The Comics Form, The Basics 1
In continuing to talk about the comics form, let's start with the basics, I mean the really basic basics. As you can (hopefully) see here, we have a comics page consisting of a 2x2 grid. No, I don't consider a single page splash to be the simplest form of comics, I find that the splash page has a great deal of complications involved (if the single splash page can be defined as a comic on its own, or merely part of a larger work). The ideas I am discussing here can be be expanded on 3x3 grids, 4x4, or even the 9x9 grids of the formalistic beauty and madness that is Morrison and Quietly's WE3.
Because we (that is to say, I) are English speakers (and readers!), we read the written word left to right, top to bottom. As such, the basic design is create a comics page that mimics this process. The typical comics page is as pictured, we read panel 1 first, panel 2 second, etc. Of course the human eye and mind is a wily thing, and we might let our vision skip around as we read (but that's another show). Keep in mind that this form works for English speakers, most manga reads from right to left, top to bottom, unless it has been flipped by well meaning but confused publishing companies for the American consumption. I would imagine that Israeli comics (printed in Hebrew or Yiddish) would probably do the same, but I have not had the chance to read any Israeli comics. Most comics pages, even those with incredibly complicated design, are created to be read left to right, top to bottom.
We have four panels. Here, the word "panel" refers to a space where a single moment of time is captured by the art, usually depicting an action, and perhaps with some dialogue, caption, or thought bubbles. A panel is usually demarcated with a border (though not necessarily), which here would be the box around the numbers. And then, there is the gutter. The gutter is the space between panels.
The gutter is one of the most important parts of the comics form (as anyone who reads Understanding Comics should know. One of the major limitations in comics is that it is difficult to draw the passage of time. The gutter, the space between panels, is where time passes between those moments depicted in the panel. It is the unspoken in the comics form, the part where the reader needs to read between the lines, such as it were.
The size of the gutter matters, even if it does not exist. Eventually I will get to that. Keep in mind that all these definitions I have thrown out are not set in stone. A panel does not need a border, it does not even need to be rectangular. A comics page does not need to be read left to right, top to bottom. But, hey, this is the basics.
Also keep in mind, that all this is moot, as the most basic comic is a two panel number, as Scott McCloud would remind us. But since I am working (mostly) with the idea of a comic book in mind, I am going to start with a 2x2 grid.
Thoughts are welcome.
Because we (that is to say, I) are English speakers (and readers!), we read the written word left to right, top to bottom. As such, the basic design is create a comics page that mimics this process. The typical comics page is as pictured, we read panel 1 first, panel 2 second, etc. Of course the human eye and mind is a wily thing, and we might let our vision skip around as we read (but that's another show). Keep in mind that this form works for English speakers, most manga reads from right to left, top to bottom, unless it has been flipped by well meaning but confused publishing companies for the American consumption. I would imagine that Israeli comics (printed in Hebrew or Yiddish) would probably do the same, but I have not had the chance to read any Israeli comics. Most comics pages, even those with incredibly complicated design, are created to be read left to right, top to bottom.
We have four panels. Here, the word "panel" refers to a space where a single moment of time is captured by the art, usually depicting an action, and perhaps with some dialogue, caption, or thought bubbles. A panel is usually demarcated with a border (though not necessarily), which here would be the box around the numbers. And then, there is the gutter. The gutter is the space between panels.
The gutter is one of the most important parts of the comics form (as anyone who reads Understanding Comics should know. One of the major limitations in comics is that it is difficult to draw the passage of time. The gutter, the space between panels, is where time passes between those moments depicted in the panel. It is the unspoken in the comics form, the part where the reader needs to read between the lines, such as it were.
The size of the gutter matters, even if it does not exist. Eventually I will get to that. Keep in mind that all these definitions I have thrown out are not set in stone. A panel does not need a border, it does not even need to be rectangular. A comics page does not need to be read left to right, top to bottom. But, hey, this is the basics.
Also keep in mind, that all this is moot, as the most basic comic is a two panel number, as Scott McCloud would remind us. But since I am working (mostly) with the idea of a comic book in mind, I am going to start with a 2x2 grid.
Thoughts are welcome.
posted by X-Himy at 4:22 AM
1 Comments:
I had my own thoughts on the two panel number, and I expanded on them in my MySpace blog. Unfortunately I can't link the specific post, but it was dated June 27, 2005.
Anyway, I find myself disagreeing that the most basic comic is two panels. Even though the shortest distance between two points is a line, there's more than enough distance in one panel to create the illusion of time.
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