developed specialized terminology. Some several attempts have been made to formalize and define the terminology of comics by authors such as
Will Eisner
William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series ''The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...
,
Scott McCloud
Scott McCloud (born Scott McLeod; June 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist and comics theorist. He is best known for his non-fiction books about comics: ''Understanding Comics'' (1993), '' Reinventing Comics'' (2000), and ''Making Comics'' (200 ...
,
R. C. Harvey
Robert C. Harvey (May 31, 1937 – July 7, 2022) was an American author, critic and cartoonist. He wrote a number of books on the history and theory of cartooning, with special focus on the comic strip. He also worked as a freelance cartoonist. ...
and
Dylan Horrocks
Dylan Horrocks (born 1966 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a cartoonist best known for his graphic novel '' Hicksville'' and his scripts for the ''Batgirl'' comic book series.
His works are published by the University of Auckland student magazine ''Cr ...
. Much of the terminology in English is under dispute, so this page will list and describe the most common terms used in comics.
Comics
"Comics" is used as a
non-count noun
In linguistics, a mass noun, uncountable noun, non-count noun, uncount noun, or just uncountable, is a noun with the syntactic property that any quantity of it is treated as an undifferentiated unit, rather than as something with discrete elemen ...
, and thus is used with the singular form of a verb, in the way the words "politics" or "economics" are, to refer to the medium, so that one refers to the "comics industry" rather than the "comic industry". "Comic" as an adjective also has the meaning of "funny", or as pertaining to comedians, which can cause confusion and is usually avoided in most cases ("comic strip" being a well-entrenched exception).
"Comic" as a singular noun is sometimes used to refer to individual comics periodicals, what are known in North America as "
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
s".
"
Underground comix
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...
" is a term first popularized by cartoonists in the
underground comix
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...
movement of the 1960s and 1970s in an attempt to move the word away from its etymological origins.
Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman (; born Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman on February 15, 1948) is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel ''Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazines ''Arcade (comics maga ...
in particular has been a proponent of its usage, hoping to highlight the fact that the medium is capable of mature, non-comedic content, as well as to emphasize the hybrid nature of the medium ("co-mix").
[
"]Alternative comics
Alternative comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which ...
" is a term covering a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the comix movement of the late 1960s/early 1970s.
Other terms used as synonyms for "comics" are "sequential art In comics studies, sequential art is a term proposed by comics artist Will EisnerWill Eisner, '' Comics and Sequential Art'', Poorhouse Press, 1990 (1st ed.: 1985), p. 5. to describe art forms that use images deployed in a specific order for the pur ...
", a term coined and popularized by Will Eisner
William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series ''The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...
,[ and ]graphic novel
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
, which is normally used to denote book-form comics, although this usage is not consistent.
Layout
Panel
A panel (alternatively known as frame or box) is one drawing on a page, and contains a segment of action. A page may have one or many panels, and panels are frequently, but not always, surrounded by a border or outline, whose shape can be altered to indicate emotion, tension or flashback sequences. The size, shape and style of a panel, as well as the placement of figures and speech balloons inside it, affect the timing or pacing of a story. Panels are used to break up and encapsulate sequences of events in a narrative. What occurs in a panel may be ''asynchronous'', meaning that not everything that occurs in a single panel necessarily occurs at one time.
Gutter
The gutter is the space between panels. Vertical gutters can be made thinner than horizontal gutters in order to encourage the reader to group each row of panels for easier reading.
Tier
A tier is a singular row of panels.
Splash
A splash or splash page is a large, often full-page illustration which opens and introduces a story. Often designed as a decorative unit, its purpose is to capture the reader's attention, and can be used to establish time, place and mood.
Spread
A spread
Spread may refer to:
Places
* Spread, West Virginia
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Spread'' (film), a 2009 film.
* ''$pread'', a quarterly magazine by and for sex workers
* "Spread", a song by OutKast from their 2003 album ''Speakerboxxx/T ...
is an image that spans more than one page. The two-page spread or double-page spread is the most common, but there are spreads that span more pages, often by making use of a foldout (or gatefold
A gatefold cover or gatefold LP is a form of packaging for LP records that became popular in the mid-1960s. A gatefold cover, when folded, is the same size as a standard LP cover (i.e., a 12½ inch, or 32.7 centimetre square). The larger gatefo ...
).
