Panel Density and How the Reader Is Not Overwhelmed

    In Oliver Issue # 2, there is high panel density among the pages. How is it that we don't lose the reader's eye? How is it that a free form comic with a complex layout can manage to keep this much clarity. Some free form comics opt to use a layout that isn't terribly demanding, although that doesn't mean that it's lacking in complexity. Let's take a look at this page.

    The tiers are clearly defined and the panels within those tiers always run the length of those tiers. The panel width, however, is what varies. That is what makes the reading order so orderly and uncomplicated while allowing for variation.
    This type of free form page layout however carries the eye through a winding path that lends to greater risk of being read out of order or confusing the reader. I discussed earlier that the artist can find inventive ways in which to lead the reader's eye, such as breaking the panel, leading lines, placement of object (such as word balloons), and another way is to keep page density minimal. But here's an example of a page from this issue of Oliver. Every page is free form, and some of these pages have up to nine panels, such as page four.

In the grid format, this is nothing spectacular, but the average panel density per page in a free form comic where panels vary their lengths along the tier is usually six panels per page.
    Pages like Page six have up to nine panels as well, but sometimes clusters of panels can be abstracted as their own isolated landmarks that allow the reader to abstract the sections of the page. This sequence of nine becomes a sequence of three. But how is that so? The human mind is able to intuitively chunk these sequences based on the geographic unity within the landscape of the page.

     So for instance, on page 6 we can see the top 2/3rds of the page. On one half is one panel, on the other half is a sequence of four panels. The one panel has equal visual weight as the four panels. They are both competing images that lead the eye vertically downward. The bottom tier is visually separate from the rest because it leaves a horizontal trail and the second panel keeps this sequence from aligning with the top two tiers. If the bottom sequence was even, then the gutter would have split the page in such a way where the delineation between different areas would have become confused in terms of surface comprehension.

    One of the ways this chunking is maintained is that panels do not break the tier. The panels stack within the tier. Here's a visual example.

The offending panel is in red. This is a disruption of the free form reading order and it's because the tier border is violated. The eye is encouraged to go to three different panels as the next in the sequence. Of course, there are comics where the panel layout is so un-anchored to any principle integrity, such as some dream-sequences or panel-sequences meant to depict something other worldly or surreal.
    And so, what would have been a sequence of nine or more is now a sequence of three or less.

Leading the Eye: A Dilemma in Regards to Free Form Comics

                Comics artists working with free form panel layouts where there’s variance in vertical panel length have to be more inventive with the way they lead the eye. They don’t have the luxuries that comics artists working with grid layouts or comics artist working with free form layouts where the panels don’t vary in vertical length.

              Grid Layout                   | Free form w. Vertical Restriction      | Free form w/ Vertical Variance 

                The first two types of layouts can take advantage of the fact that their layouts conform to the habitual reading priority of the eye (left-to-right, top-down), but the free form comic to the right doesn’t conform to that habit so easily. One major roadblock is that the artist complicates the familiar reading priority, and so the act of finding the proper sequence can end up taking away from the reading experience. By using techniques to help lead the eye through the space of the page, the artist can make that journey seamless. Such techniques can be the use of leading lines, spotting blacks, having characters look in a particular direction, placement of word balloons, the composition within the panel, etc.

                One of the biggest challenges I’ve found is, once the eye hits the right of the page, does the artist suddenly break the trait for the eye to find its way back to the left of the page, or does it break the reading priority (as in, go right-to-left)? Sometimes the latter is the case. Let’s look at Oliver issue #1 and see how the artist, Darick Robertson.

How does Robertson lead the eye from one part of the page to another? Well, it’s a combination of leading lines, objects of interest, and breaking the panel border. As the reader is going through the first four panels, the creator uses the scenario of Oliver’s impromptu pole vault in order to invent a way to seamlessly leas the eye back to the left of the page. 

The broom handle acts as a leading line in order to lead the eye to the bird breaking the panel. This bird is important because without it the eye would be more likely to jump to the right of the page and go against the direction of the proceeding panel’s composition which urges the eye back to the right anyway. In fact, the panel featuring Oliver’s flying over the gap may inadvertently lead the eye to the end of the bottom tier sequence. It just muddies flow. This bird on the other hand snatches the eye out of its habit, acting as an exit point from the panel with Oliver about to vault and an entry point into the panel where Oliver is flying through the air.

               

Two pages later we see a similar method of getting the eyes to smoothly travel across the page back to the top-right corner of the tier below. The top left panel features Oliver and Prospero framed to the left, lines leading downward, their forms almost perfectly aligned with Oliver's arm in the panel below. The pivot of the arm allows the eye to follow to the central image, and the tail of the speech balloons leads to the balloons themselves. The speech balloons are composed in a top-down arrangement where the tail of the last balloon directs the eye further downward to the top of the bottom tier.

                The inventiveness required for the seamless direction of the eye in free form comics draws attention to a mundane yet frequent obstacle that the artist always encounters, and the decision of whether or not it's worth guiding the eye back across the page or letting the audience's reading habits take them back across the page is something that deserves deeper appreciation.

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.

Take Two on Middlewest

For the next issue of Middlewest #5 by Skottie Young, one of the features that I was especially drawn to was the use of colors, specifically, how this issue subverts the conventional symbolism that colors can represent. For example: the color red has traditionally use to convey a sense of danger or violence as opposed to the color blue, which represents calmness and tranquility. However, Middlewest #5 subverts this standard by equating shades of red worn by Abel with instances of safety and calm, while shades of blue tend to occur during scenes of violence, or negativity.

The main character, referred to as Abel, is always depicted as wearing red:

 which indicates that red is what Abel feels the most comfortable wearing. The above scene in which Abel is taken in by Maggie, is overshadowed by tones of red, demonstrating that he has found a place where he can be safe. Even the scenes in which Maggie agrees to hire Abel (essentially providing a home for him), this happy scene is overshadowed in tones of fiery red and dim lighting.

In contrast, when clear blue is used in this issue, there are usually scenes of violence, fear or disgust. Such as in this scene:

In a flashback that this issue opens with, Abel has just received a new bicycle from his estranged mother that his abusive father proceeds to destroy. The surrounding scenery depicts a lovely, almost pastoral scene, with emphasis on the blue sky. In a sense, this surrounding scene and the bright colors makes it all the more disturbing when the act of violence occurs; a father should enjoying this lovely day with his son, not destroying his possessions. When Abel's father Dale, destroys his son's blue bicycle, the next panel is a close up of the tears in Abel's eyes.

Young and Corona are subverting the conventional meanings of colors; red is typically associated with happiness for Abel because this what he wears throughout the majority of the comic. Blue, like Abel's tears, represents distress or disgust; be it either the vomit-stained amusement park ride that Abel must clean:

 the blue crystal ball which foreshadows Dale's meeting with Jebediah (and the possibility that Dale will find Abel)

 or the blue articles of clothing worn by Dale who is hunting for Abel.

The emotions of the characters (happy for Abel and threatening for his father) juxtaposed with and therefore enhanced due to the "conflicting" color schemes. In choosing to portray colors in this way, Young and Corona seem to be saying to the readers that Middlewest is a comic series that makes its own rules, rather than strictly abide by symbolic conventions. Young and Corona make the colors more personal (directly related to the experiences of the characters) and this personal use lends itself to the unpredictability of the comic. The reader cannot rely on conventions to determine what an instance means or what will happen next.