Analysis of a Comic

Recently, I read a book entitled Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud.  The book focuses on style and the blending of imagery and words in comics.  In order to reflect on the ideas that McCloud presents in Understanding Comics, I decided to create my own comic.  McCloud defines a comic as “Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer” (McCloud 20).  I needed to create a sequence of pictures that sum up to a point.  Very challenging, indeed. 

At first, I had a great deal of difficulty finding a topic for my comic.  I wanted the comic to be somewhat humerous, but also to refect on a small part of my life.  I thought about posing my cats to create a Garfield like comic, but it was a bit too unoriginal and difficult. Cats are not very friendly when you try to put them in a position and expect them to stand still.  Eventually, I decided to flip through photographs stored on my wife’s computer.  For Christmas, my father created a DVD containing pictures from my childhood.  Among those images, I found a picture taken at Cedar Point when I was a fifth grader.  The picture was perfect for my comic.  The expression on my father’s face is priceless.  The clothing is vastly unpopular addding additional comic appeal.  Both of us are dressed in colorful attire.  Many comics are very colorful, and I wanted mine have a similar effect.  I have not seen this photo for many years and it had sentimental value.  I also thought the Bill Lambeer t-shirt with the pink background was a nice touch.  Bill Lambeer was a member of the Detriot Pistons basketball team in the early 1990s.  The picture has many small details to grab attention like the sunburn, the school bus in the background, various picknic baskets, and perfect facial expressions to create a dialog. 

The next step was creating the comic.  I decided to try out a program on my wife’s Macintosh called “Comic Life.”  The program presents the user with a series of layouts, text bubbles, and typefaces.  It also has a menu on the right allowing one to pick a picture from the iPhoto library.  I picked a diagnal layout so the comic would be larger to accommodate the size of the photo, and it also hid part of my father’s expression from view.  I wanted to use the same photo, but give a uniqueness to it through the use of unusual panel dimensions.  A traditional three column cell layout would not provide the surprise effect and might increase the amount of percieved time. 

Time frames in comics have interesting properties.  McCloud writes about time frames, “Just as pictures and the intervals between them create the illusion of time through closure, words introduce time by representing that which can only exist in time – sound” (95).  The angular slicing causes a viewer to look at part of the next part of my comic very quickly.  Since the picture does not change, the only hint that time elapses in my comic is the use of words which imply sound.  The panel shape influences the viewer’s reading of the comic.  McCloud writes “Panel shapes vary considerably though, and while differences of shape don’t affect the specific “meanings” of those panels vis-à-vis time, they can affect the reading experience” (99).  I managed to create a very fast viewing comic that changes the viewer’s perspective on time elapsing.  The comic is viewed quickly, and yet hints about the joys of Cedar Point.  “As unlikely as it sounds, the panel shape can actually make a difference in our perception of time.  Even though this long panel has the same basic “meaning” as its shorter versions, still it has the feeling of greater length!” (101)   The use of the same image counteracts the perception of time changing due to the length of the pane, and avoids the issue exposed by McCloud.  

