Speech Bubble and Caption Boxes in The Mighty Thor #1

The Mighty Thor by Jason Aaron, Russel Dauterman, Matthew Wilson and Joe Sabino, was recently released with a new #1. Sabino, the letterer for Thor,  usese various techniques that aide the reader in making meaning. When you look at his caption boxes, they all have a particular shape and lettering. The boxes each have a curling tail, which combined with the stylized script, gives it the overall appearance of an old scroll. These elements are what Gene Krannenburg calls an meta-narrative qualities. Meta-narrative gives the reader information about the text, in this case it is a connection to the mythological aspects of the comic. There is also what Gerard Genette would call an intertextual aspect to these text boxes. Intertextuality is the connection a text makes to other texts. In this case, the lettering used in these text boxes it the same lettering that was used in the previous incarnation of Thor (Thor: God of Thunder). The lettering therefore contextualizes the comic, placing the now female version of the character in the same world as the previous male incarnation.

             

       Sabino used similar techniques in his speech bubbles. Most prominently, is when Jane Foster transforms into Thor. With this transformation, the lettering of Foster’s speech bubbles change from the generic comic lettering, to the more ornate lettering that is found in the caption boxes and the speech bubbles of Asgardian’s.  This change in lettering serves several functions. First, it contextualizes by allowing the reader to easily recognize her as fundamentally changed, she is now closer to an Asgardian than a mortal, with all the same powers. It also helps the reader understand that she sounds different, which, when coupled with the complete change in speech patterns, allows the reader to more easily suspend there disbelief and accept that no one recognizes her when she transforms. Finally, there is a thematic resonance in the change in lettering. In this first issue, Foster is shown to contemplate why she decides to change back. She explains that her job as Jane Foster is just as important, despite the fact that the transformations are negating the cancer treatments. However, the fact that when she transforms, the lettering changes to match the lettering of the captions, which are narration told in 1^st person from Foster’s perspective, could suggest a continuing struggle between her dual-identities and the choices she will have to make in regards to it. These functions demonstrate how Sabino uses lettering to give information beyond simply what the characters are saying.

Nathanya Barnett 

Use of speech bubble in "Deadly Class"

So to be completely honest before this class I did not read comics, it wasn't a genre that I really didn't take seriously because I didn’t believe you could become attached to a narrative that didn't contain pages of words. However, after analyzing and reading so many comics in class, I certainly hold a very different outlook on comics now. Through multimodality you are able to gather so much information and detail about how a comic is made and why it is chosen to be made that way. Using theories that we have spoke about in class I was able to analyze a monthly magazine entitled “Deadly Class” made by Rick Remender, Wes Craig, Jordan Boyd. The owner of the comic store where I purchased it said “it was growing fast in popularity” so I decided to give it a try. Right away the book was not what I pictured it to be, even though I really had no preconceived notions as I mentioned before, I am not avid comics reader. The monthly spread was about a group of teenagers who are assassins and all live together at some sort housing unit. The comic was very fast pace and I really did have to go back and re-read sections of the magazine in order to understand the full story. What helped analyze and comprehend the narrative was my newfound information on comic theories. I noticed that when the main character is talking to himself the authors chose to use rectangle speech bubbles but when someone else is talking to him it a more rounded speech bubble. This leads into David Carrier’s notion on speech balloons in which he says “since comics are also a visual art, we are concerned as well with the strictly visual qualities of balloons. We contrast elegantly shaped balloons and are aware of the visual qualities of the chosen type, which we read in the ways we read handwriting for signs of someone’s character” (30). Not only are readers able to quickly follow what is going on in the characters mind but easily compare it to what is being said to the character. The different shaped balloons add another level of understanding what is happening in the narrative. Carrier also adds “the balloon thus is not just a neutral container but another element in the visual field. Indeed, even identifying balloons as containers already is to hint at some ways of identifying their expressive significance” (44). These containers that enclose written information about the character and make up a huge part of the narrative are extremely important. It is not just about the words that are part of a speech bubble but the location, size, and outline of the word balloon.