Comics vocabulary
Encyclopedia
Comics vocabulary consists of many different techniques and images which a comic book artist
employs in order to convey a narrative
within the medium
of comics
.
This vocabulary forms a language variously identified as sequential art
, graphic storytelling, pictorial stories, visual language or comics. Whilst scholars have yet to unite on a term to define the language, the communicative tools of that language have been formalised in works by authors such as Will Eisner
, Scott McCloud
and Mort Walker
.
was created by Jerry Siegel
and Joe Shuster
, but while they are that character's "creators," they are not per se the creators/creative team of every title featuring him.
The "creative team" usually refers to two main roles, with around four subsidiary ones. Primarily, the term refers to the writer and artist. This latter term is usually used to refer to the penciler, but also includes the role of an inker and colorist. There is usually also a letterer involved in the hands-on "creation" of a comic book, and then an editor behind-the-scenes. Any combination of these people (that includes the key roles of writer and artist) can reasonably be said to refer to a "creative team":
The complete creative team on a small press, independent or self-published comic will likely be smaller than that on a more mainstream title. At its most basic, the creative team can see just one person filling every necessary role; at its most complex it includes a considerably larger group.
Moreover, the writer can be two (or more) individuals working as a team. Also, it is worth noting that while most writers do indeed produce a full script detailing, in addition to the actual words, (and in a similar way to a screenplay
) actions, thoughts, motives, expressions, etc. often in a panel-by-panel, page-by-page form to guide the artist (some writers like Alan Moore
are famed for describing in their scripts precisely how the artist should draw each individual part of every scene), some do not. Most famously, the Stan Lee
-instigated "Marvel Method" (below) saw the writer's role reduced solely to writing the words, leaving the burden of storytelling with the artist.
A general breakdown of a comics' "artists" includes three roles, often — but not always — provided by three separate individuals/teams. Alysson Lyga puts it thus: "Historically, the three functions were performed by three individuals separate from the writer and were distinct job titles." The three titles/roles/jobs are:
tablet, sidestepping the need for actual pencils in favour of digital pencils:
(color scheme), adding to the tone of the book. "Muted", "Pastel" and "Technicolor" color schemes can change the whole tone and feel of a comic, and is a key part in comics production, despite being arguably the most over-looked artistic role.
, Frank Miller
, Darwyn Cooke
) typically combines the two roles of writer and penciler, but can also incorporate the role of inker as well. More commonly, the pencils and inks may be produced by the same individual on some, or all, of their projects. Some comics feature more than one writer, penciler, inker or colorist, and some feature individuals (often uncredited) who "ghost" work in the style of a particular artist, or work as a background artist, working with (or for) an artist who might only draw certain figures, panels or scenes, leaving the rest to their collaborator.
The role of colorist is more likely to be a role filled by a separate individual to the rest of the artwork, although some artists do provide their own colors, most typically those who work digitally. (In addition: Some "[c]omics are produced in black and white, with gray tones instead of colors, etc. Some comics are painted in full color, rendering further artists moot.") In recent years, studios and companies such as Digital Chameleon
and Comicraft
are credited with, for example, colors and lettering, with the credit given to the company/studio and not a specific individual within that company.
The lettering in a comic is usually designed to be unobtrusive, and in some cases (e.g. The Sandman) is used cleverly to differentiate between different characters. Todd Klein
is easily the most famous comics letterer of all time, and winner of almost-all the Eisner Award
s for lettering, and has co-written a book on the subject. Richard Starkings
' company Comicraft
provides lettering services (and also supplies digital fonts for letterers) by a number of individuals under a collective credit.
The editor is often the individual who shoulders the responsibility, be that for continuity errors or story glitches, late comics or (perceived or actual) mismanagement of a creative team. Some editors work by dictating the broad or specific direction of a title or story arc while others give their writers/artists free rein. Typically the editor on a work-for-hire project (i.e. one where the writer/artist does not own the character whose story they are telling) will have more direct influence over and input to the story than would the editor of a creator-owned title. Many comics have a specific editor over-seeing a specific story, who is answerable to a "Group Editor" who may be responsible for a number of titles, perhaps linked in theme. This individual will ultimately be answerable to an Executive Editor/Editor-in-Chief.
and Peanuts
, and many alternative comics
, where the characters cannot be said to have an overly-realistic look to them), and so applies to relatively few modern, mainstream comics.
The term is sometimes seen as an awkward, not least because of the cultural baggage tied-up both in comics' origins in childish, humorous stories (hence "comic"), and in the negative associations forced upon them in the 1950s by senate hearings
and Fredric Wertham
. Comics are thus often alternately and in contradictory fashion seen as solely for children, and not for children at all.
Underground (and Alternative) Comics or Comix were born both out of the general 1960s counter-culture, and as a part reaction to the Comics code-induced censorship of all mainstream comics inspired by the hysteria surrounding Dr Wertham's seminal book Seduction of the Innocent
(1954), which was interpreted as labelling comics partially or wholly responsible for juvenile delinquency:
As a result of the sanitisation of mainstream comics, most underground comix dealt with themes of sex, drugs and politics, and were propagated through so-called head shops.
Periodical evokes magazines, and is less-widely used, but arguably most accurately describes the serial nature of on-going comics. Monthly likewise is tied to the historically common release time of most comics, while floppy simply describes the spineless nature of comics (as opposed to collections), and single denotes their place as parts of continuing narratives. "Comic" is still a simpler term.
The term became popularised when titles such as Dark Knight Returns, Maus
and Watchmen
began to break into the (non-comics) "mainstream," and from that point forwards has been more-or-less conflated and confused (erroneously) with trade paperback.
For that reason, the qualifying "Original" (hence "OGN") is often added to the front of the term when describing a story told through the medium of comics which debuts in the higher-production-values (increasingly as a hardback, almost-always with a spine) format:
' Watchmen: Motion Comics, Peanuts Motion Comics
and Marvel Comics
' Spider-Woman
.
