For this assignment, You will complete two things:
You will draw a comic strip of at least three panels (and probably no longer than ten — don’t go crazy!)
You will write a 3-page analysis of that comic strip!
Bear than boldface in mind — you’re not looking at the entirety of anything… Karasik and Newgarden wrote a book for you that looks over THE SAME THREE PANELS OF -ONE- COMIC STRIP. 😀 You don not need to go to those ends. In fact, I only want you to examine and argue about ONE type of thing, from a very limited set of comics panels or pictures. You can choose anything you want that makes sense from whatever you choose to look at (See next paragraph.), but keep it limited and focused.
This would be a great time to scroll through Marvel Unlimited, or ComicBookPlus, or GoComics, or DC Unlimited and have some fun. Heck, if you want — presuming you read this before Wednesday — go out and find your local comic book store, make friends, and find something you want to read from this week. In your analysis, you need to use terms and concepts we’ve learned in class, through Karasik and Newgarten, and in the reading (panels, gaps, icons etc.) to explain HOW the comic you chose combines visual, verbal and tactile elements to create a meaningful reading experience.
Helpful Hints
Like anything being analyzed in a literature class, a good reading of a comic is going to come from good rereading of the comic.
Read the comic straight through once, and jot down your first impressions: What’s it about? What makes it pleasurable to read? Was it pleasurable to read and why?
Read it again. This time, look only at the illustrations, design, and layout. What illustrative techniques do you notice? How does the physical form of each panel and each page enhance its meanings? Are there distinct ways in which the comics artist uses things like speech bubbles, lettering, shading or page layout? How does time move across the page (moment to moment, action to action, etc.)? Are drawings realistic, iconic, expressionistic? How does the artist make use of line, color, visual and textual allusions?
Read it one more time. This time, think about the thing as a physical object. How do page turns (if there are any) affect your reading experience? What about the cover and front and back matter? Is there anything about the size of the book or its shape that influences your reading experience? Think too about layout in relation to the book as object – how much white space is used, and to what effect? Where are illustrations located on the page (do they, as is the case in much of Chris Ware’s work, force you to engage with the book as object in challenging ways)?
After multiple readings and notes, think about what aspects of this book are most important to its meaning. And think about what you want to write about; in three pages, you can’t and don’t want to explain all the elements! Choose the element(s) you think are most significant to your particular argument here: What distinct combination of elements work together to make this specific comic or graphic novel work? Remember, the best papers argue one thing and one thing only. There are always contributing elements to the argument — but you are still only arguing one thing using a variety of skills and tools at your disposal!
And have fun!
If you need help, I’m here, but remember — you are literally taking a moment to do something creative here — and then you get to tell me how it works… or how one very specific thing works to make your message clear! This is your opportunity to really have fun with comics and then explain how the mechanisms of the thing work using the critical readings you have looked at in the. First three weeks!
