS Lone ENOUGH To BREAK THETHE woo staate> [ NOTHING HUMAN CAN. QUESTION OF How MUCH our IN THE STAND UPTO THE THING! EMPHASIS MELODRAMATIC ‘TO GIVE INDIVIDUAL WORDS INA WORLD OF THAT'S THE SCARY BALLOON |S LESS CLEAR-CUT. SUPERHERO eg A THOSEOF US Baw? wao%™ WORRIED? ] comics, é GECAME ACCUSTOMED ‘To FREQUENT Uses oF OVERSIZED, BOLD on ITALICIZED LETTERING, ALLOWING FOR STRONG VARIATIONS IN LETTERING CAN HELP TO INTEGRATE WORDS AND SOME GN TOC La Oe UNAUANIE MAREN Tore VOCAL PICTURES BY CELEBRATING THEIR COMMON bide can penelerc hay CEE x CRAPiNG EYBOLE. INFLECTION ON A WORD-TO-WORD BASIS. (ON THE OTHER HAND, WILL EISNER -- HIMSELF A LONG-TIME USER OF BIG. Se WORDS -- POINTS OUT THAT HOW WE “HEAR” A WORD BALLOON 15 ALSO ene ArTEZTE By Tit EXPRESSIONS 2d BODY LANGUAGE OF THE SPEAKER, l P D SEARDLeSS OF HOw THE DIALOGUE S LETTERED" — KE A BIG FONT! ane.s Two, Tee POR AD SOC ART 8 IROL 2 = rake A SAR Bon On Pde 6, POMEL [FIRBY, PATRICK MEDONNELL, DAWE SIM/GERHARD L “SEVEN, BUT EISNER SAID IT FIRST &Y 20 YEARS. tio ts sien et ant estos, mae 20== ANDAS PROSE WRITERS WILL TELL YOU, 8Y THE MEANINGS OF THE WORDS THEMSELVES. THUS. A NUMBER OF THE CARTOONISTS WORKING ON QUIETER, MORE NATURALISTIC STORIES HAVE BEEN USING EMPHASIS, MORE SPARINGLY IN RECENT YEARS. SIMILARLY, IN) THE LAST DECADE A GROWING NUMBER OF ARTISTS ARE TURNING FROM COMICS? GRASSY ALL-CAPS TRADITION TO EMBRACE UPPER- AND LOWERCASE Fons. Upper- and lowercase let ters do have some advantages including their more distinct word shapes that facilitate scanning. Is it possible that the whole ALL CAPS thing is just an old habit! that comics needs to outgrow? ‘Dams boo) eye erER OF Ing goone” HaeRinct “hae (oe Sin 3s Sebi Beata 32, PERSONALLY, | GO BACK AND FORTH A LOT ON THE QUESTION OF WHETHER OR NOT TO USE UPPER- AND. LOWERCASE LETTERING. YE No’ FiRsT BOOK WASP aH. weet noo HAND-LETTERED IN ALL Be used an UPPER-and CARS 8Y PRO LETTERER E08 LAPPAN. fowercase font with ‘THIS ONE USES A FONT BASE OW My HANDWRITING. CHECK OUT THE NOTES SECTION AT THE END OF ‘THIS CHAPTER FOR MORE ON THIS DEBATE AND WHY I'M STILL ON THE FENCE, ALSO CHECK CHAPTER FIVE FOR SOME INFO ON TRADITIONAL AND DIGITAL LETTERING TECHNIQUES. 145THANKS TO FILM AND RICH, IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES. WORDS PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN COMICS BY BRIDGING THAT GaP. THEY GIVE VOICE 70 OUR CHARACTERS, ALLOW US TO DESCRIBE ALL FIVE ‘SENSES ~~ AND IN THE CASE OF SOUND EFFECTS, THey GRAPHICALLY BECOME WHAT THEY DESCRIBE TELEVISION, WE'VE GOTTEN USED TO STORIES THAT CONTINUOUSLY USE SIGHT AND SOUND AND OFFER = AND GIVE READERS A RARE CHANCE TO LISTEN — 8UT AS comics CREATORS, IF WE WANT To REPRODUCE ‘THAT KIND. OF EXPERIENCE, WE NEED To DO IT USING ONLY ONE Sense. D FA CREATING GREAT SOUND EFFECTS. DOESN'T REQUIRE THE SORT OF METHODICAL CONSISTENCY THAT GOOD BALLOON LETTERING NEEDS. SOUND EFFECTS ARE ‘ONE-SHOT INVENTIONS yOu CaN IMPROVISE Like cRazy. “RIGHT” OR “WRONG” APPROACHES ~- =- BUT THERE ‘ARE SOME SET VARIABLES THAT YOU CAN IMPROVISE WITHIN, IncLuDINe...LOUDNESS, as TIMBRE. THe ASSOCIATION. GRAPHIC INDICATED BY SIZE, QUALITY OF THE SOUND, FONT STYLES AND INTEGRATION. eouoness, tar ano. | | irs roucHNess, shapes Taat rerer | | pune Desion EXCLAMATION waviness, sarpvess, | | TooR mimic THE CONSIDERATIONS OF POTS. FURZINESS, ETC. SOURCE OF THE SHAPE, LINE AND. SOUND. COLOR — AS WELL AS HOW THE EFFECT | fcurane paeTuRe, 1IT9-,)) Ke g ae xe , * KNlock- Kw0cK. KNOCK-KNOCK ANOCK! KNOCKS iroHeé SCCRIST TCM 0 Si Sed | K Cane! OD ‘OF COURSE, IF YOU'RE GOING FOR A MORE <= BUT IF yOu == SOUND UNDERSTATED KIND OF STORY YOU MAY DON'T MIND. pe. NT TO AVOID TOO MANY FLASHY EFFECTS ~~ - wa SHOWING-OFF putea ‘ToDo IT! Dinner forone. [7IN SOME CASES, THE COLLABORATION (OF WORDS