Trade paperback collections are compendiums of individual issues of particular comics:
Comics series such as Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen
are thus not "Graphic novels," but "trade paperbacks" - as they debuted in single issue format, and were only subsequently collected. The trade paperback is rapidly becoming the format-of-choice for many readers, and are, by their nature, more readily available: in bookshops as well as specialist comic book shops. Their benefits include (typically) containing a complete story, rather than a single part of one, as most on-going monthly series' are. Another benefit is that typically a trade paperback is greatly less expensive than collecting the issues separately.
nature of extreme comics fans. It signifies a complete immersion in the world of comics, comics trivia and so forth.
(with his artistic collaborators, in particular Jack Kirby
) in large part simply to speed up the process. Rather than producing a full script, (typically) the writer and artist would talk over a rough plot outline, and then the artist would produce the full comics-worth of pages. The writer would then add dialogue to the artwork after it was done, rather than the other way around.
This method of working is still used occasionally, particularly by artist-plotters Keith Giffen
and Alex Ross
. Its use in the creation of the vast majority of Marvel's 1960s key output, has drawn considerable criticism and created large amounts of confusion, since it clouds the issue of who did what. Artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko
, for example, have alleged that the actual input from "writer" Lee was minimal, and that it was regularly/completely left to the artist to produce the plot and story, even as the writer was given most of the credit.
, Justice League of America and Avengers
.)
During these crossover character interactions, editorial footnotes would often reference previous adventures and comics issues, but an actual editorially enforced "continuity" was not strictly adhered to, leading to some characters' actions appearing "out of character," or outrightly contradicting earlier plot-points. As comics were deemed largely ephemeral
items, this was not considered that much of a problem, until the full advent of comics fandom. As a result of fan/reader scrutiny, the continuity both of individual characters and of the wider universes in which comics companies' characters interacted began to become more important. The Marvel "No Prize" became a humorous method by which readers could write letters to authors and editors pointing out mistakes or "continuity errors" in various comics, and were then named in print and awarded a "No Prize" (in reality a coveted sheet of paper declaring itself a non prize).
In 1985, cross-universe continuity took on new levels of depth and (intended) consistency at the two main comics companies: DC and Marvel. Marvel launched its cross-line toy-driven-event Secret Wars
, which required all characters to undergo specific changes at specific times, and required considerable editorial dictates and conformity. DC launched the Crisis on Infinite Earths
, one of the earliest maxi-series' , to address universe-wide continuity and attempt to explain away, remove or revise all previous errors in continuity. The reader was reminded that the DC Multiverse consisted not merely of the core DC Universe
, but of a number of different iterations of various heroes on a multitude of different planets. Companies and characters purchased by DC (such as the Charlton Comics
characters and Captain Marvel
) as well as older characters like the JSA were (re-)assigned their own Earths, which were then destroyed and folded into one, core Earth. This naturally resulted in a number of contradictions and discrepancies in individual characters' histories, so a new, uniform continuity was created and the revised origins of the resulting heroes were retold in the hopes of maintaining consistent continuity.
Naturally with hundreds of characters and dozens of writers, over the years uniform and consistent continuity is difficult to maintain, and most comics companies periodically address the erosion of internal consistency with big "events" designed to explain and simplify (although at times they do neither) discrepancies, and maintain continuity.
and Marvel's speculative What if...?
titles) are necessarily not canon. However, stories can change from being non-canonical to being accepted as canon - and vice versa. In particular, line-wide continuity-changing events (such as DC's Crises and Marvel's controversial recent Spider-Man: One More Day
storyline) retroactively affect which stories are part of a character/universe's core canon, as they may revise or ignore previous events and happenings.
For example, DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths addressed continuity and consistency errors over almost 50 years of comics publication, and retrofitted events and characters into the history of the DCU as if they had always been there. (For example, the JSA went from being JLA-contemporaries from a parallel world to being their earlier, historical counterparts some years previously.) The Post-Crisis DC Universe removed many stories from "official canon", explaining them as Imaginary Tales or ignoring them completely.
Linked: retrofit, retroactively embedding something (usually a plot point or subsidiary character) into a past story, for the purposes of a current story. This can give added weight to a story, implying that the impetus for a current story had been around for some time.
continuity and canon, with the separator being the 1985 ret-con event Crisis on Infinite Earths
. Simply, Pre-Crisis stories were not as stringently policed or edited, and often contained errors and internal inaccuracies (in large part because of their frequent nature as one-shot stories, rather than linked tales designed to follow evolving and changing characters). Pre-Crisis stories are often seen as throwaway and frivolous, perceived to be dominated by imaginary tales and "camp" characterisation. Neither label is entirely accurate, nor is the broad-brush assumption that a lack of cohesive continuity denotes a complete disregard for it.
The Post-Crisis DCU is that which was formed in the pages of the CoIE maxi-series, and is (or was intended to be) far more internally consistent and interlinked. Characters' origins were revised and updated, conflating previous stories and origins into one, accepted canonical one. Writer-artist John Byrne's Superman: The Man of Steel
mini-series, for example, provided the post-Crisis origin of Kal El, while Crisis-architects Marv Wolfman
and George Pérez
produced the two-issue History of the DC Universe
to briefly detail a broad overview of the post-Crisis DCU, showing the sequence of events as well as the revised origins of many characters (later to be fleshed out in their own series).
Even the post-Crisis DCU was not without its continuity problems, however, and several subsequent events have attempted to address them, making the "post-Crisis" label largely defunct. However, because of the 1985 maxi-series's landmark status, the label persists in one form or another.
of characters (an example would be the Batman: Knightfall
storylines), while a multi-character crossover will usually be universe-wide and affect several different individuals (an example would be Marvel's Civil War
event, which affected almost-every character and title in their shared universe).
Cross-Universe events and inter-company events are considerably rarer, but do happen. 1996's DC vs. Marvel event saw the DCU and MU brought together (and ultimately, briefly, merged), while the DC Universe has also featured in events/crossovers with, for example, the WildStorm
and Milestone universes.
