In the second issue of The Damnation of Charlie Wormwood, Charlie finds out he cannot afford insurance and answers Barnum’s requests for a criminal partner. Tensions increase between Charlie and his wife, as he becomes suspicious of Dr. Miller. In this text, I will focus on intertextuality and white space to determine how these elements help the reader make meaning regarding Charlie’s story.
The second issue reminds readers about the central text in the first, The Count of Monte Cristo. Charlie’s students finish up presentations and readers are reminded of the unhappy ending for Dantes. As Charlie says in the first issue about Monte Cristo, “Dantes wants to get revenge on those who wronged him. However, the fortune doesn’t help” and “Dantes gets his revenge but loses what he values most.” The insinuation is that Charlie is Dantes, a man who feels wronged by the world because of his sick son and loss of insurance policy. He may lose what he values most, his family. This claim is further supported by Barnum’s reference to himself as Faria, the man who gives Dantes access to his fortune.
The next intertextual reference is Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Charlie’s summation of this text is that the “character sees the life he always wanted slipping away and decides to make some drastic changes.” It is a “sad story of a desperate man trying to be something he is not.” Although Charlie is teaching this to prisoners, readers understand that Charlie’s life can be linked to this story as well. He is increasingly desperate and wants to make changes to support his family. In the previous issue, he picks up extra computer classes to make more. In this issue, he agrees to help Barnum because of his desperate situation. This story uses intertextual references to suggest Charlie’s life reflects elements that the main characters in each text go through.
The creators use white space to separate scenes in the story and add to the illusion of time passing.
In this two page spread, the gutters are very thin between the first two panels and the second tier of panels. This use of thin gutters emphasizes the moment-to-moment transition taking place from the light flicking on to Charlie waking up and sitting up. The white space between the two tiers is thicker, which shows that an expansive amount of time has passed, probably a few minutes at the least. His wife is seen throwing the bag on the bed next to Charlie to help wake him up. The white space between pages helps expand the moments between actions and allows the reader to breathe a bit. The space around the third panel in the second tier shows how exhausted Charlie really is. It creates space in the narrative, both physically and temporally. Readers know he has moved towards the bathroom from his previous upright position. The space helps make that transition.
White space and gutters are used to show a much longer time lapse on the next two page spread. This next page shows a relatively quick conversation between Charlie and his wife that her mother interrupts. Readers know that the last panel is Charlie saying he will take a shower and see his son before he has to go to work. The next page is Charlie at work. Presumably, he has showered and visited his son. There is no clear way of knowing how much time has passed or whether he truly did complete those actions. However, like McCloud argues, readers must make the leap between gutters to understand connect the fragments.
The use of white space to inform the gutters in this spread helps readers construct a narrative even without a text box saying Charlie is at work. By looking at white space and the chosen texts, readers can construct Charlie's emotional state and the story's time lapse. This particular issue I enjoyed. I began to notice a pattern in Charlie's speech and presentation that helps me get to know him as a character. I eagerly look forward to the third issue of this comic.
White space and gutters are used to show a much longer time lapse on the next two page spread. This next page shows a relatively quick conversation between Charlie and his wife that her mother interrupts. Readers know that the last panel is Charlie saying he will take a shower and see his son before he has to go to work. The next page is Charlie at work. Presumably, he has showered and visited his son. There is no clear way of knowing how much time has passed or whether he truly did complete those actions. However, like McCloud argues, readers must make the leap between gutters to understand connect the fragments.
The use of white space to inform the gutters in this spread helps readers construct a narrative even without a text box saying Charlie is at work. By looking at white space and the chosen texts, readers can construct Charlie's emotional state and the story's time lapse. This particular issue I enjoyed. I began to notice a pattern in Charlie's speech and presentation that helps me get to know him as a character. I eagerly look forward to the third issue of this comic.
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