AND PICTURES INVOLVES ‘THE GOLLABORATION OF A SEPARATE WRITER AND ARTIST. MosT oBviously. THINK VISUALLY. MISUALS CAN E REPRESENTED. INA SINGLE ‘All 87 animals are suddenly lifted off the ground toward the mothership... == WHILE SOME VERY SIMPLE actions MIGHT NEED MORE, THAN ONE. IF YOU PLAN TO WRITE STORIES FOR OTHERS To DRAW, HERE ARE SOME ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS. ‘TRY VARIOUS METHODS OF COLLABORATION. HIN THEIR '605 SUPERHERO STORIES, STAN LEE AND JACK KIRBY REPORTEDLY WORKED OUT ROUGH PLOTS IN CONVERSATION. KiRSY THEN FLESHED THEM OUT AS HE DREW," AND LEE ADDED THE DIALOGUE LATER. UST naieTED 70 Stow wit On HAS Ince, ‘OTHERS LIKE ALAN MOORE Have SEEN ‘NOUN TO WRITE RICH, DETAILED: DESCRIPTIONS OF EACH AND EVERY PANEL FOR HIS ‘VARIOUS ARTISTS. ASSUMING YOU KNOW WHO YOUR COLLABORATOR IS, YOU CAN ADJUST YOUR METHOD To WHAT WORKS BEST FOR BOTH OF You.THE comics SCRIPT 1S THE TOOL MOST ASSOCIATED WITH WRITING comics THAT OTHERS wit DRAW = THOUGH THERE ARE SOME LONE CARTOONISTS WHO WRITE FULL SCRIPTS FOR THEMSELVES. wiring COMICS SCRIPTS IS. AN ART UNTO ITSELF; CHECK THE BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR SOME BOOKS “THAT CAN GIVE YOU DETAILED GUIDES ON BUT REMEMBER, EVEN IF You TEAM UP WITH SOMEONE TO CREATE COMICS, YOUR STORIES WILL BE [AT THEIR STRONGEST IF THEY FEEL LIKE THEY WERE CREATED WITH A SINGLE-MINDED Purpose. SEWARE OF THE WRITER-VERSUS-ARTIST SYNDROME WHERE ONE COLLABORATOR TRIES TO WIN ‘THE READER OVER WITH EVOCATIVE PROSE AND THE OTHER TRIES TO DAZZLE THE READER WITH SUMPTUOUS ART ~~ == WHILE NEITHER ART NOR WRITING EVER FULLY ACKNOWLEDGES EACH OTHER, NO MATTER WHAT KINDS OF WORD/PICTURE MDCTURES YOU PUT IN YOUR COMICS =~ “IT'S WHEN woRDS, were you ND PTURES wor ALONE of AS SEAMLESSLY Petes EMS rar couies ane ar | | THATS 6 ouL wort THEIR BEST, aNEL Five Hee ART CREDITS PAGE AS50 FAR, I'VE BARELY TOUCHED ON WHAT MAKES “GOOD STORY” -- PARTLY SECAUSE I"m STILL TRYING ‘TO FIGURE THAT ONE OUT FOR MYSELF. THIS BOOK IS ABOUT HOW To TELL THE STORIES YOU ALREADY HAVE IN MIND, REGARDLESS OF WHERE ‘THOSE STORIES COME stu ne me sone suceesrions ron | ase srowreuns | cons ar rest | woerens seem 79 nenes on FIND New AND INTERESTING KINDS OF CONFLICTS BETWEEN FIRST; LOOK FOR STORIES THAT ARE ROOTED IN YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE, AND ‘THAT SPEAK TO THE EXPERIENCES OF YOUR READERS. SURPRISE PROVOKE EMOTIONS -- SUSPENSE, YOUR READERS! LAUGHTER. HORROR, JOY, SADNESS ~~ NOT ‘TAKE THEM TO THROUGH CHEAP MANIPULATION, BUT BY PLACES THEY'VE TAPPING INTO COMMON HERITAGE AND NEVER GEEN. EXPERIENCES. -- AND BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS: AND THE WORLD READERS CARE, MAKE. THEM WANT TO KNOW HOW IT ALL TURNS OUT, MAKE THEM COME GACK FOR MORE...BASICALLY, IT'S THE SAME ADVICE YOU'LL COMICS 15 DIFFERENT FROM THESE 7 BECAUSE ALL GET, NO MATTER ‘OTHER MEDIA IN TERMS OF ITS CHALLENGES, STORIES WIND UP Int WHAT MEDIUM YOU TOOLS AND WORKING METHODS ~~ THE SAME PLACE: THE MINDS OF THE AUDIENCE, CHOOSE TO TELL YOUR STORIES IN. ~ BUT THOSE BASIC GOALS ARE THe SAME -~ THs 1S WHY T DON'T. THINK THERE'S A TYPE oF STORY THAT'S “RIGHT” FOR comics — 7 AND WHY IT'S A MISTAKE To LIMIT THE KINDS OF STORIES WE TELL IN AN ATTEMPT TO SQUEEZE OURSELVES INTO SOMEONE ELSE’S SHELF SPACE. MY apuice? waite WHAT YOU WANT To READ. = AND IF ALL ELSE FALLS, YOU'LL ‘ALWAYS HAVE AT Least ONE LOYAL NOSODY KNOWS WHAT WILL WORK UNTIL THEY TRY IT. SOME OF comics* BIGGEST SUCCESS STORIES IN RECENT YEARS HAWE EXPLORED SUBJECTS THAT NO ONE WAS WRITING ABOUT AT THE TIME, Ge STORIES NO YOU'LL HAVE MORE FUN DOING ONE HAD ANY REASON TO THINK WOULD SUCCEED. 