Comics 101- Defining Comics

In this series of articles I will give you nearly everything you need to know to effectively create a comic book. We will discuss the art, the writing, the purpose and the advantages that are specific to the art form itself. During this adventure we will cover the following topics in order”

Defining comics

Story form

Art forms

Scripting

Layout/ paneling

Lettering/ art of words

Printing/ publishing.

At the end of each article will be a series of activities that will eventually get you to do a story from start to finish. Along with ideas to help you find good reading and reference material.

What Are Comics?

Part of the reason that Comics aren’t taken seriously outside of cultural significance is because it’s really hard to define what a comic is and what is not. For instance, there is very little separating the safety sheet diagram on an airplane and stretches of comic strips found in your Sunday newspaper. 

Owned by Jim Davis and Paws syndicate

On the surface they have a lot of the same elements:

Pictures describing an action

Words to strengthen the message of the picture

Iconic and recognizable characters

A form of communication sent (albeit the messages are different)

An Exerpt from Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics

Scott McCloud in his book Understanding Comics states that a comic can be defined as “Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence intended to convey information and/ or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer” or simply put later in the book “Juxtaposed images in sequence”. This definition strikes me as a bit too wordy as well as a little bit loaded. By this definition, a family scrapbook is considered a comic as well as any children’s book that has more than 1 picture.  At the same time, this definition takes away the right to “comicdom” to certain strips like Family Circus or The Far Side which are popularly considered to be “comics”.

The correct answer from what I can tell is that there is no definition for comics just as there is no definition for what art is. For our purposes, I define Comics as “Pictures you read” meaning that if the picture is trying to tell a story rather than just send a message then you now have a comic. So far that is the best marriage of art and literature I can come up with, but really, a comic is whatever you want it to be. If your mom’s scrapbook is a comic in your eyes, then it is a comic. If not, then something else must be. We know that comics exist. Where they are is ultimately up to you.

APPLICATION ACTIVITY!

Once upon a time there was a middle school trumpet player. He came to class everyday with the intent to revolutionize his sound. One day, after months of practice, the band director ended the rehearsal and turned to this trumpet player and asked “you haven’t been improving much, have you been practicing?”

The trumpet player looked at the conductor and said “yes I do.”

The conductor hung his head in exasperation and said “who is your favorite trumpet player?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I actually can only think of maybe 1 trumpet player”. Replied the student.

The conductor then said “ok, well here is a list of great trumpet players. I want you to take this home and try to copy their sound.”

The kid looked up at the conductor with innocence in his eyes. “Well, I try not to listen to trumpet players. I want to formulate my own sound and I can’t do that if I’m trying to sound like someone else”.

The conductor knelt down and looked directly in the students hope-filled eyes. The students desire for greatness shown in his face as well as his determination.

“That was probably the dumbest thing I have heard in all my years of teaching”. Said the conductor.

The point?

In order to achieve greatness, you need to know what came before, what has worked, and prove that you can do that too. When you have the foundations laid, you may then begin to experiment.

This upcoming exploration challenge: find comics that you like! I recommend that you find at least 3 graphic novels between now and the next lesson. Search for comics like you would search for any other book. Comics aren’t just Superhero’s anymore. Try searching for a western, sci-fi, horror, drama, anything you want! The internet has it all. The important part is that you find something that you like and that you can sink your teeth into.

Be sure to like my Facebook page, follow me on Twitter @SupermanLegion and share this article with a friend looking to expand storytelling and artistic talents into new lands!

Until next time!