Paratextuality in Captain Marvel #1

That saying of “never judge a book by a cover” is totally true for people, but I think with actual books and other forms of literature that can get a little tricky. With comics there is this thing called transtextuality which refers to the ways texts must be interpreted within a larger system in terms of 5 different elements. One of those elements is paratextuality. Paratextuality is when all other messages and commentaries which surround the text can affect the interpretation of a text. For example, in the first issue of Captain Marvel, the cover is of Captain Marvel herself, who is in a heroic stance and behind her are her different traits as a regular civilian and superhero. This kind of cover is not like the typical cover from the 1940s where the cover is a panel from the comic. Instead this covers acts like representation of what will happen in this issue. This issue’s cover gives an overview on Captain Marvel herself and it follows the typical superhero comic cover. This allows you to see and create expectations that you will be reading a superhero cover at first glance.

 

Before you get to the actual story of the comic, there is a page where it gives another little introduction/ overview of Captain Marvel. They way this is done is by a nine panel page layout and in the middle is a Sailor Moon-esque transformation of Carol Danvers’ silhouette. In these pictures there are snapshots of Carol’s life with one word answering a non-stated question of who is Carol Danvers/ Captain Marvel. Most of the panels are all the same size and shape, indicating that all those traits equally make up Carol. This shapes the reader’s view before reading the comic because it gives a little preview on who Carol Danvers is and it entices the reader to want to keep reading to see if those actual panels are in any other issue. As well, it already sets up an expectation of how great and power this superhero is. All these elements in Captain Marvel #1 shape how the reader will interpret the story before they get to read the whole comic, so that saying “never judge a book by a cover” can’t really be used for comics.