151IPS EASY TO FORGET THAT THE = CAN AS EASILY WRITE WHAT SAME FEW DOTS AND LINES THAT THAT PERSON SAYS, JI Tay; { WORDS AND PICTURES, FOR ALL THEIR DIFFERENCES ~~ BOTH SHARE A COMMON PURPOSE AND A COMMON HERITAGE. ARE JUST TWO SIDES of THe SAME COIN, ra GREAT CARTOONISTS + BY EMPHASIZING THE CALLIGRAPHIC AND THE DEMONSTRATE HOW QUALITIES OF SIMPLE CARTOON IMAGES ~~ PICTURE-LIKE SEAMLESSLY THE TWO CAN IMMEDIACY oF SHORT BE COMBINED = ‘BOLD WORDS. Geran ewer eee 0) 152SEPARATE STRENGTHS. — BuT WORDS aN PICTURES aLso HAVE THEIR SEPARATE HISTORIES AND -- AND THESE HAVE ALSO SEEN A RICH SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR MANY OF ‘THE CREATORS WHO ARE DRAWN TO COMICS. LIKE ANY MARRIED. COUPLE, WORDS AND PICTURES HAVE TO BALANCE THE NEED TO FIND. COMMON GROUND wiTH ‘THE NEED To EXPLORE ‘THEIR SEPARATE IDENTITIES. 1S UP TO YOU. HOW YOU CHOOSE To BRING THE Two TOGETHER ON THE Pace AND, AS ANY MARRIED COUPLE WILL TELL YOU, THAT PROCESS 'S ONGOING AND CAN LAST A LIFETIME. rm JUST SAVING, F Loox, SEEMTO DO ALL THE ff TM TRYING TO TALKING IN THIS SHOW vou How | RELATIONSHIP, PANEL ONE SEE ART CREDITS, PAE 25 153CHAPTER 3: THE POWER OF WORDS PAGE 128, PANEL ONE ~ R.C. HARVEY ON COMICS IN RC. HARVEY'S OWN WORDS: "..COMICS CONSIST OF PICTORIAL NARRATIVES OR EXPOSITIONS IN| WHICH WORDS (OFTEN LETTERED INTO THE PICTURE AREA WITHIN SPEECH BALLOONS) USUALLY CONTRIBUTE TO ‘THE MEANING OF THE PICTURES AND VICE VERSA." PAGE 129, PANEL ONE - A MEDIUM OF FRAGMENTS, ‘SEE UNDERSTANDING COMICS, CHAPTER THREE, FOR 34 PAGES' WORTH OF MUSINGS ON WHAT I USUALLY REFER ‘TO AS "CLOSURE," THE TENDENCY WE ALL HAVE TO TAKE INCOMPLETE INFORMATION AND FILL IN THE BLANKS, AND Wil I THINK IT'S ONE OF THE ESSENTIAL SUILDING BLOCKS OF THE COMICS-READING EXPERIENCE. PAGE I34, PANEL NINE - THE SMELL OF COOKIES WRITERS FREQUENTLY OVERLOOK THE OPPORTUNITY WORDS GIVE US TO REVEAL WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE SENSES OF TOUCH, TASTE AND SMELL. ONE OF MY FAVORITE COMICS WHEN T WAS H4 YEARS OLD WAS DAREDEVIL CTHE GLIND SUPERHERO WHO RELIES ON HIS: HEIGHTENED OTHER SENSES TO FIGHT CRIME AND CHECK OUT JENNIFER GARNER IN THE RAIND AND STILL REMEMBER AN OVERVOICE CAPTION WHERE HE DESCRISES TRACE SCENTS OF “CORDITE AND GUNPOW- DER" ALL THESE YEARS LATER. HEY... DO I SMELL FRESH-BAKED COOKIES ? ‘THE INFLUENCE OF MOVIES ON COMICS PROBABLY TIPS US TOWARD SIGHT AND SOUND: AS THE DOMINANT. SENSES, BUT WE SHOULD ALSO TAKE A PAGE FROM PROSE AND POETRY WRITERS WHO GIVE ALL FIVE SENSES THEIR DUE. GIVING READERS A WINDOW INTO A CCHARACTER'S SENSORY EXPERIENCES CAN INCREASE THE INTIMACY OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH THAT CHARAC~ TER, AND STRENGTHEN THEIR DESIRE TO STAY WITH THE STORY. see sivoceaenr 154 PAGE 137, PANEL THREE ~ DON'T TRIP ON MY Loco! HAVING & LOGO PHYSICALLY COEXIST WITH CHARACTERS RAISES QUESTIONS OF SELIEVAGILITY. TF THE COMICS [ARTISTS WANT US TO GELIEVE IN HIS OR HER WORLD AS A REAL PLACE, DOES A GIANT PLYWOOD SILLBOARD WITH THE CHARACTER'S NAME ON IT GET IN THE INAY OF ‘THAT GOAL? I THINK THE ANSWER'S BOTH YES AND NO; IT'S ALL JUST A QUESTION OF TIMING. ‘THE SENSE OF LOSING YOURSELF IN A MOVIE, BOOK, COMIC OR PLAY DOESN'T HAPPEN INSTANTANEQUSLY, WHEN THE OPENING CREDITS TO A MOVIE START APPEARING, YOU'RE PERFECTLY AWARE THAT YOU'RE SITTING IN & DARK ROOM WITH STRANGERS WHILE LIGHT IS PROJECTED ON A SCREEN, 17'S ONLY A FEW MINUTES LATER, AFTER THOSE NAMES STOP APPEARING IN MID-AIR OVER THE ACTION, THAT THE MOVIE ‘THEATER AND THE STRANGERS AND THE SCREEN ALL VANISH AND YOU'RE SIMPLY LIVING THE STORY. IF THE STORYTELLING IS COD ENOUGH (AND IF EVERYBODY ‘TURNS OFF THEIR CELL PHONES: AND SHUTS UP? YOU WON'T RETURN TO THAT DARK ROOM FILLED WITH STRANGERS UNTIL THE CLOSING CREDITS ROLE. SIMILARLY, WHEN WE START READING A COMIC. A \G-FOOT HIGH LOGO ON PAGE ONE DOESN'T TAKE US OUT (OF THE ACTION GECAUSE WE'RE NOT EVEN IN IT YET, WE KNOW THAT