Big Hand

Composing Graphic Narratives

355:402:02

Fall 2008

Instructor: Jonathan Bass

Thursday 1:10-4:10 PM

Index Number: 14468

For a short description of the class, see the Writing Program's 402 index page.

Week One

Thursday, Sep. 4

In class

Introduction

The Books: Drawing Words & Writing Pictures, Understanding Comics, An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories.

After reviewing the syllabus, requirements, policies, etc., we'll examine some examples of comics.

Before and After Exercises

Description of exercise: In groups of four examine the linked examples. For each one, determine what happens before (what leads to) the image or depicted scene and what follows from it. In other words, construct a general story surrounding the image. Then, for each image, imagine a describe a panel preceding the image and another panel following it. What action is shown in the panel? What, if anything, is said?

For this activity, use these examples.

Comics Terminology

Review of some basic formal terminology used to talk about comics/graphic narrative.

Panel Lottery Activity

This is a variation of an acitivity desgined by Abel and Madden, authors of Drawing Words.

For this activity, follow these instructions.

Homework

Reading

Abel & Madden, Drawing Words & Writing Pictures, preface, introduction, and chaps. 1 and 2. Read through the chapters but don't do the activities or homework assignments.

McCloud, Understanding Comics, skim chap. 1 for interest, read chap. 2 carefully.

Conrad Taylor, "But I Can't Draw!" (.pdf)

An assortment of short comics:

Look at the Sacco excerpt with the Pictureless Comic assignment in mind. Notice how much work is being done by the non-figurative elements (panel shape, caption box angle and position, motion lines, emanata, music symbols, etc.).

In the Ware comic, somewhat by contrast, consider how the pictures, which do not fit cleanly or even logically with the words, nonetheless work to extend their meaning.

All five comics actively use narration, with a first-person narrator (or reporter) visually present, verbally self-referred to, or strongly implied. Consider the similarities and differences between them, and note the contrast with Mat Brinkman's wordless "Oaf" (Brunetti 73-76).

Pictureless Comic

Make a nine panel comic using any features of the form but NO pictures. That is: you can use word balloons, thought balloons, motion/speed lines, sound effects, fancy borders (including broken and overlapping borders), and emanata (see Drawing Words pages 7-8). You can even use impact symbols (i.e., the jagged shapes used to indicate the fact and intensity of impact in fight scenes, accidents, etc.). But you can't use any pictures (no figures, no backgrounds).

Your comic should contain the following elements, which it needs to convey non-pictorially:

  • cold-climate setting
  • two human and one non-human (animal or alien) characters
  • one heavy object

Your comic should also include:

  • a piece of dialogue (or captioned exposition) used as both a question and an answer (i.e., in different panels).

Note that, despite the absence of figures and scenery, your comic does not have to be set in the dark, or a snow storm, or a blinding light, or represent the subjective experience of a blind narrator. That is: you do not need to explain (internally) the absence of the usual pictorial content. Although you may do so if you wish.

You can make the comic using pen and paper or a graphics program. While you might want to vary panel size, layout, or borders as part of your comic, here is a 9-panel grid (.pdf) to help you get started.

Here is an example of a short pictureless comic by Abel and Madden.

Some more examples courtesy of Derik Badman:

Your pictureless comic (printed or handmade) is due at the start of the next class (Sep. 11). If possible, also bring an electronic copy of the strip to class (e.g., via flash drive or email). If this is a problem,however, the electronic version can wait.

Skeezix Explained

Finally, here is the actual before and after for the baby Skeezix panel we discussed on Wednesday. It's from Frank King's long, long running Gasoline Alley newspaper strip, famous for its beautiful Sunday pages and its matching of narrative time to real time (i.e., for every year of its publication, the characters in the strip aged by one year – grew up, had kids, grew old, with the readers). Note the starry emanata.

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