WOMEN OF GRAPHIC LITERATURE

Transcription

1 WOMEN OF GRAPHIC LITERATURE

2 DISCLAIMERS We ll sample only a few of the possible graphic novels and topics. I m no expert, but I ve read some of them all my life. Never a superhero fan, but I still appreciate the genre. Discovered the classics (Carl Barks, Little Nemo in Slumberland, Krazy Kat, etc.) in the early 70s, an era I know far better than current comics.

3 How We ll Proceed Present a few fundamental terms and elements of sequential art. Take a close look at several relevant graphic novels Present a sampling of authors, titles, and subgenres.

4 The Vocabulary of Comics The Panel. This is the basic unit of a comic book page, consisting of a single illustration. It's most often contained within a square or rectangular frame, although circular panels are not uncommon, and irregularly-shaped panels are also possible. Panels allow comic book action to be broken up into distinct moments in time. For those theorists who define comics as sequential art, a comic cannot consist of only one panel. The Gutter. This is the space on a comic book page that is outside the panels. The gutter is most often narrow and uniform, and doesn't contain any other graphic elements. However, objects or speech balloons within the panels can stick out to some degree. Some artists exploit this convention more boldly. Frank Miller's Sin City, for instance, has open letters which bleed into the gutter, while Sergio Aragones's "Marginal Thinking Dept." cartoons have appeared in the gutters of Mad magazine for decades. Balloons. These come in two basic kinds: speech or dialogue balloons, and thought balloons. Speech balloons are (usually) round, and contain the text of what a particular character is saying. Thought balloons depict what a character is thinking, and are conventionally drawn with lumpy edges, like clouds. Balloons (and by extension comics themselves) are called fumetti ("clouds") in Italian, because they were originally made to look like the characters were breathing out the words as they spoke. Pointers. Also called the Tails of speech balloons, these indicate which character is speaking the words in the balloon. For that reason, they point at the mouth or head whenever possible. Thought balloons have Bubbleswhich lead to the character which they belong to.

5 BASIC COMPONENTS

6 The Lexicana of Comicana Mort Walker Agitrons: wiggly lines around a shaking object or character. Blurgits, swalloops: curved lines preceding or trailing after a character's moving limbs. Briffits: clouds of dust that hang in the spot of a swiftly departing character or object. Dites: diagonal, straight lines drawn across flat, clear and reflective surfaces, such as windows and mirrors. Emanata: lines drawn around the head to indicate shock or surprise. Grawlixes: typographical symbols standing for profanities appearing in dialogue balloons in place of actual dialogue

7 Grawlixes

8 Emanata

9 VERY BRIEF HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

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11 Rise of the Comic Strip

12 Toonerville, Wilma, Olive, and Bringing Up Father

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14 Bill Herriman s Krazy Kat

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17 First Comic Books = Superheroes

18 The Lasso of Truth

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20 Carl Barks = Good Duck Man

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23 Joe Kubert & Jack Kirby

24 Underground Comix

25 Will Eisner Father of Sequential Art

26 Sequential Art Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or produce an aesthetic response in the viewer. Scott McCloud

27 Cartoon v. Comic Strip v. Comic Book

28 From No Flying No Tights Comics Cartoons, comic strips, comic books, and graphic novels are all comics, and may be referred to as such in discussion or in postings. Comics are presented in a particular format, called sequential art, and the most defining different between the above list is length: 1 panel for cartoons (think the New Yorker); 3-4 panels for a comic strip; 30 or so pages for a comic book; and anywhere from 50 to 1,000 pages for a graphic novel.

29 Comic Strips Comic strips are generally what we see in newspapers and, today, online. Comic strips have all the trademark elements of sequential art: art, text, panels, text bubbles, and sound effects. They are generally only three or four panels long, often humorous, and are intended to be read in one sitting. Most do not have overarching stories -- they may have repeating characters or long-standing jokes, but they are not attempting to convey an actual story arc.

