Topic 5: Comics and Graphic Novels - 29th April Week 9

I found this topic the most interesting out of all the topics this session as it's one I didn't look at last year (having chose children's books in 2012 as it was what drew me to the subject in the first place.

Without doing any research, my definition of a comic book is: a picture orientated story with captions that's purpose is to entertain, mostly through the use of humor. They are often short strips that try to entertain in a few frames but also can be book length novels.
I'm yet to decide whether there is a difference between comics and cartoons. When I think of cartoons I generally think of the animated version on TV. But for the purposes of this topic that's not the type of cartoon we're after. Perhaps cartoons refer to single image political cartoons you find in the paper opposed to comic strips? Most likely there will be a difference between cartoons on paper and comics but I get the feeling, based on the past topics, that there the two will have overlapping characteristics.

The most common features of a comic include:

• the 'comic strip - a narrative in the form of sequential pictures, sometimes with text
•  they are usually published regularly eg. weekly or monthly
• they're normally very cheap in order to reach a wide audience
• bordered panels to breakdown the action into sections
• speed lines, speech and think bubbles, symbolism and strong character expressions
• text including; narrative, dialogue and sound effects (onomatopoeic)
• everything is done in shorthand that allows readers to fill the gaps using their imagination
• they are able to compress or extend time
• they are highly effective  in conveying lots of information in limited space.
• they can be compared to movie story boards with their use of camera angles

True to a lot of the definitions in this subject, these points apply to MOST comics and of course there are some exceptions..

Comics which can also be referred to as comic strips and comic books, originate back to the late 1800's, however some Japanese comics have a history that dates back to the 13th C. Comics are able to be mass produced quickly and inexpensively. The idea is to communicate a point quickly and directly. In order to do this they tend to incorporate the use of stereotypes and cliches.