"Comic Books: An Evolving Multimodal Literacy"
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About the AuthorTaylor Quimby graduated from Keene State College in 2010 with an individualized major in Aesthetic Studies. He currently works as a board operator and afternoon host for New Hampshire Public Radio. An avid reader of both comics and philosophy, Taylor also enjoys spending his time playing the ukulele, video games, and writing plays. Taylor lives in Hooksett, New Hampshire, with his family. Contents |
1. Defining the ComicBefore delving into how comics operate as literature, we first need to agree on what they are. Keep in mind this is a separate distinction from the length, style, or format in which they appear (ie: comic book, comic strip, graphic novel, manga). To define is an act of valuation through which an author often betrays his attitudes and beliefs on the subject. Accordingly, definitions of the comic vary widely. For instance, David Carrier chooses to focus on two specific elements, “the speech balloon and narrative sequence,” when differentiating between comics and other mediums (5). This format, he argues, “places very real constraints on [their] content, on the kinds of stories that are most effectively told” (Carrier 5). Carrier’s conservative definition leads him to logically conclude that comics are limited in their aesthetic capacities. It also unequivocally cements their origin in the late 19th century. On the flipside of the coin, Scott McCloud has offered a much more liberal description. His definition of comics as, “juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence” allows McCloud to posit many examples of early historical artwork as comics, including cave drawings, Egyptian painting, and sequential picture-stories of various later eras (9). McCloud is attempting to establish comics as a “high art” with the potential to progress both forward and backward in time, which is hardly surprising; he’s a comic writer and artist himself. Definitions are designed to provide a basis for what the comic is, but labels have also been created to influence how it is perceived. The most important of these is the graphic novel. Although there is debate about what exactly constitutes a graphic novel, we can safely allow that virtually any comic collected or released in a more substantial volume fits the bill. Structurally speaking, this means that graphic novels often engage in longer narratives than the comic book, but when it comes down to it, both are “comics.” As Douglas Wolk bluntly points out, however, the term also serves a specific social purpose: “To this day”, he says, “people talk about ‘graphic novels’ instead of comics when they’re trying to be deferential or trying to imply that they’re being serious” (63). Redefining and re-labeling comics are simply ways individuals have made defenses for, or criticisms against comics. Luckily, in order to study the current literacy of comic books, it is not necessary to define their outer limits. The important question is this: what traits common to comics are unique to the medium and therefore play an important role in their specific vocabulary? Carrier’s two aforementioned qualities are admittedly the most consistent distinctions: the speech balloon and the narrative sequence. However, comics also frequently feature text that is not enclosed in a speech balloon, but is nevertheless an integrated part of the narrative. Therefore, in order to study how we make meaning from comics, I chose to study how narratives are formed using panels and how meaning is created through the interplay of text and image. |