, CrossGen
, Valiant
, etc.). Comics fandom has produced various shorthand ways of referring to the various universes, however, and the comics themselves also refer to themselves in specific ways. These labels are usually reserved for the universes of "the Big Two" (Marvel and DC), in large part because they are the main American comics publishers and have the largest shared universes. A non-exhaustive list of terms includes:
In addition to the core shared universe, some companies have subsidiary universes/imprints, which can be part of the main universe, or can not be (or can be thoroughly confusing). DC Comics' mature readers' imprint Vertigo Comics, for example mainly publishes stand alone ongoing, mini- and maxi-series, but also variously includes characters who were once part of the DCU, or have intereacted with it in such a way as to make them at least an honorary part of it. Characters such as The Sandman family of titles, Doom Patrol
and Swamp Thing
all began publication as part of the DCU, but have gradually drifted to a corner of it quite far removed, if still nominally a part. The WildStorm
Universe, which was initially published by Image Comics
, is now largely accepted as part of the wider DC Multiverse, but not part of the DCU-proper. Similarly, the Ultimate Marvel
Universe is not part of the 616, while the MAX Imprint
is on the fringes in a similar way to the Vertigo/DC interaction.
"crossing over" into an issue of a Spider-Man
comics), but typically a "crossover" implies more than a simple appearance, and denotes a cohesive storyline spanning more than one title, often as part of an event. Thus when the JLA and JSA featured in a two-part story beginning in the pages of one comic and concluding in the pages of the other, this is referred to as a crossover. Typically, crossovers are more than two-issues in length, and often span multiple titles, rather than just two. For example, the X-Men: Messiah Complex
crossover event sees the storyline unfold over four X-Men titles, as well as two one-shot issues.
Most crossovers occur within the confines of a shared universe, although crossovers between universes (and companies (see below)) also occur, for example in the upcoming DC/WildStorm: Dreamwar crossover event.
Cross-company or Intercompany crossovers occur when the characters of two different publishers' universes meet (and usually fight - see "comic book clichés"). Usually this is in a non-canonical event, although occasionally happenings can be referred to in mainstream continuity (e.g. the character of Access
appeared in a couple of DC comics issues independent of the DC/Marvel intercompany crossover). The biggest and most famous example of intercompany crossovers are the irregular meetings of the DC and Marvel Universes, most notably in 1996's crossover event DC Vs. Marvel/Marvel Vs. DC, which threw all the DCU and MU characters together in one big event, which ultimately spun out into a series of merged-character one-shot issues co-published between the companies as the Amalgam Comics
line. Other crossovers include the irregular meetings between DCU characters and the Dark Horse
-licenced properties Aliens
and Predator; or the various Marvel and DC character-crossovers with Top Cow's Witchblade
, Darkness, etc.
A guest appearance is when a character not normally associated with a specific title/book appears briefly (or sometimes for several issues) appears there. Often (somewhat cynically, if accurately) seen as a money-making move by publishers to boost flagging sales by inserting a popular character into a lesser-selling book (and in particular, it seems, Wolverine
), a guest appearance may be a throwaway occurrence, may further the plot, or may be part of an event, crossover or tie-in. The character who puts in a guest appearance is, reasonably enough, also known as a guest star.
extend the boundaries considerably), and it is most common in the main superhero universes of DC and Marvel. The benefit of having a shared universe is that characters can make (sales-boosting) guest appearances and allow for team-ups between different characters, as well as allowing the "team" concept (JLA, Avengers, etc.) to exist at all. Stan Lee's initial Marvel Universe creations in the 1960s best exemplify the "shared universe" concept, whereby characters (and villains) would feature across multiple titles, sometimes in the foreground of the story, sometimes as cameos in passing, but always underlining the interlinkedness of the universe.
They are also frequently updated to better reflect their times. For example, the origin of Iron Man
has gradually been revised and updated, so that instead of serving in the Vietnam War
, he serves in Korea
or the (first) Gulf War
.
, to set them apart from the main DC Universe. These stories (and characters) can also be referred to by other names, but are most likely to be talked of Alternate World/Universe stories/counterparts. Some Imaginary Tales and Elseworlds have been assigned their own alternate (numbered) Earths in both the DC and Marvel Universe; others (like Frank Miller
's dystopian Dark Knight Returns or Mark Waid
& Alex Ross
' Kingdom Come have variously been considered pseudo-canonical, as potentially in-universe futures for their respective casts.)
Marvel Comics' main rival to the mainly-DC preserve of alternate tales are their series' and one-shots under the What If...?
banner. These tend to shy away from DC's Elseworlds stated method whereby "heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places - some that have existed, and others that can't, couldn't or shouldn't exist," (i.e. in typically in self-contained continuities) and are largely based on specific events or happenings. Most What If...? stories changed one minor (or key) detail in a major Marvel event, and posited how events might have played in a mostly same-universe situation - "What if Spider-Man joined the Fantastic Four?", while many Elseworlds suggested what would happen if known heroes had existed in completely different situations (e.g. Superman: Kal which grafts the Superman mythos onto the story of King Arthur
).
Some Imaginary Stories can be adapted into the accepted canon of a Universe (particularly possible futures, but also as taking place on parallel worlds which can then be interacted with), but it is most common for them to either stay completely separate, or even for some formerly-canonical stories to be retconned into Imaginary Stories as after a major event. Thus some stories which may have once been "real" for the characters to whom the occurred can be retroactively said not to have happened, and thus that any memory of them is of an "Imaginary" tale. (For a knowing take on retroactive continuity and Imaginary Tales, see Alan Moore
's Supreme: The Story of the Year
)
-organizer Phil Seuling
) to buy comics direct from the publisher, rather than through a traditional magazine distributor. In addition, rather than returning unsold copies after a certain date (see: cover date), with a higher initial discount, buyers could keep unsold copies as back issue stock. This led to the formation of specialist shops ("comic shops"), with wide-ranging stock of older issues, as well as the creation of a number of tailored comicbook distributors.
The images that are usually laid out within borders are known as panels
.
The layout of the panels can be in a grid. Watchmen
was notable for utilizing a nine panel grid of three rows and three columns. Occasionally, Alan Moore
and Dave Gibbons
would use larger panels that broke the format of the grid to emphasize specific acts or points in the narrative.
Other techniques of representation used within comics are: the speech bubble; the thought balloon; the narrative box; and the style of lettering
.
and modern comics.