Elements
Word balloon
A speech/word/dialogue balloon or speech/word/dialogue bubble is a speech indicator, containing the characters' dialogue. The indicator from the balloon that points at the speaker is called a pointer or tail.[
The word balloon bridges the gap between word and image—"the word made image", as expressed by Pierre Fresnault-Druelle. In early renderings, word balloons were no more than ribbons emanating from their speakers' mouths, but as it evolved and became more sophisticated, it became a more expressive device. Its shape came to convey meaning as well. A thought balloon contains copy expressing a character's unvoiced thoughts, usually shaped like a cloud, with bubbles as a pointer. Emotions can be expressed by the shape of the balloon—spiked balloons can indicate shouting, and "dripping" balloons can indicate sarcasm.
]
Caption
In a caption, words appear in a box separated from the rest of the panel or page, usually to give voice to a narrator, but sometimes used for the characters' thoughts or dialogue. In some comics, where speech balloons are not used, the captions provide the reader with text about what is happening in the images. This genre is called ''text comics
Text comics or a text comic is a form of comics where the stories are told in Cartoon caption, captions below the images and without the use of speech balloons. It is the oldest form of comics and was especially dominant in European comics from t ...
''.
Sound effects
Sound effects or onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...
are words without bubbles that mimic sounds. They are non-vocal sound images, from the subtle to the forceful, such as 'ding-ding' for a bell, to "WHAM" for an impact.
Concepts
Closure
The reader performs closure by using background knowledge and an understanding of panel relations to combine panels mentally into events.
Encapsulation
Encapsulation is the capturing of prime moments in a story. Not every moment of a story is presented in comics. For the artist, encapsulation involves choosing what will be presented in which panels, how many panels will be used to present the action, and the size and layout of the panels. The layouts of the panels can influence the way the panels interact with each other to the reader. This interaction can lend more meaning to the panels than what they have individually. Encapsulation is distinctive to comics, and an essential consideration in the creation of a work of comics.
Division of labour
Sometimes all aspects of a comics production down to the editing, publishing and distribution are done by a single person; in such cases the term comic book creator (also comics creator or comics maker) is employed (occasionally the term "graphic novelist
A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...
" is also employed, but ambiguity may arise because the same term is also used to refer to the person who only writes the script). The sophisticated term graphic narrator (also graphic storyteller) is also found in the academic literature on art education
Visual arts education is the area of learning that is based upon the kind of art that one can see, visual arts—drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, and design in jewelry, pottery, weaving, fabrics, etc. and design applied to more practic ...
.
At the other extreme, the labour behind the comics creation is sometimes divided up into different specialties.
Cartoonist
A cartoonist (also comic strip creator) may refer to a person who does most or all of the art duties, and frequently, but not always, implies that the artist is also the writer.
Writer
Also sometimes called scripter, plotter or author, the writer scripts the work—scripting may include plot, dialogue and action—in a way that the artist (or artists) can interpret the story into visuals for the reader. Writers can communicate their stories in varying amounts of detail to the artist(s) and in a number of ways, including verbally, by script or by thumbnail layout.
Artist
The artist is the person who handles the visuals. This job may be broken down further into:
Penciller
The penciller or penciler lays down the basic artwork for a page, deciding on panel placement and the placement of figures and settings in the panels, the backgrounds and the characters' facial expressions and poses.[
]
Inker
An inker
The inker (sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher) is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production.
The penciller creates a drawing, the inker outlines, interprets, finalizes, retraces this drawing by using a pencil ...
or finisher "finishes" and sometimes enhances, the pencilled artwork using ink (traditionally India ink) and a pen or brush to create a high-contrast image for photographing and printing.[ The extent of the inker's job varies depending on how tight the ]penciller
A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors ...
's work is, but nonetheless requires the skill of an artist,[ and is more or less active depending on the completeness of the pencils provided.
]
Colourist
The colourist
In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates. Since the late 20th century it is ...
or colorist adds colours to the finished artwork, which can have an effect on mood and meaning. Colourists can work with a variety of media, such as rubylith image:Rubylith two rolls 2012.jpg, 200px, Rolls of lithographer's tape (these rolls are made by 3M). The roll in the back is 1/4 inch, the one in the front, 1/2 inch width. These products are often called "Rubylith" tape because Rubylith has become ...
, paints, and computers. Digital colorists may employ a Flatter
A flatter is a coloring specialist within the comic book industry that prepares the inked or sketched comic book page for the colorist with digital art software such as Adobe Photoshop. The specialist does so by selecting the objects on the pag ...
to assist them.
