Understanding Comics

Last week we read Scott McCloud's 'Understanding Comics'. Though a bit confusing at times, I found this introduction to the art of the comic book largely helpful. The fact that the book itself is a comic helps to visually strengthen the topic McCloud presents.

There is a lot of subjects in this book that intrigued me and some that where completely new to how I view comics. One thing that especially caught my interest and that I have witnessed in other media as well, is the way western vs. eastern artists choose to move the story forward, mainly by way of pacing and focus.

A lot of eastern visual storytelling evolves around or is aided by establishing a "mood or a sense of place" to use McClouds own words. In comics (or rather manga) this is largely created by a heavy use of moment to moment panels as well as panels showing nothing but environmental scenes. In movies and series it's the same principal, where great time is spent showing the journey of the characters and the landscape they're traveling through, or going about chores such as cooking or cleaning.

From up on poppy hill, Studio Ghibli.

In western culture however the focus tends to lie in action based storytelling, where a lot of things happen very quickly and where the plot is driven by the characters. If scenes occur where the characters do travel, attend to chores or is having a meal the focus is still centered round the character by way of action or dialogue and is usually just a means of showing that character in a certain light.

Cartoon Network's The amazing world of Gumball.

Though I find certain enjoyment in both of these approaches, the eastern way gives me a particular sense of satisfaction. I often find my self tired after watching for example an American TV show and though momentarily amused, it often tends to leave something unfulfilled when ended. Movies like those from Studio Ghibli allows me to live within that world rather than simply being a bystander. When ended and even during parts of the movie I often find myself contemplating and just feeling what is happening within the story.

I'll admit that I have yet to read more comic books and manga to make the same comparison within those genres, so I am looking forward to see what I will learn in this class as the semester progresses.

Lit. of Comics and the Graphic Narrative

Being in a school that doesn't allow for much time spent on anything but studies, I once again decided to take a literature class to quench the thirst for reading, and to get the opportunity to think about and discuss what we have read. This time I'm learning about comics and the graphic narrative, and even this far into the semester I can safely say there's a lot more to this subject than I imagined.

Harbour. By; Shaun Tan

Our first assignment was to read The Arrival; a graphic novel by Australian artist and author Shaun Tan. Tan mainly deals with social, political and historical issues. The Arrival focuses on immigration, and with the use of nothing but pencil drawings Tan tells the story of a man who travels to a new country to find a better life for himself and his family. In this strange land such mundane things as communicating, understanding the functions of every day items, buying tickets, going to the market and knowing what to eat and what not to eat becomes an immense struggle. Luckily the protagonist meats kind people who are willing to aid him in understanding the new culture; often times people who have suffered similar fates to his own.

The structure of this book is very interesting. Tan works in graphite, but he has used digital media in order to add warm or cool tones to the panels, and subtle textures to give the feeling of old photographs. The art in this book has a very realistic approach yet a lot of the subject matter is both whimsical and otherworldly; an aspect that works as a great tool for this kind of storytelling.

Even though the arrival is mainly rooted in the immigration into Australia, the world Shaun Tan builds is one that doesn't exist other than in his storytelling universe, yet all the trials the people in this story faces are very much real. The effect is that Tan has created a hugely universal story; one that, no matter where we come from, we can find something to relate to. Weather it's the alienation, the fear or the welcome support of a kind fellow being, the feeling is well communicated.

Personally I find this graphic novel more moving than many comic books that uses words as a storytelling aid. A big reason behind this lies of course not only in the beauty of the images, but how those images communicate the story; the subject matter, the pacing and the progression of the content. Shaun Tan uses a variety pacing for the panels. Some where he zooms out to show the entire setting of a scene, letting it take up the entire page, and some smaller panels that focuses on an action, shown in longer sequences of moment to moment. In moments of distress, the story moves faster: from action to action or even scene to scene. The lack of words makes for a story that feels more intimate by focusing more on the emotional rather than intellectual experience of the situation.

Shaun Tan has been one of my favorit storytellers for a long time now, and is probably the one that has influenced my love of art the most. If you have yet to discover his wondrous world, I warmly recommend reading any of his works.

The market. By; Shaun Tan

http://www.shauntan.net