Splash page or sometimes referred to simply as a "splash," is a full-page drawing in a comic book. A splash page is often used as the first page of a story, and includes the title and credits. Splashes that are not on the first page of a story are sometimes called interior splash pages. Interior splashes may, or may not include titles and/or credits. A panel that is larger than others on the page is called a splash panel. A splash that appears across two pages of a comic book is called a "double splash" or a two-page spread. Rarely, splash pages will stretch over more than two pages; such multi-page spreads often take the form of fold-out poster
s.
When used early in the issue, the splash provides a means of establishing characters or setting as well as draw the reader's attention. If used far later, it is commonly employed to dramatically portray the climax of a story. Rarely does an issue include more than two splash pages; however, Superman #75, Vol. 2
is notable for consisting entirely of splashes.
are usually round and tend to spike out. Balloons such as radio, or TV, may be represtented by a spiked balloon. Certain creators are particularly renowned for their inventiveness with the format of the balloon; writer and artist Dave Sim
(who also letters his own work), is particularly innovative with this aspect of the comic book - using particular balloons for drunkenness, echoes etc.
Comic book captions are a narrative device, often used to convey information that cannot be communicated by the art or speech. Captions can be used in place of thought bubbles, can be in the first- second- or third-person, and can either be assigned to an independent narrator or one of the comics' characters. Simply put, they are:
Like word balloons, they need not be of uniform shape, size, design or color (indeed, some modern comics use different colors to assign different textual captions to different characters).
identified the gutter as one of the most important narrative tools in comics, invoking as it does a procedure McCloud defined as closure.
Mort Walker defined in his book The Lexicon of Comicana
, the iconic representations used within comics and cartooning as "symbolia". Examples being the lightbulb above a character's head to indicate an idea, the indication of sleep by a saw cutting a log or a line of "zzzz", Kirby dots
, and the use of dotted lines to indicate a line of sight, with daggers being used instead of dotted lines to indicate an evil look.
s and environmental sounds are presented without balloons, in bold or "3D" text in all upper case. Percussive sounds usually have exclamation points. Usually, they are written/drawn in a way as to emphasize their nature, such as the sound effect from a fast racer car almost leaning from the car's speed, or a shrill noise depicted in a jagged, scratchy form.
Some effects:
Cf. Onomatopeia
Marvel Comics
' characters have several specialized sound effects that are under Marvel's copyright: Spider-Man
's web deploys with a "thwip", Wolverine
's claws emerge with a "snikt", and Nightcrawler
teleports with a "bamf".
Comic Book Artist
Comic Book Artist was an American magazine founded by Jon B. Cooke devoted to anecdotal histories of American comic books, with emphasis on comics published since the 1960s...
employs in order to convey a narrative
Narrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
within the medium
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
of comics
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
.
This vocabulary forms a language variously identified as sequential art
Sequential art
Sequential art refers to the art form of using a train of images deployed in sequence to graphic storytelling or convey information. The best-known example of sequential art is comics, which are a printed arrangement of art and balloons, especially comic books and comic strips.The term is rarely...
, graphic storytelling, pictorial stories, visual language or comics. Whilst scholars have yet to unite on a term to define the language, the communicative tools of that language have been formalised in works by authors such as Will Eisner
Will Eisner
William Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...
, Scott McCloud
Scott McCloud
Scott McCloud is an American cartoonist and theorist on comics as a distinct literary and artistic medium...
and Mort Walker
Mort Walker
Addison Morton Walker , popularly known as Mort Walker, is an American comic artist best known for creating the newspaper comic strips Beetle Bailey in 1950 and Hi and Lois in 1954. He has signed Addison to some of his strips.Born in El Dorado, Kansas, he grew up in Kansas City, Missouri...
.
Creative team
A comic book's creative team (or sometimes creators) generally refer to the same individuals: those responsible for the specific creation of a particular book or story. However "creators" can also refer to the individuals who first wrote/drew a particular character or title. For example, the character of SupermanSuperman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
was created by Jerry Siegel
Jerry Siegel
Jerome "Jerry" Siegel , who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S...
and Joe Shuster
Joe Shuster
Joseph "Joe" Shuster was a Canadian-born American comic book artist. He was best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with writer Jerry Siegel, first published in Action Comics #1...
, but while they are that character's "creators," they are not per se the creators/creative team of every title featuring him.
The "creative team" usually refers to two main roles, with around four subsidiary ones. Primarily, the term refers to the writer and artist. This latter term is usually used to refer to the penciler, but also includes the role of an inker and colorist. There is usually also a letterer involved in the hands-on "creation" of a comic book, and then an editor behind-the-scenes. Any combination of these people (that includes the key roles of writer and artist) can reasonably be said to refer to a "creative team":
- The "term describes the individual(s) who created the comic book in question. A writer, artist, letterer, and editor will usually be credited in the comic book. Note that these functions can be performed by one or more people, acting collectively or individually. A comic book may have one writer and multiple artists, for example, or may be the creation of a single person."
The complete creative team on a small press, independent or self-published comic will likely be smaller than that on a more mainstream title. At its most basic, the creative team can see just one person filling every necessary role; at its most complex it includes a considerably larger group.
Writer
- "The writer, naturally, writes the comic book. This is not, however limited to "writing the words in the balloons," as many newcomers often think, but rather requires developing and putting down on paper the entire story in such a way that the artist can then interpret it into visuals for the reader. It is possible to have multiple writers on a single comic book. Sometimes one writer will plot the comic, and a second will write the dialogue after the fact. In other cases, many writers may plot a comic book together, with one of them (or another writer) supplying the dialogue."
Moreover, the writer can be two (or more) individuals working as a team. Also, it is worth noting that while most writers do indeed produce a full script detailing, in addition to the actual words, (and in a similar way to a screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
) actions, thoughts, motives, expressions, etc. often in a panel-by-panel, page-by-page form to guide the artist (some writers like Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
are famed for describing in their scripts precisely how the artist should draw each individual part of every scene), some do not. Most famously, the Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
-instigated "Marvel Method" (below) saw the writer's role reduced solely to writing the words, leaving the burden of storytelling with the artist.