Letterer
Normally separate from the writer, the letterer
A letterer is a member of a team of comic book creators responsible for drawing the comic book's text. The letterer's use of typefaces, calligraphy, letter size, and layout all contribute to the impact of the comic. The letterer crafts the comi ...
is the person who fills (and possibly places) speech balloon
Speech balloons (also speech bubbles, dialogue balloons, or word balloons) are a graphic convention used most commonly in comic books, comics, and cartoons to allow words (and much less often, pictures) to be understood as representing a char ...
s and captions with the dialogue and other words meant to be read. Letterers may also provide the lettering for sound, although this is often done by the artist even when a letterer is present. In the West, comics have traditionally been hand-lettered, although computer typesetting has become increasingly common.[ The manner in which the letterer letters the text influences how the message is interpreted by the reader, and the letterer can suggest the ]paralanguage
Paralanguage, also known as vocalics, is a component of meta-communication that may modify meaning, give nuanced meaning, or convey emotion, by using techniques such as prosody, pitch, volume, intonation, etc. It is sometimes defined as relatin ...
of dialogue by varying the weight, size and shape of the lettering.
Formats
Comic strip
A comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...
is a short work of comics which has its origins in the world of newspapers, but may also appear in magazines or other periodicals, as well as in books and elsewhere. In comic strips, generally the only unit of encapsulation is the panel
Panel may refer to:
Arts and media Visual arts
* Panel (comics), a single image in a comic book, comic strip or cartoon; also, a comic strip containing one such image
*Panel painting, in art, either one element of a multi-element piece of art ...
.
Dailies
As the name implies, a daily comic strip
A daily strip is a newspaper comic strip format, appearing on weekdays, Monday through Saturday, as contrasted with a Sunday strip, which typically only appears on Sundays.
Bud Fisher's ''Mutt and Jeff'' is commonly regarded as the first daily c ...
is a comic strip that is normally run six days a week in a newspaper, historically in black and white, although colour examples have become common. They normally run every day in a week but one (usually Sunday), in which the strip appears larger and usually in colour. The Sunday strips
The Sunday comics or Sunday strip is the comic strip section carried in most western newspapers, almost always in color. Many newspaper readers called this section the Sunday funnies, the funny papers or simply the funnies.
The first US newspap ...
are often outside the ongoing story in the case of strips that have continuity.
Usually, daily strips are short and limited to one tier.
Sundays
Sunday comics
The Sunday comics or Sunday strip is the comic strip section carried in most western newspapers, almost always in color. Many newspaper readers called this section the Sunday funnies, the funny papers or simply the funnies.
The first US newspap ...
are comic strips that traditionally run in newspapers on Sundays (Saturdays in some papers), frequently in full colour. Before World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, cartoonists normally were given an entire page to themselves, and often would devote the page to a single comic strip, although many would divide the page between a main strip and a " topper" (which would sometimes run on the bottom). Wartime paper shortages brought down the size of strips, and to this day Sunday pages normally are made up of a multitude of strips.[
]
Gag and editorial cartoons
Gag cartoon
A gag cartoon (also panel cartoon, single-panel cartoon, or gag panel) is most often a single-panel cartoon, usually including a caption beneath the drawing. A pantomime cartoon carries no caption. In some cases, dialogue may appear in speech b ...
s and editorial
An editorial, or leading article (UK) or leader (UK) is an article written by the senior editorial people or publisher of a newspaper, magazine, or any other written document, often unsigned. Australian and major United States newspapers, suc ...
cartoons are usually single-panel comics, although sequential examples are not rare.
A gag cartoon (a.k.a. panel cartoon or gag panel) is most often a single-panel cartoon, usually including a hand-lettered or typeset caption beneath the drawing. A pantomime cartoon carries no caption. In some cases, dialogue may appear in speech balloons, following the common convention of comic strips. As the name implies—"gag" being a show business term for a comedic idea—these cartoons are most often intended to provoke laughter.
An editorial cartoon or political cartoon is most often a single-panel comic that contain some level of political or social commentary. Such cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or current affairs in a national or international context. Political cartoons generally feature a caricaturist
A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures.
List of caricaturists
* Abed Abdi (born 1942)
* Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003)
* Alex Gard (1900–1948)
* Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977)
* Alfred Grévin (1827–1892)
* Alf ...
style of drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...