30 Comic Books Comic books are the periodicals of the comics world. Most comics books are around 30 pages long, and include advertising as well as the continuing storyline. Comic books are by nature serial, and usually tell a continuing story from issue to issue. Today, most comic books cost around $3.99 US, and have become most popular among collectors of comics (and therefore adults) rather than the way readers first discover the format (as they did when comic books were available everywhere, from the grocery store to the dime store.)

31 Graphic Novels Graphic novels are tales told in the format of sequential art, or comics, and are intended to tell a longer story than either a comic book or a comic strip. The term graphic novel was popularized by Will Eisner, the grand old man of US comics, when he presented his stand-alone long work, A Contract with God, as a graphic novel. Graphic novels can range in length from 50 pages to thousands, but they are always intent on telling a longer story arc.

32 From ALA s What Is A Graphic Novel? In order to read a graphic novel, one must exercise multiple literacies. The text requires traditional decoding skills, while the images require the reader to interpret facial and body language as well as the use of white space and shading, and be oriented to the flow of panels as they carry the narrative forward. In addition, one must work within both literacies at the same time, approaching the text with facility to apprehend word and image synchronically.

33 The graphic novel reader creates the actual moment of any action in his or her imagination, because the panel images are static. The graphic novel shares many conventions found in film and the writing of graphic novels and other sequential art forms includes scripting the narrative but it is, after all, static ink on a page. Because our eyes and imaginations are closely bound to experience, when we perceive that placement in one panel differs from that in the next, we are barely conscious of filling in the action that must have occurred.

34 Graphic Lit Appeal Factors (Same as regular Lit.) plot language (visual as well as verbal) character style length subject difficulty predictability outlook conventionality

35 Today s Element: ICONS

36 Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

37 Tamara Drewe by Posey Simmons

38 Next Week Men Drawing Women How to Read Nancy Scott McCloud s Understanding Comics (Closure and Moment-to-moment) Aya by Abouet & Ouberie Yotsuba&! By Azyma

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40 WOMEN IN COMICS: Day 2 Great Women Cartoonists Men Drawing Women

41 Grace Wiederseim Campbell Kids 1905

42 Nell Brinkley Queen of Comics The Brinkley Girls

43 Rosie O Neill Kewpies (1909)

44 Edwina Dumm Cap Stubbs 1918

45 Ethel Hayes: Marianne and Flapper Fanny 1920s

46 Martha Orr: Apple Mary, 1932

47 Dale Connor: Mary Worth 1938

48 Dale Messick: Brenda Starr

49 Hilda Terry: Teena s

50 Marie Severin EC & Marvel 1960s-70s

51 Apartment 3-G Alex Kotzky

52 Young Romance 1947 Joe Simon & Jack Kirby

53 COPYCATS

54 Hernandez Bros. and Terry Moore 1980s & 90s

55 Love & Rockets Hernandez Bros.

56 Strangers in Paradise Terry Moore

57 Mark Shultz: Xenozoic and Cadillacs and Dinosaurs

58 SUPERHEROES!

59 Wendy Pini: Elfquest (1978)

60 The Elfquest Movie

61 Tank Girl

62 Harley Quinn

63 Prez by Mark Russel

64 Closure & Moment-to-moment

65 Manga Vocabulary Anime: the animated films produced in Japan for Japanese audiences, from animeshon. Fan service: content that appeals to fans rather than advancing the plot or developing characters (i.e. pin-up poses, etc.) Manga: Japanese print comics Manga-ka: manga creator Shojo: Girl comics (lots of slender, beautiful people of both genders, bursts of flowers, fashion parades) Shonen: Boy comics (buxom girls, men with heavy eyebrows, panty jokes, slapstick)

66 Common Manga Visual Symbols Sweat drops = nervous Pulsing forehead vein = anger Prominent canine tooth = losing control Dog ears = begging Ghost drifting away from body = fainting Snot bubble = asleep Nosebleed = aroused Super-deformed character = extreme emotions

67 How To Read Manga

68 Yotsuba&!

69 AYA in Yop City

70 Next Week Understanding Comics: moment-to-moment Exotic settings Girl/Growing Up Comics