Artist
Comics are usually a collaboration between different individuals, typically a writer and an/several artists. Broadly the term "artist" is used interchangeably with penciler, since it is almost-always the penciler who produces the initial artwork, and provides the bulk of the artwork. Hence the writer and artist (penciler) are usually said to be the exclusive authors of a particular comic, even though there are usually other individuals involved in the creative process.A general breakdown of a comics' "artists" includes three roles, often — but not always — provided by three separate individuals/teams. Alysson Lyga puts it thus: "Historically, the three functions were performed by three individuals separate from the writer and were distinct job titles." The three titles/roles/jobs are:
Penciler
The role of the penciler is, for most comics (excepting, for example, fully painted comics) the primary artistic chore, and hence the penciler is usually referred to as the "Artist". The term refers to the fact that initial artwork is done in pencil, so that mistakes can be corrected and so that the layout is not set in stone immediately. Some artists choose to work in ink immediately; some do their own inking; many nowadays draw on a computer via a wacomWacom
in Krefeld, Germany. Wacom is a Japanese portmanteau: Wa for "harmony" or "circle", and Komu for "computer". Wacom tablets are notable for their use of a patented cordless, battery-free, and pressure-sensitive stylus or digital pen...
tablet, sidestepping the need for actual pencils in favour of digital pencils:
- "A penciler does the initial work of laying out the page based on the script. He or she creates each panel, places the figures and settings in the panels, etc."
Inker
The role of the inker is to supplement and enhance the pencil artwork. The purpose of inking was initially to define the artwork both for the colorist and for the printing process. Many artists work with a single inker, or small group of inkers, who best accentuate their art-style. Some artists also provide their own inks, but the separation of the roles both speeds up production (particularly vital on a monthly schedule) and allows a buffer-stage for editorial-or-other art-changes. With the advent of computer art, some modern "pencil" computer artwork is "digitally darkened," (i.e. the gray pencil lines are darkened to imitate the inking stage), bypassing the role of an inker. This ignores the role of the separate inking stage (and often the separate individual who carries out the inking), where artwork can be added to or refined:- "The penciled pages are then passed to an inker, who uses black ink to render the pencils into fuller, rounder tones. The inker usually adds depth and shadow to the images - a good inker will bring out and enhance the strengths of a penciler's artwork."
Colorist
The role of the colorist is to add color to the artwork, either by hand or on computer. Historically, the colorist (and the inker) would work directly on the original artwork, but modern advances mean that the coloring (and sometimes inking) is now done digitally on a computer, and hence can be refined and changed with comparative ease. The colorist will often make the ultimate decision over palettePalette (painting)
A palette , in the original sense of the word, is a rigid, flat surface on which a painter arranges and mixes paints. A palette is usually made of wood, plastic, ceramic, or other hard, inert, nonporous material, and can vary greatly in size and shape...
(color scheme), adding to the tone of the book. "Muted", "Pastel" and "Technicolor" color schemes can change the whole tone and feel of a comic, and is a key part in comics production, despite being arguably the most over-looked artistic role.
Other
The artistic roles on comics can, of course, be filled by any number of individuals, from one to an almost indefinite number. The writer-artist (e.g. Will EisnerWill Eisner
William Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...
, Frank Miller
Frank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
, Darwyn Cooke
Darwyn Cooke
Darwyn Cooke is an Eisner Award-winning comic book writer, artist, cartoonist and animator, best known for his work on the comic books Catwoman, DC: The New Frontier, The Spirit and Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter.-Career:...
) typically combines the two roles of writer and penciler, but can also incorporate the role of inker as well. More commonly, the pencils and inks may be produced by the same individual on some, or all, of their projects. Some comics feature more than one writer, penciler, inker or colorist, and some feature individuals (often uncredited) who "ghost" work in the style of a particular artist, or work as a background artist, working with (or for) an artist who might only draw certain figures, panels or scenes, leaving the rest to their collaborator.
The role of colorist is more likely to be a role filled by a separate individual to the rest of the artwork, although some artists do provide their own colors, most typically those who work digitally. (In addition: Some "[c]omics are produced in black and white, with gray tones instead of colors, etc. Some comics are painted in full color, rendering further artists moot.") In recent years, studios and companies such as Digital Chameleon
Digital Chameleon
Digital Chameleon was a comic book coloring and inking studio based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. They have countless credits for a variety of publishers, and are attributed with being the first studio to make the use of the computer software program Adobe PhotoShop widespread in the comics industry...
and Comicraft
Comicraft
Comicraft is a company which provides graphic design and lettering services to various companies.-History:The company was founded by Richard Starkings in 1992. Starkings had been working for Marvel UK for five years, but left London for New York, circa 1990...
are credited with, for example, colors and lettering, with the credit given to the company/studio and not a specific individual within that company.
Letterer
The role of the letterer is usually separate to the role of writer and (all individuals under the catch-all term of) artist, and refers to "[t]he individual who places word balloons and captions on the finished artwork and fills them with words based on the script." Typically this is the last stage in a comic book's production, although the letterer may liaise with the artist initially to make sure there will be space to fit the speech bubbles into the artwork without obscuring too much/any of it.- "Letterers also often provide the sound effects prevalent in comics though sometimes the artist will render them."
The lettering in a comic is usually designed to be unobtrusive, and in some cases (e.g. The Sandman) is used cleverly to differentiate between different characters. Todd Klein
Todd Klein
Todd Klein is an American comic book letterer, logo designer, and occasional writer, primarily for DC Comics.- Early career:Todd Klein broke into comics in the summer of 1977, hired by DC Comics as a staff production worker...
is easily the most famous comics letterer of all time, and winner of almost-all the Eisner Award
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
s for lettering, and has co-written a book on the subject. Richard Starkings
Richard Starkings
Richard Starkings is a British font designer and comic book letterer, editor and writer. He was one of the early pioneers of computer based comic book lettering and as a result is one of the most prolific creators in that industry.-Career:...
' company Comicraft
Comicraft
Comicraft is a company which provides graphic design and lettering services to various companies.-History:The company was founded by Richard Starkings in 1992. Starkings had been working for Marvel UK for five years, but left London for New York, circa 1990...
provides lettering services (and also supplies digital fonts for letterers) by a number of individuals under a collective credit.
