Understanding Comics

- Chapters 3-6 Study Guide

definition of comics

juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence

how long have comics been around?

thousands and tens of thousands of years

the less realistic the cartoon

more the reader may identify with it

define icons

images that represent people, places, things, or ideas (visual nouns)

define closure

refers to how a reader will “read between the lines” to fill in info. between the images (the gutter)

define the gutter

space between panels

moment to moment (transition)

little closure (blinking)

action to action (transition)

single subject in progression (like a baseball batter swinging a bat)

subject to subject (transition)

moving from subject to subject in a scene (from person A to person B)

scene to scene (transition)

transports reader through time and place

aspect to aspect (transition)

moves around to show different perspectives on aspects if a place, idea, or mood

non-sequitur (transition)

no logical relationship between panels at all

sense that comics work with

sight

way to read a comic

left to right and up to down

backgrounds contribute how?

to moods and feelings

lines can represent what?

symbols, emotions, senses, invisible things in general

word specific (ways words and pics can be combined)

pictures illustrate but don’t add to what the text says

picture specific (ways words and pics can be combined)

combinations where words do little more than add a soundtrack to a visually told sequence

duo specific (ways words and pics can be combined)

panels in which both words and pictures send the same message

additive (ways words and pics can be combined)

combo where words amplify or elaborate on an image or vice versa

parallel (ways words and pics can be combined)

combo, words and pics seem to follow very different courses without intersecting

montage (ways words and pics can be combined)

where words are treated as integral parts of the picture

give an example of color-synaesthesia

red-angry, blue-cold/calming,

interdependent (ways words and pics can be combined)

where words and pictures go hand in hand to convey an idea that neither could convey alone