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| Cover Page for the Second Issue |
DC COMICS Presents - Sensation Comics Featuring: Wonder Woman, Issue #2
In this second issue of Wonder
Woman, she experiences almost losing her powers, as well as her faith in the
Gods that gave her those powers. Through this difficult adventure, she learns
to overcome the evil that is played on her, which has an effect on her inner
thoughts, causing her to lose her confidence and self-esteem.
This issue is a
bit different from the first, which is why I will be focusing on different
aspects to talk about. Branching off of our Annotated Comics Assignment, I have
learned how to apply different methods of ‘taking apart’ or understanding a
comic. With that said, I will be talking about the effects of word balloons,
panel layout and colour scheme.
Word balloons have as great an effect as the images do in understanding the narrative. In this case, the comic has different types of word balloons that indicate different functions. On page 16, we find the three different types all on a one page spread. There is the usual indexical word balloon: white background, black text and tail to indicate who is speaking. Since this comic deals with the inner turmoil that Wonder Woman is experiencing, we see that her inner thoughts are perceived in the yellow caption boxes with black lettering. Lastly, the word balloons that are outlined in red, with a white background and red text confirm that it is the Gods, or what she seems to think is the Gods that are speaking to her in her mind. This has a tremendous effect on her as she continues to lose confidence in herself and in her faith of the Gods, which we find out is the evil “Doctor Psycho” playing tricks on her mind.
Panel Layout and Its Effects...
This
comic has a lot of interesting panel structures and layouts to achieve
different effects. On page 4, the background is of Wonder Woman arriving to the
scene of action. Overlapping that is a horizontal panel stretched out across
the bottom of a police officer closer to the location of action. Overlapping
both panels is a smaller panel, zoomed in to Wonder Woman’s face, establishing
the mood of frustration that she is in. We can see that the yellow caption box
above this one indicates that we are reading her inner thoughts. On page 5, we
see the inverted effect occurring. The smaller panel is shot from behind her
figure as we overlook the setting behind her. The majority of the panel, which
is behind this small panel is enlarged. We see the two police officers in the
background and Wonder Woman’s figure is up close in the foreground. We also see
that her figure is breaking into the smaller panel; the importance of this type
of layout is to show that she is on a mission, she is ready to take part in the
action (which can also be seen from her facial expression). The purpose of
these overlapping panels is to show the different moods, different settings of
location and events that are happening simultaneously. 
Difference in Colour Scheming
Depending on the Narrative...
In “Brace Yourself” episode of Wonder Woman, we read
the story of how she came to be a warrior princess of the Amazons. This is understood
through the art style, particularly the colour scheme used throughout her
history. As we venture down the dungeon-like setting with Princess Diana and
her mother, the Queen, we learn through the hieroglyphics that the sisters have
been exiled by the dangers of men. The sisters have always been true to one
thing, justice – and their mission was peace. They are visiting the Goddesses,
from whom they embrace their powers from. On page 22, Princess Diana is
conversing with Athena (Goddess of Wisdom), as she is learning the histories,
completing rites and making pacts, this is just the beginning process of
becoming a warrior. The colours used are golden and yellow with high
saturation, (most likely to show that the setting is being lighted by fire
torches) but nonetheless throughout the entire history we see similar,
washed-out colours.
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