WE'RE HOLDING A STACK OF PAPER (OR LOOKING AT A GLOWING SCREEN) AND IT USUALLY TAKES ‘A PAGE GR TWO TO FORGET. IT'S IN THAT ENTRY PHASE (AND ITS CORRESPONDING EXIT PHASE) THAT ALITTLE [ARTIFICE CAN'T HURT, AND MIGHT ACTUALLY ENHANCE ‘THE READING EXPERIENCE. [ART 81 WILL CISNER (SEE ART CREDITS, PAGE 250%PAGE I3%, PANEL SIX - DAVID CHOE, MONTAGE AND WORD-SPECIFIC HERE'S A BIT MORE OF CHOE'S CUT-AND-PASTE APPROACH TO COMBINING WORDS AND ART (FROM HIS COMIC SLOW JAMS). NOTICE THAT THIS ALSO FOLLOWS ‘THE WORD-SPECIFIC PATTERN. CHOE'S TYPED. SENTENCES TELL US EVERYTHING WE NEED To KNOW, SO THE PICTURES ARE FREED TO WANDER AS FAR AS THEY LiKE, PAGE |40-I4! - USING (AND ABUSING) THE WORD-PICTURE CATEGORIES JUST TO REITERATE, I'M DEFINITELY NOT SUGGESTING THAT ANYONE SIT DOWN AND CAREFULLY CHOOSE THEIR WORD/PICTURE COMBINATIONS BEFORE CREATING COMIC. AS WITH THE & PANEL TRANSITIONS IN CHAPTER ONE, I DON'T NANT THIS KIND OF CLASSIFICATION TO REPLACE WHATEVER INSTINCTS YOU HAVE. INSTEAD, 8Y ASKING THE KINDS OF QUESTIONS I POSE AT THE SOTTOM OF PAGE I40 AND AT TOP OF PAGE I4i, T HOPE YOU CAN HONE YOUR INSTINCTS IN THE FUTURE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THESE WORD-PICTURE POSSIBILITIES IN A NATURAL, INTUITIVE Wa, cH ) WD ©» AND MARLJANE SATRAPT (SEE ART CREOTS, Pat 25), EVERY TECHNIQUE WE USE BEGINS ITS LIFE AS A CONSCIOUS PROCESS AND, WITH LUCK, GRADUALLY BECOMES SECOND NATURE. BUT NOT EVERY TECHNIQUE WORKS TO OUR ADVANTAGE IN THE LONG RUN AND IT ay'S TO CONSCIOUSLY SEPARATE GOOD INSTINCTS FROM BAD HAGITS ONCE IN A WHILE, PAGE [42-145 - THE THOUGHT BALLOON AND. ITS RELATIVES THOUGHT BALLOONS AREN'T AS. COMMON AS THEY ONCE WERE, BUT THEY'RE STILL A GREAT WAY TO GUICKLY REVEAL & CHARACTER’S INNER LIFE (SEE "THE SMELL OF COOKIES" ABOVE. IN THE LAST COUPLE OF DECADES, THOUGH, CHARACTERS’ THOUGHTS ARE AS LIKELY TO BE EXPRESSED IN THE FORM OF A CAPTION —- THE, EQUIVALENT OF & MOVIE OVERVOICE. SUCH CAPTIONS SEEM TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE AUDIENCE IN A WAY THAT BALLOONS DON'T, AS IF THE CHARACTER WAS SENDING. THEIR THOUGHTS DIRECTLY TO THE READER, AND CAN GIVE THE TEXT AN EXTRA LEVEL OF INTIMACY. THEY [ALSO DON'T REGUIRE THE THINKER TO BE IN PANEL TO SHOW WHERE THE THOUGHT ORIGINATES FROM, SO THEY CAN APPEAR IN PANELS THAT ARE FRAMED FROM THE THINKER'S POINT OF VIEW. SUCH "THOUGHT CAPTIONS* ARE USUALLY IN PRESENT TENSE AND FIRST PERSON (BELOW LEFT) BUT PAST TENSE NARRATION (GELOW RIGHT) CAN COVER A LOT OF THE SAME GROUND. OK. WHAT NOW 7 FELT $0 ASHAMED FOR MYSELF 1 ‘THE TRADITIONAL THOUGHT BALLOON HAS RDVAN= TAGES, THOUGH, IT CAN OFFER A GLIMPSE INTO ANY CHARACTER'S THOUGHTS AT ANY TIME, AND DOESN'T REGUIRE REPETITION THROUGHOUT THE STORY. A THOUGHT CAPTION ONLY WORKS AS RUNNING NARRA- ‘TION, AND READERS HAVE TO KNOW WHICH CHARACTER |S DOING THE THINKING, EVEN IN PANELS OVERFLOWING WITH CHARACTERS. A THOUGHT BALLOON, ON THE OTHER HAND, CAN APPEAR ONCE IN A 200 PAGE GRAPHIC NOVEL POINTING TO A RANDOM BYSTANDER, AND AUDIENCES WILL THINK NOTHING OF IT, 155PAGE lz, PANEL SEVEN ~ BALLOON SHAPES SOME EXAMPLES OF BALLOON SHAPES: you OuMB. STARRY-EYED Bl pe) Couey indreams Lam trying ied reer a le) PAGE It, PANEL THREE - COMMON ROOTS FOR MUCH MORE ON WHY I SEE WORDS AND PICTURES AS TWO GRANCHES OF THE SAME TREE, SEE UNDER- ‘STANDING COMICS, CHAPTER SIX, "SHOW AND TELL.” PAGE l45, LAST PANEL - THE LOWERCASE. DEBATE TE KEEP GOING GACK AND FORTH ON THE QUESTION OF WHETHER TO USE UPPER- AND LOWERCASE LETTERS IN WORD BALLOONS, THE FACT THAT I'M BACK TO ALL UPPERCASE IN THIS BOOK ISN'T IN ANY WAY AN INDICA TION THAT I'VE MADE UP My MIND. ON THE ONE HAND, UPPERCASE COMIC 6OGK LETTERING HAS THE FOLLOWING ARGUMENTS IN ITS FAVOR: + ABOUT 98% OF ALL ENGLISH LANGUAGE COMICS IN THE LAST 100 YEARS HAVE USED IT, INCLUDING