Editor
The editor of a particular comic (and there are usually, for larger companies at least, many tiers of individual editors, group editors and head editors) is the "individual charged with the editorial functions," typically implying that the editor has "broad control over the content and direction of the story... shepherds the creative process, or may function as an "extra set of eyes" to catch errors and glitches in the process" or any combination thereof.The editor is often the individual who shoulders the responsibility, be that for continuity errors or story glitches, late comics or (perceived or actual) mismanagement of a creative team. Some editors work by dictating the broad or specific direction of a title or story arc while others give their writers/artists free rein. Typically the editor on a work-for-hire project (i.e. one where the writer/artist does not own the character whose story they are telling) will have more direct influence over and input to the story than would the editor of a creator-owned title. Many comics have a specific editor over-seeing a specific story, who is answerable to a "Group Editor" who may be responsible for a number of titles, perhaps linked in theme. This individual will ultimately be answerable to an Executive Editor/Editor-in-Chief.
"Cartoonist"
"Cartoonist" is a very broad term, sometimes "used by many artists who perform multiple tasks in the creation of a comic, including the writing... with the implication that the work is predominantly the creation of a single vision." In mainstream comics, however, "cartoon art" is seen as less-realistic, so the term "cartoonist" is usually best applied to representative artists and artwork (i.e. newspaper strips such as GarfieldGarfield
Garfield is a comic strip created by Jim Davis. Published since June 19, 1978, it chronicles the life of the title character, the cat Garfield ; his owner, Jon Arbuckle; and Arbuckle's dog, Odie...
and Peanuts
Peanuts
Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...
, and many alternative comics
Alternative comics
Alternative comics defines 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 in the past have dominated the US comic book industry...
, where the characters cannot be said to have an overly-realistic look to them), and so applies to relatively few modern, mainstream comics.
Comic book
The generic and most common term for the individual issues of a particular series, and the format in which they are presented:- "Traditionally, a comic book was a stapled, magazinelike product that told a serialized story or anthologized many stories over a period of months and years. The term has evolved to describe any format that uses the combination of words and pictures to convey a story, and thus is accurate when applied to both the medium itself and the periodical form. As a result, all graphic novels are comic books, but not all comic books are graphic novels."
The term is sometimes seen as an awkward, not least because of the cultural baggage tied-up both in comics' origins in childish, humorous stories (hence "comic"), and in the negative associations forced upon them in the 1950s by senate hearings
Kefauver hearings
The United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce was a special committee of the United States Senate which existed from 1950 to 1951 and which investigated organized crime which crossed state borders in the United States...
and Fredric Wertham
Fredric Wertham
Fredric Wertham was a Jewish German-American psychiatrist and crusading author who protested the purportedly harmful effects of violent imagery in mass media and comic books on the development of children. His best-known book was Seduction of the Innocent , which purported that comic books are...
. Comics are thus often alternately and in contradictory fashion seen as solely for children, and not for children at all.
Comic strip
Comic strip generally refers to daily and Sunday newspaper features widely syndicated during the past century. Many comic strips have been collected into comic books, paperbacks and hardcover books.Comics
- "The plural of comic is typically used as a singular (as "politics" is) to refer to the entire medium or industry. Hence "comics industry" or "comics creators." This is usually employed to avoid the unintentional consequences of using the adjective "comic," which implies comedic content. (For example, "the comic industry" might be misinterpreted as meaning "an industry that is funny," while "the comics industry" can mean only "the industry that creates comic books.")"
Comix
- See: Alternative Comics, Independent Comics
Underground (and Alternative) Comics or Comix were born both out of the general 1960s counter-culture, and as a part reaction to the Comics code-induced censorship of all mainstream comics inspired by the hysteria surrounding Dr Wertham's seminal book Seduction of the Innocent
Seduction of the Innocent
Seduction of the Innocent is a book by German-American psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, published in 1954, that warned that comic books were a negative form of popular literature and a serious cause of juvenile delinquency. The book was a minor bestseller that created alarm in parents and galvanized...
(1954), which was interpreted as labelling comics partially or wholly responsible for juvenile delinquency:
- "A word coined in the 1960s to describe titles that nowadays would be considered alternative. The comix were titles created as a reaction to the juvenilization of comics compelled by Congress in the 1950s."
As a result of the sanitisation of mainstream comics, most underground comix dealt with themes of sex, drugs and politics, and were propagated through so-called head shops.
Pamphlet, Periodical, Monthly, Floppy, Single, Issue
These terms are all used interchangeably by fans to describe individual comics. They:- "describe the original comic book form, that of a slim, magazinelike periodical, not designed for long-term use or wear and tear. The term [Pamphlet] is considered derisive by some."
Periodical evokes magazines, and is less-widely used, but arguably most accurately describes the serial nature of on-going comics. Monthly likewise is tied to the historically common release time of most comics, while floppy simply describes the spineless nature of comics (as opposed to collections), and single denotes their place as parts of continuing narratives. "Comic" is still a simpler term.
Graphic novel ("GN"), OGN
The term "Graphic novel" (simply put a novel conveyed in pictures) is:- "Used to describe the specific format of a comic book that has greater production values and longer narrative."
The term became popularised when titles such as Dark Knight Returns, Maus
Maus
Maus: A Survivor's Tale, by Art Spiegelman, is a biography of the author's father, Vladek Spiegelman, a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. It alternates between descriptions of Vladek's life in Poland before and during the Second World War and Vladek's later life in the Rego Park neighborhood of...
and Watchmen
Watchmen
Watchmen is a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colourist John Higgins. The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form...
began to break into the (non-comics) "mainstream," and from that point forwards has been more-or-less conflated and confused (erroneously) with trade paperback.
For that reason, the qualifying "Original" (hence "OGN") is often added to the front of the term when describing a story told through the medium of comics which debuts in the higher-production-values (increasingly as a hardback, almost-always with a spine) format:
- "The graphic novel is more like a traditional novel, in that it is published on an independent schedule. It is longer in format than a periodical and typically contains a complete story unto itself. Graphic novels usually have higher production values than the typical stanpled comic book; they may be squarebound, for example, with cardstock covers. Some may be hardcover volumes. Although a graphic novel usually stands on its own as a complete story, it is possible to have an ongoing series or limited series of graphic novels telling a single story or series of related stories. A typical abbreviation in the industry for graphic novel is "GN," usually used as part of a title to indicate to a reader or browser that the title in question is not a periodical."
