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Sep. 15th, 2017
the comic book as mechanical device
Sep. 15th, 2017 12:42 pmI've seen this idea bandied about in a few places over the years, but one of the clearest quotes I am able to find as an example is in this book:
"The creators of a comic can control [the reader's] reading speed by altering the levels of information in each panel --- the more detailed the art or the more dialogue it contains, generally, the longer it takes to read. Many comic creators fail to recognise, for example, that a fast-moving fight scene will be slowed down if the antagonists are making lengthy speeches to each other."
I couldn't help thinking of this recently when I saw someone post this page fragment from a 1968 issue of Avengers:
I can easily recognize that this is a good example of action art -- penciller John Buscema is an acknowledged giant of the field. But I also couldn't help noticing that, not only is everyone saying more than they could possibly have time to say in these circumstances, but they are also saying things that no one would say. Think them, maybe -- say them out loud, no. This dialogue not only slows the rendered action to a crawl by its sheer volume, it strains the reader's credulity as well. Yet the comic books from this era are routinely lauded as classics by old-timer fans such as myself.
All I can say is, times, tastes, and techniques have certainly changed.
"The creators of a comic can control [the reader's] reading speed by altering the levels of information in each panel --- the more detailed the art or the more dialogue it contains, generally, the longer it takes to read. Many comic creators fail to recognise, for example, that a fast-moving fight scene will be slowed down if the antagonists are making lengthy speeches to each other."
I couldn't help thinking of this recently when I saw someone post this page fragment from a 1968 issue of Avengers:
I can easily recognize that this is a good example of action art -- penciller John Buscema is an acknowledged giant of the field. But I also couldn't help noticing that, not only is everyone saying more than they could possibly have time to say in these circumstances, but they are also saying things that no one would say. Think them, maybe -- say them out loud, no. This dialogue not only slows the rendered action to a crawl by its sheer volume, it strains the reader's credulity as well. Yet the comic books from this era are routinely lauded as classics by old-timer fans such as myself.
All I can say is, times, tastes, and techniques have certainly changed.