IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

POLYTECHNIC
Sta. Maria, Bulacan, Philippines Inc.
Marian Road, Poblacion, Sta. Maria, Bulacan
Chapter 10
Comics or Comic Book

It refers to any format that uses

a combination of frames, words,
and pictures to convey meaning
and tell a story.

Graphic Novel is a comic book

which exceeds 50 pages and is
bound in either soft or hard cover.

A comic book is composed of

pages, panels, word balloons,
captions, dialogues, sound effects,
characters, action lines, props,
backgrounds, lighting, and special
effects.

Pages
A page in a comic book is a lot
more restrictive than most other
books. In a novel, you can just keep
writing and let all the pages run over
onto the next page, and when you
get to the end of a chapter, you can
just leave some white space and
jump to the next page to kick off the
next chapter.
In a comic, your story will wind
up being broken down by pages that
will contain specific panels,
dialogue, characters, etc.
How pages are collected into a
comic book: Page 1 is the front
cover and the last page is the back
cover, usually reserved for an ad.
THE FIRST PAGE: Comic book
covers must generate urgency while
including essentials such as the
UPC symbol.
The 2nd or 3rd Page:The splash page is much like a movie's opening
credits.
Last Page: It is also traditional to end the comic with a full-page panel. In
the same way a splash panel hooks the reader into the story, the last page
should entice the reader to buy the next issue. There is usually a place
reserved at the bottom for a horizontal teaser for the next issue.
 Panels

Panels are your windows into the comic story. They are the moment in time
captured to give you an idea of what's going on. A panel could be really small,
it could take up most of a page, it could take up a full page, or even span two
pages. All of the information for your comic story will generally be arranged
within some type of a panel.

Types of Panel

 Horizontal - A panel that is

wider than it is tall.
 Vertical - A panel that is taller
than it is wide.
 Flashback - Panels that
represent a scene from the
past...basically, a replay.
Flashback panels can be
represented in different ways,
but some common techniques
are to use color to "fade" the
panel or to wash the contents
of a panel with a specific color
to set it off from the normal
panels).
 Thought - This is a panel with
a cloud-like border that's used
to convey the contents of that
panel as a thought from a
character.
 Open - A panel with no distinct border. This gives the panel a feeling of
space and openness.
 Jagged - A panel with jagged lines for its border. Often used to represent
something explosive or volatile.
 Word Balloons
Description: Oval balloon-like objects floating around the page that
contain spoken dialogue (and occasionally thoughts) from characters or
props. It consists of two parts--the balloon that holds the dialogue and the tail
that points to the character or objects speaking.

Representation in comic scripts: Generally, a word balloon is the result

of character dialogue specified in the script.

Types of Word Balloon

 Thought - A balloon with a cloud-like
outline to it that's used to represent a
character's thoughts.
 Whisper - Usually represented by a
balloon with a dashed outline to it.
 Burst – One type is for loud dialogue
(like a shout) and is usually
represented by outlining the balloon
with jagged edges (like a jagged
panel). It can also represent a balloon
whose tail looks like it "bursts"
through an object. This is used with
dialogue that is spoken through an
object (examples: character talking on
the other side of a closed door,
character speaking from inside a
locked trunk).
 Electric - A balloon that represents sound from a radio or television (or
communication from electronic devices in general). Usually represented
with a lightning bolt for a tail (and most of the time, it uses more of a
rectangular balloon to give it more of a techie feel).
 Wavy - A balloon that represents dialogue from a character in a
weakened or sickly state. It could just be the tail represented by wavy
lines, or the outline of the balloon could be made wavy to express an even
worse condition for the character.
 Connected - Two or more balloons from a single character in a panel that
are connected via a tail. Used to help emphasize a small pause in the
dialogue from that character.
 Not connected - Two or more balloons from a single character in a panel
that are not connected to each other (each has their own separate tails).
Often used to emphasize a change in subject by the character.
 Caption
Description: Captions are
the (mostly) rectangular
boxes that contain
narration, assorted
dialogues, and text from
various sources like
computers, notebooks,
books, and papers.
They're used in lots of
different ways. For
example, some captions
provide additional
information to the story,
some relay a character's comments from a different time/place than what's
pictured in the panel, and some just reveal the character's thoughts (a method
considered by some as "cleaner" than doing thought balloons).

Variations: Standard narration boxes should maintain a consistent look

throughout the comic. Caption boxes used to represent computer text,
notebook scribbles, and such will have a different appearance on the comic
page. Also, caption boxes for different characters will generally have a
different appearance, so readers can easily distinguish captions from the
various characters.

Dialogue
Description: Dialogue
refers to the words that
actually fill the word balloons
and captions...the dialogue
between characters or the
dialogue between the
narrator and the reader.

 Loud/yell/shout - It's
usually portrayed by
using a larger font size
for the dialogue.

 Soft/quiet - It's usually

represented by a smaller
font size.

 Emphasized words - Some words need emphasis to capture a simulated

inflection for the character's "voice." These words must visually stand out
amongst all the rest of the dialogue, so underlining the dialogue helps with
that.
 Sound Effects

Description: Sound effects represent

different sounds throughout the comic. They're
used to help give a little more depth to the
comic by giving visual cues for sounds that
could be heard in an environment but aren't
spoken. Example: WHAM, KABOOM, KRAK,
CHA-THOOM, BRRRAP BRRAAP

Character & Action Lines

Description: Characters
represent the people,
creatures, and animated
objects taking action in the
comic. Action can be sitting,
talking, walking, running,
fighting, etc. Characters do
stuff...yep, that's what they
do.

Artists often show action through lines and swoops. Look at the actions of
“poking” and “picking up” on this comic below.

Props

Description: Props are all the

distinctive objects in the comic.
The king's ornate throne, the
police cruiser, the battleship, the
toaster, the book, the Pancor
Jackhammer, the television, etc.

Background

Description: Well, stories usually

have to take place somewhere. The
backgrounds in a comic help immerse the
reader in these different locales. New York
City, The Hideout Bar, Middle Earth, a Star
Destroyer in a far off galaxy, run-down
farm in the middle of nowhere, etc. Timing
can also make a difference with
backgrounds. New England in fall or
Greenland in winter. Rome in ancient
times or Los Angeles in the future. Backgrounds are often mentioned in
captions.
Lighting and Special Effects

Lighting: does this part of the story take place during the day or at night?
Twilight or dusk? Indoors with fluorescent lights or in a cave lit by the
occasional torch? Lighting impacts the visuals of the scene as well as the
mood of the story.
Special Effects: these are visual effects depicted on the page. Glowing
hands, magical auras, flaming tennis balls, explosions, lightning, "Kirby
Krackle," etc.

How to read comics?

WHERE DO I START READING?
American comic books* are read from
left-to-right, just like in prose! Look at the
numbers in each panel in the Batgirl: Year
One image to indicate reading order.

* When reading Manga, it is a different

story altogether. Reading of Manga starts
from top to down same as reading books,
magazines, comics, etc. The only
difference is you begin from right to left not
from left to right; and you also start at the
back of the book and read forward.

How to read back and forth dialogue?

 You always start with left to right, top to bottom. Let’s look at a few for
practice…