In this commentary on the second edition of Old Lady Harley, I will be discussing the use of
multimodality and intertextuality in the comic. Intertextuality is the author’s references to other media
(books, flms,etc.) while multimodality is the use of visual, verbal, and other modes in a text.
To begin, one page 2,there is synaesthesia used in which certain words in the comic are depicted
to have a certain color,smell, and appearance. The reader is associating the word “BURRRP!”
coming from the monster with an odour because it is green [rotten smelling], textually, it tells the
reader what sound the monster is creating, and the melting visual element of the word dripping
down the panel makes the word just as much a visual part of the comic as well as textual.
Secondly, On page 1, the author’s inserts a Walking Dead zombie as a character in the comic
that does not originally belong to the world of DC comic superheroes, but rather, it was originally
a comic character of another world created by Robert Kirkman and later turned into a very popular
television series. In this sense, the use of the Walking Dead character is effective because the
reader’s are going to understand the reference, whether from the film or the comics, and thus
understand the connection and influence the Walking Dead has on Old Lady Harley, which is a
threat to human civilization and life. Without prior knowledge to this intertextual reference, the
meaning may be lost or hindered because the author’s intent is not being received by the
reader. Lastly, the use of multimodality is depicted through pictorial metaphors.The Walking
Dead zombie is really symbolic of the racial “Other”, who poses a threat on North American
civilization through the influence they may have on the culture, governing system, and overall
life. Thus, it functions as a literary device because the text does not outright refer to the
zombies attacking the U.S./Canadian border as immigrants, but the visual elements of them
climbing up the wall may be interpreted by readers, especially given our current political climate,
as a metaphor for a racial other.
multimodality and intertextuality in the comic. Intertextuality is the author’s references to other media
(books, flms,etc.) while multimodality is the use of visual, verbal, and other modes in a text.
To begin, one page 2,there is synaesthesia used in which certain words in the comic are depicted
to have a certain color,smell, and appearance. The reader is associating the word “BURRRP!”
coming from the monster with an odour because it is green [rotten smelling], textually, it tells the
reader what sound the monster is creating, and the melting visual element of the word dripping
down the panel makes the word just as much a visual part of the comic as well as textual.
Secondly, On page 1, the author’s inserts a Walking Dead zombie as a character in the comic
that does not originally belong to the world of DC comic superheroes, but rather, it was originally
a comic character of another world created by Robert Kirkman and later turned into a very popular
television series. In this sense, the use of the Walking Dead character is effective because the
reader’s are going to understand the reference, whether from the film or the comics, and thus
understand the connection and influence the Walking Dead has on Old Lady Harley, which is a
threat to human civilization and life. Without prior knowledge to this intertextual reference, the
meaning may be lost or hindered because the author’s intent is not being received by the
reader. Lastly, the use of multimodality is depicted through pictorial metaphors.The Walking
Dead zombie is really symbolic of the racial “Other”, who poses a threat on North American
civilization through the influence they may have on the culture, governing system, and overall
life. Thus, it functions as a literary device because the text does not outright refer to the
zombies attacking the U.S./Canadian border as immigrants, but the visual elements of them
climbing up the wall may be interpreted by readers, especially given our current political climate,
as a metaphor for a racial other.
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