- The term OGN is "[a]n abbreviation for original graphic novel, often used to differentiate a graphic novel that contains a wholly new story from a trade paperback."
Motion comic
A motion comic is "a hybrid of comic books and animation." based on the actual panels of a comic. Examples include DC ComicsDC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
' Watchmen: Motion Comics, Peanuts Motion Comics
Peanuts Motion Comics
Peanuts Motion Comics is a series of animated cartoon shorts based on 1964 strips of Charles Schulz' comic strip, Peanuts. The series premiered on iTunes in 2008 with the support of the Schulz estate. The first season consists of 20 cartoon shorts, paired into 10 episodes. The episodes employ...
and Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' Spider-Woman
Spider-Woman
Spider-Woman is the codename of several fictional characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:Marvel Comics' then-publisher Stan Lee, said in 1978, shortly after Spider-Woman's debut in Marvel Spotlight #32 Spider-Woman is the codename of several fictional characters...
.
Trade paperback, collection, collected edition
- Not to be confused (although it usually is) with "Graphic Novel"
Trade paperback collections are compendiums of individual issues of particular comics:
- "A comic book trade paperback is a squarebound edition that collects and reprints a mini-series, maxi-series, or story arc in this sturdier format, giving readers a complete story at one time rather than over a period of months. Sometimes a trade paperback may collect stories that are not interconnected but rather are related by some theme. Many trade paperbacks also contain additional material, such as an introduction or foreword, interview, or character sketches."
Comics series such as Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen
Watchmen
Watchmen is a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colourist John Higgins. The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form...
are thus not "Graphic novels," but "trade paperbacks" - as they debuted in single issue format, and were only subsequently collected. The trade paperback is rapidly becoming the format-of-choice for many readers, and are, by their nature, more readily available: in bookshops as well as specialist comic book shops. Their benefits include (typically) containing a complete story, rather than a single part of one, as most on-going monthly series' are. Another benefit is that typically a trade paperback is greatly less expensive than collecting the issues separately.
Prestige format | Bookshelf format
Prestige format | Bookshelf format describes the manner in which some (usually one shot) titles are printed and bound. Most are 48- or 64-pages in length, and tend to have a (thin) spine. They are broadly synonymous with (mini-)Original Graphic Novels, and are almost always longer than a normal comic book (which tend to be either 22 or 32 pages in length, depending in most cases on whether advertisements are included in the pagecount)."Alternative comics"
Describes a certain type, or genre of comics (although alternative comics can also be cross-genre), and tends to merely imply "non-Superhero". The term "alternative" is:- "used as an adjective, usually to describe anything that is not mainstream. Its use connotes a qualitative difference in storytelling styles, subject matter, and form. It comes from the dominance of the large, corporate publishers, causing smaller publishers to label themselves as the "alternative" reading choice."
Fanboy or Fangirl
The term "Fanboy," usually used as a pejorative term, (although many described individuals wear it as a badge of honour) describes the anal retentiveAnal retentive
The term anal-retentive , commonly abbreviated to anal, is used conversationally to describe a person who pays such attention to detail that the obsession becomes an annoyance to others, and can be carried out to the detriment of the anal-retentive person. The term derives from Freudian...
nature of extreme comics fans. It signifies a complete immersion in the world of comics, comics trivia and so forth.
"The Marvel Method"
The "Marvel method" is a manner of writing comics popularised in the 1960s by Stan LeeStan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
(with his artistic collaborators, in particular Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
) in large part simply to speed up the process. Rather than producing a full script, (typically) the writer and artist would talk over a rough plot outline, and then the artist would produce the full comics-worth of pages. The writer would then add dialogue to the artwork after it was done, rather than the other way around.
This method of working is still used occasionally, particularly by artist-plotters Keith Giffen
Keith Giffen
Keith Ian Giffen is an American comic book illustrator and writer.-Biography:Giffen was born in Queens, New York City....
and Alex Ross
Alex Ross
Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross is an American comic book painter, illustrator, and plotter. He is praised for his realistic, human depictions of classic comic book characters. Since the 1990s he has done work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an...
. Its use in the creation of the vast majority of Marvel's 1960s key output, has drawn considerable criticism and created large amounts of confusion, since it clouds the issue of who did what. Artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko
Steve Ditko
Stephen J. "Steve" Ditko is an American comic book artist and writer best known as the artist co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange....
, for example, have alleged that the actual input from "writer" Lee was minimal, and that it was regularly/completely left to the artist to produce the plot and story, even as the writer was given most of the credit.
Continuity
Comics continuity almost-always refers to the existence and use of a shared universe, although any comic can have internal continuity independent of this. Simply, the term describes a consistency of internal plot, and usually of characterisation and external references also. Initially, many comics were stand alone, "done in one" stories with a beginning and end taking place within the confines of a single comic issue, often structured in chapters as are most novels. Over time, the comics companies realised the lucrative potential of the crossover comic, whereby other characters from a company's shared universe appeared in issues of each others' comics. (This ultimately led to the formation of "team" books such as the Justice Society of AmericaJustice Society of America
The Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a DC Comics superhero group, the first team of superheroes in comic book history. Conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox, the JSA first appeared in All Star Comics #3 ....
, Justice League of America and Avengers
Avengers (comics)
The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...
.)
During these crossover character interactions, editorial footnotes would often reference previous adventures and comics issues, but an actual editorially enforced "continuity" was not strictly adhered to, leading to some characters' actions appearing "out of character," or outrightly contradicting earlier plot-points. As comics were deemed largely ephemeral
Ephemeral
Ephemeral things are transitory, existing only briefly. Typically the term is used to describe objects found in nature, although it can describe a wide range of things....
items, this was not considered that much of a problem, until the full advent of comics fandom. As a result of fan/reader scrutiny, the continuity both of individual characters and of the wider universes in which comics companies' characters interacted began to become more important. The Marvel "No Prize" became a humorous method by which readers could write letters to authors and editors pointing out mistakes or "continuity errors" in various comics, and were then named in print and awarded a "No Prize" (in reality a coveted sheet of paper declaring itself a non prize).