One issue present in comics is the need for the viewer to understand imagery and have knowledge about the background of a comic.  My comic suffers from the same problem many comics introduce.  The viewer would need to know that Cedar Point is an amusement park with roller coasters, water rides, carnival games, and food.  In the picture, we are sitting at picnic tables preparing to eat.  Part of the humor of the comic is that it does not include any of the entertaining activities one would expect at an amusement park.  My father loves to ride roller coasters, and sitting down was a waste of time and money.  The setting hints at the former and the thought in the third pane explains the latter.  My wife thought the comic was very funny because she knows both subjects in the photo and has visited Cedar Point.  Other comics require a previous knowledge of the characters, location, plot, and often current world events.  Imagine viewing a Peanuts comic with Charlie Brown missing the football as Lucy pulls it away.  Viewing the comic for the first time, one might find it funny.  Knowing that Lucy pulls the football away from him every time makes it funnier.  The history of the character’s interaction changes the interpretation of the comic.  I have the advantage of explaining portions of my comic in this essay.  Many comics do not include a background or character biographical information.  Web comics tend to provide some of this information.  If I were to publish the comic on the web, I might include some background information to help the viewer understand the comic.  One of my favorite web comics, “Penny Arcade”, regularly publishes a blog entry explaining the motivation behind a particular comic.  They publish the comic on one page, and any readers curious can view their blog for background information.  An example can be found at http://www.penny-arcade.com/2002/02/11. This blog entry describes a comic featuring a representation of satan getting a cease and desist order to stop using Blizzard trademarks for their Diablo game.  It also describes one of my favorite characters in the strip, “Fruit-fucker 2000.”  This character is a juicer that has an interesting interface.  The comic would be odd and confusing to most people without the background information.  This comic focuses on video game humor and not all jokes are explained.  Often, a comic tries to convey some meaning using “icons.”  McCloud defines an icon as “…any image used to represent a person, place, thing or idea” (27).  An icon also means something in the real world context that the viewer may or should interpret in the comic as well.  On page 26 of  Understanding Comics, McCloud has a series of images that have definite meanings such as an American flag, a cross, a stop sign, and a smiley face.  He argues that meaning is applied to the items but that drawings of these items have no meaning.  It is inherited by the preconseptions of the viewer.  A viewer without familiarity to the icon will not understand the visual clues.  The quaility of the likeness also affects the understanding.  McCloud describes the strength of the likeness as “But as resemblance varies, so does the level of iconic content.  Or to put it somewhat clumsily, some pictures are just more iconic than others” (27).  A comic should use imagery that is familiar to many people in its intended audience.  Without the familiarity, the message of the comic is obfusicated.  Good comics must not rely on unfamiliar icons or obscure information if they want viewers to understand the meaning of the comic.  A confusing comic is not funny. 

The use of lines can impose meaning on a comic.  As my comic was created with a photograph, it does not benefit from the concept of lines as described by McCloud.  In Understanding Comics, McCloud presents a scene in which a man smokes a pipe with two wavy lines above the pipe.  “Despite their superficial resemblance, these are two very different sets of lines.  One represents a visible phenomenon, smoke, while the other represents an invisible one, our sense of smell.  Not really a picture anymore, these lines are more a visual metaphor – a symbol” (128).   Using a photograph,  my comic “Cedar Point Adventures” does not give indication for invisible senses like smell.  I am unable to convey that symbolism.  I could show a picture of a dirty pig, and the viewer would not think about the smell of the pig.  However, my comic displays visual elements similar to the smoke very well.  I appear happy in the comic and my father’s expression is not quite so happy.  He is sunburnt indicating that he was out in the sun for some period of time.  The same level of symbolism is difficult to achieve when using photos versus using line drawings. 

The combination of words and imagery is very powerful.  McCloud writes, “Words, on the other hand, offer that specificity, but can lack the immediate emotional charge of pictures, relying instead on a gradual cumulative effect” (135).  Using words and images together, one can create an emotional response and buildup of a greater revelation.  As McCloud says, “Together, of course, words and pictures can work miracles” (135) .  In chapter six, “Show and Tell”, McCloud presents the reader with a bridge between images and words.  A child is shown demonstrating his transforming toy.  He uses a combination of words and actions to explain his toy.  McCloud comments on this example, “We all started out like this, didn’t we?  Using words and images interchangeably.  It didn’t really matter which we used, so long as it worked” (139).   Since words and images can be used interchangably, a comic could be created using one or the other.  However, the power of the medium is often in the careful combination of the elements.  My comic uses one picture and different words to convey the intended message to the audience.  Without the image, the comic would not make sense.  Without the words, the picture is meaningless to most people.  “And indeed, words and pictures have great powers to tell stories when creators fully explit them both” (152).  The combination of words and pictures can be exploited in many ways.  A story can be told using mostly words or mostly images.  It could be told with a balance between the use of words and images.  My comic is interdependant; the meaning of the story is lost without both words and images.  This approach is very common and easy to follow. 

Most definetely,  my comic makes use of imagery and words to create a funny scene.  It makes use of an unusual layout to impose time on the viewer, while maintaining a quickness using the same image.  The comic relies on a familiarity of Cedar Point which limits it to a specific audience that understands the common iconic elements presented.  A sequence of frames in time deliver the message, while maintaining static on the page (or screen).  Comics are easy to create, fun to design, and entertaining for viewers. 

Works Cited

McCloud, Scott  Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art.  HarperCollins         
          Publishers, Inc. New York, NY.  1994

“Penny Arcade!” Web Page
       <http://www.penny-arcade.com/2002/02/11>  07 June 2007