Graphic Novel Terms

Panel

A distinct segment of the comic, containing a combination of image and text in endless variety. It offers the reader a perspective or point of view on the subjects also known as the camera angle. Offers a different experience the simply reading text.

Frame

Lines or borders that contain the panels

Splash panel/page

A panel that spans the width of the page.

Bleed

An image that extends to and/ or beyond the end of the page

Emanata

Teardrops, sweat drops, question marks, or motion lines that the artist draws besides the characters face to portray emotion.

Gutter

The space between framed panels. Readers tend to fill in the blanks and imagine what happens between panels.

Voice over

Where narrators have the possibility to speak directly to the reader. Usually this is done with a hard line separating the narrator's speech at the top or bottom from the image within the panel.

Style

The artist's drawing style, some examples are complex to simple, to iconic, objective to subjective, and subjective to universal.

Icon

Symbols and cartoons (at different levels of abstraction) function as a way to communicate to comic readers. Used to represent a place, person, object or idea. It is a visual sign that functions by resemblance. (A lightbulb for an idea)

Narration

Comic books allow the writer to show and tell at the same time. There can be a combination of direct and indirect narration.

Color

The way the author uses them will affect the reader's experience. Can be used symbolically

Graphic Weight

A term that describes the way some images draw the eye more than others, creating a definite focus using colors and shading

Time

The story does not have to be told in a linear way

Foreground

The panel closest to the viewer. The subject that seems closer to the reader, in front of the scene depicted.

Midground

When the subject stands in the middle of the scene depicted. Allows centering if the image by using a natural resting place for vision. The artist deliberately decides to place the image where a viewer would be most likely to look first.

Background

Objects placed here, not usually the subject, help add contextual infomation for the reader.

Camera Angle

Shows where the camera would stand in relation to the subject. Shows how far way the subject would be from the camera. Shows the angle. It will have an effect on the readers understanding of the subject

Transitions

Refer to the process of closure. Refers to what happens between the slides. There are six main types used in comic books: moment to moment, action to action, subject to subject, scene to scene, aspect to aspect, and finally non sequitor.

Speech Bubbles

These are frames around the characters' language, kind of direct speech, in which the characters speak for themselves. Can be written in a variety of ways to demonstrate qualities of a particular voice.. They vary in size, shape, and layout and can depict a conversation.

Thought Bubbles

Appear as clouds and represent a character's thoughts and intearnal dialouge.

Captions

Boxes containing a variety of text elements, including scene-setting, description, etc. Can provide insight into thoughts and feelings the way images alone cannot.

Faces

Can be portrayed in different ways. Some depict an actual person while others are simply representative of an idea or group of people. Can be dramatic when placed against a detailed backdrop. Can be drawn without much expression or detail to try and have the reader guess what the character is feeling.

Hands and Feet

The positioning can be used to express what is happening in the story. Examples: Hands over mouth depict fear, shame, or shyness. Turned in feet may denote embaressment, while feet with motion strokes can create the sense of panic, urgency or speed.

Open Panels

(AKA Borderless Panels) Panels where one or more, or even all, of the sides of the comic panel are open to show dramatic effect.

Negative Space

The areas between and around objects. Areas that - if we notice them at all - we tend to think of as empty.

Exaggeration

In cartoons, artists often stretch the truth, hyperbolize, and create caricatures to emphasize key ideas or attributes with respect to the main claim.

Facial expressions

Can be portrayed in different ways. Some depict an actual person, like a portrait; others are iconic, which means they are representative of an idea or a group of people. Other points to observe about faces include- They can be dramatic when placed against a detailed backdrop; a bright white face stands out. They can be drawn without much expression or detail; this is called an "open blank" and it invites the audience to imagine what the character is feeling without telling them.

Lettering

This is a method of drawing attention to text; it often highlights onomatopoeia and reinforces the impact of words such as bang or wow.

Composition

the arrangement of people or things in a painting, photograph, film scene, cartoon, etc.

Icon

a widely known symbol (elephants and donkeys are icons of republican and democrat political parties)

Sequencing

the order of panels