understanding comics (3 points)

 In understanding comics, there are several points which i think are very important, but one of the most important is understanding transitions from one panel to another. Understanding the 6 different types of panel to panel transitions is important to not confuse the reader of a comic. Much like in story boarding or creating a movie, you must not let the view get confused as to where everything is in relation to other things. Once the viewer loses their spatial awareness, they will become confused and their immersion has been broken and their enjoyment might have been tampered with. I also found his analysis of Japanese versus European and American comics to be very interesting. Different cultures will create different standards for entertainment no matter where they are. It’s an observation that is obvious when pointed out but unnoticed when it is not. Americans want simple uncomplicated stories but because they are easier to understand and because of the limited space our comics constantly have to work with. Because of this, they generally stick to transitions like action to action, subject to subject and scene to scene. They are the easiest transitions to follow for the average comic reader.

The section on time was also very important. He does a great job of explaining how time and space work in a comic, like the idea that if there are no onomatopoeias or text in an image, it can appear to simply be still, but the addition of words creates the illusion of time. Or how the length of a panel can increase the amount of time it appears to be. This is also nice because I feel too many comics do not do enough with panels. Comics like scott pilgrim are just the same, square panel, over and over again throughout almost the entire comic. This approach is disappointing because it does not embarrass that it is a comic, and in some ways almost fights against the idea.

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