Graphic Novel Elements
Comics Vocabulary +
Structure
What are Comics (Graphic Novels)?
Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in
deliberate sequence, intended to convey
information and/or produce an aesthetic
response in the viewer. (whew!)
Sequential Art
Story Telling/ Literature
Reader
Narrator
Juxtaposition
Protagonist (Antagonist, etc)
Metaphor
Symbol
more…
A Rose by Any Other Name…
(different terms/different meanings)
Dialogue/ Speech Bubble
Tone (Contents, Presentation – words and
pictures)
Visual Art
Perspective
Line
Shape
Texture
Shadow/ Shading
Style
Negative Space
Synesthetics
Martian Alphabet (how visuals
carry meaning)
Which one is Booba? Which is Kiki?
We have a shared sense of meaning that goes beyond words.
structure,
layout,
colour
= meaning
Juliet gets ANGRY!!!
(Manga Style)
Other Styles
Line and Shape
Negative Space
Line and Shape Help Create Mood
Comics
Panel
– Panel Transitions
Gutter
Closure
Dealing with Time
Expansion
Compression
Lettering and Word Balloons
Dealing with Time:
Expansion & Compression
Panel Transitions
Moment-to-Moment
Action-to-Action
Subject-to-Subject
Scene-to-Scene
Aspect-to-Aspect
(Non-Sequitur)
Symbolic/ Figurative
Moment-to-Moment
Same subject
Shows passage of time
Action-to-Action
Same subject
Shows change in
physical form of
subject, action
performed (verb)
Subject-to-Subject
Within scene/ idea
Shows minute
passage of time
Scene-to-Scene
Requires deductive
reasoning
Transports the reader
across “significant
distances of time and
space.”
Often supplemented
with a transitional
device in the narrative
voice (Meanwhile…)
Aspect-to-Aspect
Time may pause
(Compression)
Extension
Same scene, as
though the character
or reader is “looking
around.”
*think: descriptive
prose
Aspect-to-Aspect
The phenomenon of observing the parts but
perceiving the whole is closure.
Mood, Time, Synesthetics
Non-Sequitur
Offers no logical
relationship between
the panels.
Rare.
Expansion of Time
Think about using metaphor and
playing with words to enrich meaning.
Lettering and Speech Balloons
With Utmost Respect:
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics. New York:
HarperPerennial, 1993. Print.
Ms. Celia Brownrigg, for a large part of this power-point.