, to capture the likeness of a politician or subject. Political cartoonists may also employ humor or satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...
to ridicule an individual or group, emphasize their point of view, or comment on a particular event. The traditional and most common outlet for political cartoons is the editorial page
An editorial, or leading article (UK) or leader (UK) is an article written by the senior editorial people or publisher of a newspaper, magazine, or any other written document, often unsigned. Australian and major United States newspapers, such ...
of a newspaper, or in a pocket cartoon
A political cartoon, a form of editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically combine ...
, in the front news section of a newspaper. Editorial cartoons are not usually found in the dedicated comic section, although certain cartoons or comic strips
A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...
have achieved crossover status.
Comic book
A comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
, also known as a comic or floppy, is a periodical, normally thin in size and stapled together. Comic books have a greater variety of units of encapsulation than comic strips, including the panel
Panel may refer to:
Arts and media Visual arts
* Panel (comics), a single image in a comic book, comic strip or cartoon; also, a comic strip containing one such image
*Panel painting, in art, either one element of a multi-element piece of art ...
, the page, the spread
Spread may refer to:
Places
* Spread, West Virginia
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Spread'' (film), a 2009 film.
* ''$pread'', a quarterly magazine by and for sex workers
* "Spread", a song by OutKast from their 2003 album ''Speakerboxxx/T ...
, and inset panels. They are also capable of more sophisticated layouts and compositions. A floppy comic is also known as an American comic book
An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...
.
Comic books are typically published as either an ongoing series
In comics, an ongoing series is a series that runs indefinitely. This is in contrast to limited series (a series intended to end after a certain number of issues thus limited), a one shot (a comic book which is not a part of an ongoing series), ...
(a series that runs indefinitely), as a limited series (a series intended to end after a certain number of issues), or as a one shot (a comic book which is intended as a one-off publication). Some series will publish an annual issue once a year which is two to three times as large as a regular issue; "while they don’t have to be one-shot stories, generally annuals are used as ways to tell stories that don’t fit within a single issue or can’t be included in a full arc".
Trade paperback
A trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually presenting either a complete miniseries, a story arc
A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, board games, vide ...
from a single title, or a series of stories with an arc or common theme. The term may refer to either a paperback
A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...
or a hardcover collection of comics. A trade paperback typically differs from a graphic novel in that a graphic novel is usually original material.
Graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
is a term whose definition is hard to pin down, but usually refers to a self-contained, book-length form. Some would have its use restricted only to long-form narratives, while at the other extreme are people who use it as a synonym for "comics" or "comic book".[ Others again define it as a book with a square-bound spine, even if it is a collection of short strips.] Still others have used the term to distance their work from the negative connotations the terms "comic" or "comic book" have for the public, or to give their work an elevated air. Other than in presentation and intent, they hardly differ from comic books.
Some prefer not use the term "graphic novel" at all. Amongst the criticisms are that the use of the word "novel" excludes non-novelistic genres, such as journalism, biography or history. Others believe the term has become too general, a catch-all for all kinds of content, and thus meaningless.
Towards the close of the 20th century, the three major comics-producing traditions—American, western European (especially the Franco-Belgian), and Japanese—converged in a trend towards book-length comics: the comic album
a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...
in Europe, the in Japan, and the graphic novel in the English-speaking countries.
Webcomics
Webcomic
Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books.
Webcomics can be co ...
s, comics published via the Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
on the World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...
, have emerged since the beginning of the 21st century. As they are not limited by the size and shape of a physical page, they can make use of what Scott McCloud
Scott McCloud (born Scott McLeod; June 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist and comics theorist. He is best known for his non-fiction books about comics: ''Understanding Comics'' (1993), '' Reinventing Comics'' (2000), and ''Making Comics'' (200 ...
calls the infinite canvas
The infinite canvas refers to the potentially limitless space that is available to webcomics presented on the World Wide Web. The term was introduced by Scott McCloud in his 2000 book '' Reinventing Comics'', in which he suggested that webcomic cre ...
, where the individual comics can make use of different sizes and dimensions. Webcomics are also capable of incorporated multimedia elements, such as sound, animation and bigger panels (scrolling panels). In South Korea, an infinite canvas format caught on called the webtoon
Webtoons (), are a type of digital comic that originated in South Korea usually meant to be read on smartphones.
While webtoons were mostly unknown outside of Korea during their inception, there has been a surge in popularity internationally ...