NEARLY ALL OF THE COMICS NOW CONSIDERED: CLASSICS. IF IT AIN'T BROKE, WHY FIX IT? * CAPITAL LETTERS ARE EASIER TO LETTER Gy HAND. + CAPS FILL THE SPACE MORE EFFICIENTLY. + CAPS GLEND GETTER WITH PICTURES. + CAPS LOOK BETTER WITH FREGUENT BOLD/ITALIC. TYPE. ON THE OTHER HAND, ADVOCATES OF USING UPPER AND LOWERCASE LETTERS MIGHT RESPOND: “THERE ARE A LOT OF THINGS COMICS HAVE RARELY DONE IN THE LAST 100 YEARS, INCLUDING MATURE THEMES, SUBTLE CHARACTERIZATION AND SOPHISTI- CATED ARTWORK; THAT'S NO REASON NOT TO TRY THEM. + ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR COMICS IN HISTORY, TINTIN, USES UPPER- AND LOWERCASE LETTERING, [AS DO OTHER EUROPEAN COMICS, AND IT LOOKS Rear. “EASIER DOESNT EGUAL BETTER. + ALITTLE WHITE SPACE NEVER HURT ANYONE. «IF UPPER AND LOWERCASE LETTERS DON'T BLEND WITH PICTURES, HOW DO WE EXPLAIN FIVE CENTU~ RIES OF ILLUSTRATED BOOKS? + BOLD TYPE 1S OVER-USED AND MELODRAMATIC. FOR NOW, I'M STICKING WITH THIS UPPERCASE FONT MADE FROM MY HANDWRITING, BECAUSE T LIKE THE WAY IT BLENDS WITH My PICTURES. IRONICALLY, I DON'T THINK IT WORKS AS WELL HERE IN THE NOTES SECTION, UT I LIKE THE CONTINUITY OF APPEARANCE FROM THE COMICS PAGES SO THAT'S WHY YOU'RE READING IT NOW. SOME THINGS 1 DO KNOW FOR SURE: + THE OCCASIONAL BiG, BOLD NORD DOES SEEM TO. ANCHOR THE TEXT AND PICTURE WHEN YOU FIRST GLANCE AT A PAGE (LE., NEITHER PICTURES NOR WORDS SEEM OVERPOWERED). “ ENCLUDING UPPERCASE, LOWERCASE, BOLD, ITALICS [AND SIZE VARIATION THE WAY T DID IN THE LAST BOOK WAS & BIT CLUTTERED. + TLL PROBABLY KEEP CHANGING MY MIND FOR A. wHite. Top Downe ART 87 WELL EtSMER Sawn HOMANLS LETTERING BY TODO KLEDN, JORDAN CRANE ANDO MASASHE RISKEMOTO CETTERED Fea ENGLISH 2Y HESDE Stveowne) (SE ART soustera sense or | | i X x 7 RECOGNITION on : eS y THE PART OF THE b READER. { SILENCE HAS THE EFFECT OF REMOVING A PANEL FROM ANY PARTICULAR SPAN OF TIME. worD BALLOONS HAVE APER VED DUR ION 50 THEN _/PANELS THEY'RE IN DO 00. witHour THAT IMPLICIT TIME STAMP WHICH WORDS PROVIDE, A SILENT PANEL DOESN'T “END™ QUITE AS CRISPLY jf Lis Yes A'Y MM Z fh 164SILENCE ALSO ALLOWS READERS TO STEP OFF THE TWIN CONM/EYOR BELTS OF PLOT AND THE AND DIALOGUE LONG ENOUGH TO LET THEIR EYES WANDER AND EXPLORE YOUR EFFECT oF iT WORLD, INSTEAD OF VIEWING IT AS NOTHING MORE THAN A PASSING BACKDROP. GY NOT “GLOCKING US AT THE DOOR,” AN OFF-CENTER GIVING READERS THAT LICENSE TO “WANDER” IS FIGURE, FACING AWAY FROM THE READER, CAN INVITE US ‘ALSO A SYPRODUCT OF AN OFF-CENTER CHOICE TO FOLLOW IT MORE FULLY INTO A SCENE. OF FRAME. F SUCH COMPOSITIONS CREATE A SENSE OF ENTERING A SETTING WITH A PERSON INIT, RATHER THAN MEETING & PERSON WITH A SETTING BEHIND THEM. = AND WITH IT, THE READER'S SENSE OF BEING SURROUNDED FINALLY, AN INCREASED SENSE OF DEPTH, GAN INCREASE THE PERCEIVED SIZE OF A SETTING ~- REGARDLESS ‘OF ITS SIZE ON THE PAGE --THE SECOND VERSION OF OUR ESTABLISHING SHOT IS A GIT LESS EFFICIENT, SINCE IT Leaves. ‘OUT A WORD-GALLOGN WHICH -~ IF THIS WAS AN ORDINARY COMICS STORY ~~ WOULD PRESUMABLY HAVE To GO ELSEWHERE. OTHERWISE, NONE OF OUR MODIFICATIONS REGUIRED EXPANDING THE PANEL BEYOND THAT ‘TOP THIRD OF A PAGE. EVERYTHING ‘STILL HAPPENS IN SUPPOSE, HOWEVER, THAT YOU HAVE PLENTY (OF ROOM TO TELL YOUR STORY; IS THERE ANY REASON TO USE MULTIPLE Panels TO ESTABLISH A SETTING? i ED. LL, ZZ Ce 166 (ONE OPTION IS TO SPLIT [AN OPENING SCENE INTO. FRAGMENTS USING ASPECT TO ASPECT TRANSITIONS, A ‘TECHNIQUE POPULAR IN JAPANESE COMICS, Inv THIS METHOD, THE SCENE IS “ASSEMBLED” IN THE READER'S MIND.EXPERIENCES THE WORLD IN MUCH THE SAME WAY THAT HE (OR SHE WOULD “REAL LIFE” AS 300+ Pace GRAPHIC NOVELS HAVE BECOME MORE COMMON, SOME NORTH AMERICAN CARTOONISTS ARE ALSO STARTING TO EXPLORE THE POTENTIAL OF MULTI-PANEL, AND EVEN MULTI-PAGE ‘SCENE-SETTERS, IN HOPES OF ‘CREATING MORE \ PoweRFUL aN \ MEMORABLE WORLDS. LOOKING AROUND... UP... DOWN, ONE PIECE AT A TIME, FROM A 3-PAGE SUNRISE GY CANADIAN COMICS ARTIST SETH, FROM CLYDE FANS 600k ONE. THIS LENDS An AIR OF [AND WHEN No ONE FIRST-HAND ISIN SIGHT, AS IN MULTI-PANEL SEQUENCES ALSO GIVE YOU EXPERIENCE AND THE ABOVE PAGE, TIME TO BUILD A SPECIFIC MOOD FOR voUR GOLSTERS THE ILLUSION | | yoUR READER IS FREE WORLDS ~~ A PROCESS THAT TAKES TIME TO OF WANDERING To FORM A PERSONAL ‘ACCOMPLISH IN ANY STORYTELLING MEDIUM. THROUGH & Scene. RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR WORLD ie, EVEN BEFORE YOUR ‘CHARACTERS oh==AS IF TF WAS AN ESTABLISHING SHOT: AND AOD WALL-TO-WALL NVIRONMENTAL DETAILS. WHEREVER POSSIGLE. THIS APPROACH, TYPIFIED BY SOME EUROPEAN GRAPHIC ‘ALBUMS, CAN CREATE A, STRONG SENSE OF PLACE, IF YOU DONT HIND THE LONG HOURS AND SORE HANDS MIGHT BE WORTH A TRY, ‘OF THOSE WORLDS. 2 AND THEY May REQUIRE THAT YOU LAVISH CONSTANT ATTENTION UPON THE DETAILS STORIES ABOUT MODERN RELATIONSHIPS. ON THE OTHER HAND, MAY ONLY NEED THEIR FAMILIAR, EVERYDAY SETTINGS REITERATED ONCE INA WHILE, WHILE THEY FOCUS INSTEAD ‘ON AN EMOTIONAL LANDSCAPE. Pickine THE RIGHT APPROACH FOR YOUR STORY WILL DEPEND ON THAT STORY'S PRIORITIES. SOME TYPES OF STORIES, LIKE SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY OR HISTORICAL FICTION ARE (AT LEAST PARTIALLY ABOUT THE woRLDS THEY INHABIT —SOME TYPES. ‘OF COMICS DON'T RELY ON A SENSE OF PLACE” MUCH AT ALL, \ tt TAKE THE FIGURES QUT OF A LOT OF CLASSIC DaiLy HUMOR STRIPS, FOR EXAMPLE, [AND YOU'LL FIND NO MORE THAN FEW WELL-PLACED LINES. SBR SoHULZ 0450 [BACKGROUND DETAILS FROM THE FIRST FIVE PEANUTS DAILIES BY CHARLES “THE BACKGROUNDS IN SUCH STRIPS ARE RELEVANT ONLY SO FAR AS THEY sive A CONTEXT FOR WHAT THE CHARACTERS ARE UP TO, AFTER WHICH THEY ARE THE sHow — == THOUGH IF THE MOMENT REQUIRES IT, MASTERS OF THE GENRE CAN STILL CREATE AVM SETTING, SLUR suuRP! HAVE TRIED IT WITH SOME SUCCESS. ‘Avocado Highlands (ON THE OTHER END OF THE SCALE, COMICS ENTIRELY ABOUT A PLACE ARE A RARITY, SUT A FEW INNOVATIVE TALENTS PANELS FROM RICK GEARY'S ALEAK YET SEAUTIFUL “THE AGE OF CONDOS” FROM M80, SEEART CREDITS, PAGE 258. 167FORTUNATELY, ‘DRAWING IN. PERSPECTIVE DOESN'T Have TO BE ALL THAT HARD. INFACT, WITH THE RIGHT APPROACH, IT CAN E KIND OF FUN! = Bur ‘THE WORD “PERSPECTIVE” 1S MOST CAN REFER TO ANY ATTEMBT TO OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH THE “HORIZON \“/: REPRESENT A 3-D WORLD ON A, LINES" AND “VANISHING POINTS” oF ‘2-D SURFACE LIKE THIS PAGE. WESTERN PERSPECTIVE -- 170THERE ARE AN ARTIST WITH A MINIMAL STYLE LiKE JOHN PusNTy oF GRAPHIC PORCELLINO MIGHT DRAW HUNDREDS OF PAGES Devices THarcanl WITHOUT EVER GOING NEAR A VANISHING POINT, INbicare DEPTH. BUT STILL CREATE A CONVINCING AND CONSISTENT WORLD USING SUCH BASIC DEPTH INDICATORS, CLOSER OBJECTS CAN OVERLAP MORE DISTANT ONES —~ SOME ARTISTS BUILD THEIR SCENES ON A SLANTED CHECKERBOARD PATTERN WHERE PARALLEL LINES = DON'T CONVERGE; A TYPE OF PERSPECTIVE SEEN IN EVERYTHING FROM PERSIAN PAINTING TO GAMES LIKE THE SIMS, APPEAR LARGER, HAVE DARKER oR THICKER BORDERS OR SIMPLY BE LOWER (ON THE PAGE IN VIEWS FROM ABOVE. COMPELLING STORIES IF YOUR APPROACH IS HAVE BEEN TOLD IN — BiomoRPHIC - AND USING CONSISTENT, aND comics USING LANDSCAPES WHERE PERSPECTIVE THAT'S | THE CONTENTS OF DIAGRAMS oF a ‘THE ONLY INDICATION ALWAYS JUST ALITTLE | your STORY ARE WORLD SEEN ENTIRELY OF DEPTH was IN iT WARPED. INTERESTING: FROM AGOVE -- OVERLAPPING -- ENOUGH. YOUR AUDIENCE WILL PROBABLY ACCEPT WHATEVER TYPE OF PERSPECTIVE YOu USE. PANELS Two-Sie ART G7 Joa PORCELLNO, DEBBE DREEHSLER (71 ‘CARD MCGUIRE, GARY PANTER AND MARISCAL (SEE ART cneprs, ace 250).THAT SAID, (F YOU WANT YOUR WORLD TO LOOK AS “REAL” AS POSSIBLE IN THE CONVENTIONAL