How Comics Are Read
STORYTELLING FOR THE ARTISTICALLY CHALLENGED
by Mat Nastos
INTRODUCTION: How Comics Books Are Read
There is an almost subliminal perception of the pictures while the eye is consciously reading the printed words. The eye registers the whole page (sometimes the two-page spread) at once, but the brain cannot process all of the information simultaneously. It must take it sequentially. The ability to decipher visual images while reading involves both halves of the brain. This comes easily to some people, not to others. If panel layouts and page design is not easy to follow, the brain gets bogged down in trying to decipher it. The reader has to leave the illusion of the page to figure out the mechanics of how to read it. Watch someone’s eyes when s/he is reading a comic to verify for yourself how the comic reading process works.
Comicbooks here in the West are read from left to right and top to bottom. A successful comic artist knows how to use not only panel and page layout, but also spot blacks, negative space, interior panel design and even lettering layout to lead a reader’s eye along the story path. A huge problem with post-Image comics is that the artists tend to forget that they are supposed to be working in service to the story, that their art needs to do more than have a lot of pretty detail.
As a fun experiment, give a modern comic to a non-comic reader and see if they can make sense of the work. Now try it with a silver age book and you’ll see a huge difference. Unfortunately, present day “hot” artists seem to think that solid storytelling and page layout is an out-dated dinosaur that they have no use for. But we know better, right? As a reader of this book make me a promise to always be aware that storytelling comes first and “cool” artwork comes second.
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The King Sez:
“Some artists that know how to tell a solid story and still be “hot” are George Perez, Darwyn Cooke, Art Adams, Mike Mignola and Alan Davis. Heck, try telling Frank Miller that the art is more important than the story and he’ll tear you a new one. Oh, and although I keep bringing up Image and “hot” artists, don’t take that to mean I (or you should) have a problem with them. There are a lot of fine artists that have come out of Image, but most comic historians will agree that the birth of Image led to a general turning away from story or writer as the driving force in the industry.”
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Now, on with the show!
Next: Part I: Terms of the Trade (coming soon)
Previously: Introduction: A Few Observations on Drawing