. A slide show
A slide show (slideshow) is a presentation of a series of still images (Presentation slide, slides) on a projection screen or electronic display device, typically in a prearranged sequence. The changes may be automatic and at regular intervals o ...
-like format for webcomics was described by French cartoonists Balak in 2010, which he dubbed Turbomedia
Webcomics in France are usually referred to as either blog BD (comic strip blogs) or BD numérique (digital comic strips). Early webcomics in the late 1990s and early 2000s primarily took on the form of personal blogs, where amateur artists told st ...
.
International comics
Comics of non-English origin are often referred to by the terms used in those comics' language of origin. The most widespread example is when fans of Japanese comics use the term manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
, which is also applied to non-Japanese comics done in a Japanese style.[ One also sees BD or bandes dessinées used to refer to Franco-Belgian comics, ]tebeos
Spanish comics are the comics of Spain. Comics in Spain are usually called ''historietas'' or ''cómics'', with ''tebeos'' primarily denoting the magazines containing the medium. ''Tebeo'' is a phonetic adaptation of ''TBO'', a long-running (1917 ...
in Spain, manhwa
(; ) is the general Korean language, Korean term for comics and print cartoons. Outside Korea, the term usually refers to South Korea, South Korean comics. is greatly influenced by Japanese Manga comics. Modern Manhwa has extended its rea ...
and manhua
() are Chinese-language comics produced in China and Taiwan. Whilst Chinese comics and narrated illustrations have existed in China in some shape or form throughout its imperial history, the term first appeared in 1904 in a comic titled ''Cu ...
to refer to Korean and Chinese comics respectively, and fumetti to refer to Italian comics
Italian comics, also known as ''fumetto'' , plural form ''fumetti'' , are comics that originate in Italy. The most popular Italian comics have been translated into many languages. The term ''fumetto'' (literally ''little puff of smoke'') refers ...
, although this term is also used in English to refer to comics whose graphics are made using photographs rather than illustrations.
See also
* ''Comics and Sequential Art
''Comics and Sequential Art'' is a book by American cartoonist Will Eisner that analyzes the comics medium, published in 1985 and revised in 1990. It is based on a series of essays that appeared in ''The Spirit'' magazine, themselves based on Eis ...
''
* ''Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative
''Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative'' is a 1996 book by American cartoonist Will Eisner that provides a formal overview of comics. It is a companion to his earlier book '' Comics and Sequential Art'' (1985).
Sources
See also
* Comics s ...
''
* Comics studies
Comics studies (also comic art studies, sequential art studies or graphic narrative studies) is an academic field that focuses on comics and sequential art. Although comics and graphic novels have been generally dismissed as less relevant pop c ...
* Manga iconography
Japanese manga has developed its own visual language or iconography for expressing emotion and other internal character states. This drawing style has also migrated into anime, as many manga stories are adapted into television shows and films. ...
* ''Reinventing Comics
''Reinventing Comics: How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form'' (2000) is a book written by comic book writer and artist Scott McCloud. It was a thematic sequel to his critically acclaimed ''Understanding Comics'', and was f ...
''
* ''The Lexicon of Comicana
''The Lexicon of Comicana'' is a 1980 book by the American cartoonist Mort Walker. It was intended as a tongue-in-cheek look at the devices used by comics cartoonists. In it, Walker invented an international set of symbols called ''symbolia'' a ...
''
* ''Understanding Comics
''Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art'' is a 1993 non-fiction work of comics by American cartoonist Scott McCloud. It explores formal aspects of comics, the historical development of the medium, its fundamental vocabulary, and various ways in ...
''
Notes
References
Works cited
*
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*
*
*
*
*
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*
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*
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*
External links
Drawing Words & Writing Pictures
Jessica Abel
Jessica Abel (born 1969) is an American comic book writer and artist, known as the creator of such works as ''Life Sucks'', ''Drawing Words & Writing Pictures'', ''Soundtrack'', ''La Perdida'', ''Mirror, Window'', ''Radio: An Illustrated Guide' ...
and Matt Madden
Matt Madden (born 1968 in New York City) is a U.S. comic book writer and artist. He is best known for original alternative comics, for his coloring work in traditional comics, and for the experimental work '' 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in ...
on reading, teaching, and making comics
Glossary
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...
Comic Book Glossary
at About.com
Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, l ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glossary of comics terminology
Lexis (linguistics)