SENSE, WESTERN)” PERSPECTIVE IS THE WAY TO DOT. OFFER A FULL-LENGTH COURSE IN WESTERN PERSPECTIVE IN THESE PAGES. FOR THAT I SUGGEST DAVID CHELSEA'S BOOK OW THE SUBJECT* -- IF YOU'VE TAKEN A FEW DRAWING CLASSES IN OR YOU'VE ALREADY READ ‘CHELSEA'S, You May ALREADY KNOW OBJECTS ON A PLANE ‘SOME OF THE CONVERGE wiTH BASICS oR HOW ‘THE HORIZON CROSSES FIGURES AT ‘THE SAME HEIGHT AS YOUR EYE-LEVEL, REGARDLESS OF DISTANCE — YOU AND THE KID ARE at THE SAME HEIGHT IN THIS PANEL. oR AND YOU MIGHT COMPRESS TO OVALS HAVE SOME WHEN VIEWED FROM EXPERIENCE WITH THE SIDE, APPLYING ~~ How CIRCLES E * PERSPECTIVE! FOR COMIC BOOK ARTISTS 15COMICS PAGES ARE ‘STRUCTURED AROUND How PEOPLE, OBJECTS ‘AND WORDS ARE PLACED ON THE PAGE — =——J or S 2s PANELS BEGIN THEIR LIVES AS A COLLECTION OF Flat, 2-D ELEMENTS. a ral @ al -enoice OF MOMEN! “CROICE OF _ FRAME. .- “choice OF - IMAGE. __ ‘CHOICE OF ~~ WORD _ “CHOICE OF ~--- ~~ -FlLOw |} | [so rrsony AND A more t [AFTER THOSE a FULLY REALIZED $ | seuamonsties ane \ |< = THREE- i \ worsen out That ee \ DIMENSIONAL ‘A GRID IS LAID 7 SCENE STARTS TO ‘Down — - enenee. \ el 50 THE FIRST JOS OF PERSPECTIVE IS To SERVE THE LAYOUT OF THE PAGE AND ENHANGE THE STORY; AND SOMETIMES THAT DOESN'T LEAVE MUCH ROOM FOR = AND THAT'S WHEN YOUR IMAGINATION, (CAN TAKE OVER! IN OTHER PANELS, THOUGH, THE REQUIRED ELEMENTS ARE AND THE LATITUDE For IMPROVISATION 1S GREAT 174WORLD-BUILDING COMICS ARTISTS LIKE FRANCE’S. MOEBIUS Have DEMONSTRATED. JUST How FaR THaT LICENSE TO IMPROVISE GaN TAKE a PAGE. AGRID IS IN PLACE, WHOLE WORLDS CAN BE SUGGESTED IN JUST A FEW SQUARE INCHES OF PAPER. KEY IS TO LET YOUR IMAGINATION work IN THE 3eD Spaces THE GRID SUGGESTS. TRY IT NOW. STARE FORA WHILE AT THE GRID IN PANEL TWO.IMAGINATION AND IMPROVISATION CAN == BUT IF YOU'RE GOING | — YOU'LL ALSO HELP YOU WITH REALISTIC SCENES, FOR A STRONG SENSE NEED TO DO SOME ‘AS WELL AS FANTASTIC ONES ~~ =| oF REALISM — j RESEARCH. gael IF THAT SOUNDS LOTS OF OTHERWISE wart BUT EVEN ALITTLE ABOUT AS MUCH FUN TALENTED ARTISTS PREDICTABLY EXTRA EFFORT IN AS A ROOT CANAL TO TEND To SKIMP oN BLAND, eur THE RESEARCH ‘YOU. YOU'RE NOT RESEARCH ~- PASSABLE, DEPARTMENT CAN ALONE. ESPECIALLY WHEN ON RESULTS. GOALONG WAY. DEADLINE - zie oor Ir 00! | 4 GOOD RESEARCH MAY MAKE THE DIFFERENCE |(— = AND ONE THAT CONNECTS WITH YOUR BETWEEN & GENERIC GAS STATION — READERS’ MEMORIES and EXPERIENCES.EVEN WHEN WORKING IN MINIMAL CARTOONY STYLES, GOOD RESEARCH CAN HELP YOU FIND THE ESSENCE oF @ Location ~~ Al J OR GETWEEN A RUN-OF-THE- MILL BUILDING ~~ = AND ONE WITH CHARACTER AND CREDIBILITY. Sa ( yu = AND THANKS TO THE WEB, ARTISTS CAN STILL, IF YOU NEED TO Now FIND PHOTO DRAW ANYTHING REFERENCE on WITHIN DRIVING EVERYTHING FROM DISTANCE — AARDVARKS 70 ZINNIAS int MINUTES. <= 17 CAN REALLY — PAY OFF TO GET a e SOME ON-SITE Ue IR LOSE ieee YOURSELF IN THE ENVIRONMENTS You ‘DRAW — — AND YOUR READERS eT aE LU i hileWANT To KNOW THE SECRET oF DRAWING GREAT BACKGROUNDS? THROW GEHIND THEM AS. AN AFTERTHOUGHT. DON'T THINK OF THEM AS “BACKGROUNDS!” THESE ARE ENVIRONMENTS. THE PLACES YOUR CHARACTERS TOO MANY ARTISTS FORGET THIS AND BECOME WHAT EISNER CALLED “SLAVES TO THE CLOSE-UP™; STICKING WITH THE ONE THING -~ PEOPLE =~ THAT ‘THEYRE CONFIDENT THEY CAN DRAW —~== AFRAID THAT IF THEY PULL THE “CAMERA” BACK, THEY MIGHT HAVE TO DRAW A DOZEN THINGS ‘THEY'VE NEVER DRAWN BEFORE. U7 7 TRS Pim a TY THOSE WHO HAVE SEIZED ON THAT CHALLENGE, | eee fl coi nena Ly bein ee "ART 87 HaSR FRAN bE ART CREDITS, PAGE 250, JUST REMEMBER TO LET YOUR READERS ‘STEP INTO YOUR WORLD ~~ ‘THAT WORLD UNIQUE -- MEL Zig YsCHAPTER FOUR = WORLD BUILDING PAGES 156-157 - HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH? TOPEN THIS CHAPTER WITH SOME LASOR-INTENSIVE PANELS, SUT I HOPE Z'M NOT SCARING ANYONE OFF. YES, YOU