HL Lit Comic Terms

Panel

one particular drawing on a page, often defined with use of a border

border

the edge of a particular panel

gutter

white space that seperates panels from one another

speech bubble

indicates the words a particular character is actually speaking.

pointer

the indicatior from the speaker to the bubble. sometimes represented as a series of bubbles, which indicate a character’s thoughts instead of something actually spoken

emnata

graphic signs used to relate information that cannot easily be perceived, such as states of mind, particular feelings, or other non-visible phenomena

tier

refers to any row of panels

icon

stands for the representation of any particular thing on a page. all representations, like words, are signifiers of something in experience

sound effect

various kinds of icons are used to indicate sounds. sometimes jagged speech bubbles suggest an exclamatory voice, for ex.

caption

somewhat akin to conventional narrative voice. use words to provide further infornation about what is going on within a panel, to tell about the passing of time, indication location or perhaps to suggest what a character is feeling.