CAN CREATE A STRONG SENSE OF PLACE WITHOUT SPENDING A DAY ON EVERY PANEL (AND THIS SPREAD TOOK A WEEK SO-T MEAN THAT LITERALLY). THE REASON I'M PUTTING THE HARD WORK UP FRONT IS: THAT THE RATIO OF ARTISTS PUTTING TOO LITTLE WORK INTO ENVIRONMENTS VERSUS THOSE PUTTING TOO MUCH IS ABOUT NINETY-NINE TO ONE. WE ALL FIND: EXCUSES TO SKIMP ON WHAT WE DISMISSIVELY CALL *BACKGROUNDS' AND THIS CHAPTER IS MY ATTEMPT TO COUNTER THAT TREND. PAGES 162163 ~ ESTABLISHING SHOTS ON. STEROIDS IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THERE'S NOTHING TECHNI- CALLY WRONG WITH THE FIRST ESTABLISHING SHOT I ‘SHOW ON PAGE I6O. IT'S CLEAR AND COMPREHENSIVE. ‘THE FIVE CHANGES FEATURED IN THE PUMPED UP VERSION SHOWN ON PAGE 162 ARENT MEANT TO REPAIR, ANYTHING: THEYRE JUST OPTIONS FOR TAKING THE ESTAGLISHING SHOT TO A DIFFERENT LEVEL, AND A WAY OF RECONSIDERING THE GOALS OF SUCH PANELS. FIVE TOOLS THAT ARE AVAILABLE IF YOU WANT TO USE THEM, HAVE NO DISAGREEMENT WITH ANYONE WHO LIKED ‘THE FIRST VERSION GETTER. PAGE [64 PANELS 7-9 - SILENCE AND. LENGTH LENGTH OF STORY CAN AFFECT A COMICS ARTIST'S WILLINGNESS TO INCLUDE SILENT PANELS, THE RELATIVELY SHORT LENGTH OF AMERICAN COMIC BOOKS MADE SILENT PANELS RARE FOR MANY YEARS, WHILE MANGA, WITH ITS THICK ANTHOLOGIES BOUND FOR THICK COLLECTIONS, INDULGED IN LONG, SILENT. SEGUENCES ON A REGULAR BASIS. STILL, EVEN SHORT STORIES CAN BENEFIT FROM THE OCCASIONAL PAUSE IN THE SOUNDTRACK. PAGE 165 = A LICENSE TO WANDER ‘THIS CONNECTS TO THE DISCUSSION OF FRAMING ON PAGE 25, WHEN A CHARACTER IS DEAD-CENTER, THEN ‘THE PANEL IS ABOUT THAT CHARACTER AND EVERY- ‘THING ELSE IS "BACKGROUND": WE DON'T Have TO SMELL THE GRASS OR FEEL THE GREEZE BECAUSE OUR PROTAGONIST WILL DG THAT FOR US, BUT WHEN THOSE IMAGINARY CROSS-HAIRS OF THE FRAME ARE POINTING INTO EMPTY SPACE, THEN THE PANEL IS ~~ AT LEAST PARTIALLY ~- ABOUT THAT SPACE, AND EXPLORING IT WILL BE THE READER'S FIRST IMPULSE, ‘THE IDEA OF NOT BLOCKING THE READER AT THE DOOR |S ALSO CONSISTENT WITH THE "RULE OF THIRDS,” A, TECHNIQUE USED IN ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY TO BURSUE MORE DYNAMIC AND PLEASING COMPOSITIONS, THE RULE HOLDS THAT IF YOU DIVIDE YOUR PICTURE INTO THREE SECTIONS VERTICALLY AND HORIZONTALLY AND PLACE YOUR POINTS OF INTEREST AT THE INTER SECTIONS OF THOSE LINES, THE COMPOSITIONS WILL BE IMPROVED. THERE'S NO PROOF FOR SUCH RULES, OF COURSE, GUT YOU MIGHT WANT TO TRY IT YOURSELF [AND SEE IF YOU LIKE THE RESULTS. DAVE GIBSONS, OF WATCHMEN FAME, HAS MENTIONED USING THE RULE IN) SOME PANELS (SEE BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR THE 800K ARTISTS ON COMIE ART). FOR SOME HEAVIER MATH AND ANOTHER THEORY OF WHAT-LOOKS-GOOD, YOU MIGHT WANT TO LOOK INTO. ‘THE EVER-POPULAR "GOLDEN RATIO” AND SEE WHAT KINDS OF RESULTS IT CAN PRODUCE INI YOUR WORK. ALWAYS REMEMBER, THOUGH, IF IT DOESN'T LOOK GOOD TO YOU, IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW MANY THEORIES GNCLUDING MINE) TELL YOU IT'S GOOD. DRAW WITH ‘YOUR EYES, NOT YOUR EARS, PAGE I66 - FRAGMENTS AND THE SENSES (ON PAGES 88-89 OF UNDERSTANDING COMICS, I SUGGEST THAT FRAGMENTED TRANSITIONS LIKE THIS CAN ALSO RECALL OTHER SENSES, SINCE THE MENTAL ACTIVITY THAT STITCHES THEM TOGETHER DOESNT HAVE TO BE ENTIRELY VISUAL BUT CAN DRAW FROM THE ‘OTHER SENSES AS WELL. PAGE 168; LAST PANEL ~ ..UT DON'T USE THIS AS AN EXCUSE! EVEN EVERYDAY SETTINGS LIKE OFFICES AND APART- MENTS CAN SE VISUALLY RICH, SO DON'T SKIMP TOO MUCH ON THOSE ENVIRONMENTS. EVEN IN SCENES WHERE THE AUDIENCE IS FAR MORE INTERESTED IN. WHAT CHARACTERS ARE SAYING THAN IN WHERE THEY ARE, A LITTLE ATTENTION TO THE DETAILS AROUND “THEM CAN) HELP EVOKE A MOOD, CONNECT WITH READERS’ SENSORY MEMORIES OR REMIND THE READER ‘OF THE BROADER CONTEXT THAT THE CONVERSATION IS “TAKING PLACE IN. 180