In 1985, cross-universe continuity took on new levels of depth and (intended) consistency at the two main comics companies: DC and Marvel. Marvel launched its cross-line toy-driven-event Secret Wars
Secret Wars
Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars is a twelve-issue comic book crossover limited series published from May 1984 to April 1985 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Jim Shooter with art by Mike Zeck and Bob Layton...
, which required all characters to undergo specific changes at specific times, and required considerable editorial dictates and conformity. DC launched the Crisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths is a 12-issue American comic book limited series and crossover event, produced by DC Comics in 1985 to simplify its then 50-year-old continuity...
, one of the earliest maxi-series
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
, but of a number of different iterations of various heroes on a multitude of different planets. Companies and characters purchased by DC (such as the Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1946 to 1985, having begun under a different name in 1944. It was based in Derby, Connecticut...
characters and Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel (DC Comics)
Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...
) as well as older characters like the JSA were (re-)assigned their own Earths, which were then destroyed and folded into one, core Earth. This naturally resulted in a number of contradictions and discrepancies in individual characters' histories, so a new, uniform continuity was created and the revised origins of the resulting heroes were retold in the hopes of maintaining consistent continuity.
Naturally with hundreds of characters and dozens of writers, over the years uniform and consistent continuity is difficult to maintain, and most comics companies periodically address the erosion of internal consistency with big "events" designed to explain and simplify (although at times they do neither) discrepancies, and maintain continuity.
Canon
Similar to internal continuity, the "canon" of comics characters/universes is often subject to change, but refers to the stories which are, at any one point, part of the "official", "accepted" history and story of particular characters/universes. Alternate versions of characters (such as DC's ElseworldsElseworlds
Elseworlds is the publication imprint for a group of comic books produced by DC Comics that take place outside the company's canon. According to its tagline: "In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places — some that have existed, and others...
and Marvel's speculative What if...?
What If (comics)
What If, sometimes rendered as What If...?, is the title of several comic book series published by Marvel Comics, exploring "the road not traveled" by its various characters...
titles) are necessarily not canon. However, stories can change from being non-canonical to being accepted as canon - and vice versa. In particular, line-wide continuity-changing events (such as DC's Crises and Marvel's controversial recent Spider-Man: One More Day
Spider-Man: One More Day
"One More Day" is a four-part, 2007 comic book crossover storyline, connecting the six main Spider-Man series concurrently published by Marvel Comics at the time. Written by J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada, with art by Quesada, this story arc concludes the fallout of Spider-Man's actions...
storyline) retroactively affect which stories are part of a character/universe's core canon, as they may revise or ignore previous events and happenings.
For example, DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths addressed continuity and consistency errors over almost 50 years of comics publication, and retrofitted events and characters into the history of the DCU as if they had always been there. (For example, the JSA went from being JLA-contemporaries from a parallel world to being their earlier, historical counterparts some years previously.) The Post-Crisis DC Universe removed many stories from "official canon", explaining them as Imaginary Tales or ignoring them completely.
Retcon
Retcon or "Ret-con" is a portmanteau shorthand phrase for "retroactive continuity", and is the descriptive term used to explain continuity- and canon-effecting stories. A retcon affects the past history of characters and/or the whole shared universe, and says that the "new" changed events have always been that way. This can lead to intense confusion, as compounded events can cause even the most knowledgeable fanboy to falter over what is currently the accepted canon.Linked: retrofit, retroactively embedding something (usually a plot point or subsidiary character) into a past story, for the purposes of a current story. This can give added weight to a story, implying that the impetus for a current story had been around for some time.
Pre- and post-Crisis
Labels referring to DC UniverseDC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
continuity and canon, with the separator being the 1985 ret-con event Crisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths is a 12-issue American comic book limited series and crossover event, produced by DC Comics in 1985 to simplify its then 50-year-old continuity...
. Simply, Pre-Crisis stories were not as stringently policed or edited, and often contained errors and internal inaccuracies (in large part because of their frequent nature as one-shot stories, rather than linked tales designed to follow evolving and changing characters). Pre-Crisis stories are often seen as throwaway and frivolous, perceived to be dominated by imaginary tales and "camp" characterisation. Neither label is entirely accurate, nor is the broad-brush assumption that a lack of cohesive continuity denotes a complete disregard for it.
The Post-Crisis DCU is that which was formed in the pages of the CoIE maxi-series, and is (or was intended to be) far more internally consistent and interlinked. Characters' origins were revised and updated, conflating previous stories and origins into one, accepted canonical one. Writer-artist John Byrne's Superman: The Man of Steel
Superman: The Man of Steel
Superman: The Man of Steel is the title of a monthly American comic book series that ran 136 issues from 1991 to 2003. published by DC Comics, featuring Superman. As a consequence of introducing this series alongside its already existing titles, DC Comics was able to publish a new Superman comic...
mini-series, for example, provided the post-Crisis origin of Kal El, while Crisis-architects Marv Wolfman
Marv Wolfman
Marvin A. "Marv" Wolfman is an award-winning American comic book writer. He is best known for lengthy runs on The Tomb of Dracula, creating Blade for Marvel Comics, and The New Teen Titans for DC Comics.-1960s:...
and George Pérez
George Pérez
George Pérez is a Puerto Rican-American writer and illustrator of comic books, known for his work on various titles, including Avengers, Teen Titans and Wonder Woman.-Biography:...
produced the two-issue History of the DC Universe
History of the DC Universe
History of the DC Universe is a two-issue comic book limited series created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, and published by DC Comics following the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths. It was an attempt to summarize the new history of the DC Universe to establish what was canonical after Crisis...
to briefly detail a broad overview of the post-Crisis DCU, showing the sequence of events as well as the revised origins of many characters (later to be fleshed out in their own series).
Even the post-Crisis DCU was not without its continuity problems, however, and several subsequent events have attempted to address them, making the "post-Crisis" label largely defunct. However, because of the 1985 maxi-series's landmark status, the label persists in one form or another.
Events
A comics "event" describes a large storyline which almost-always involves a crossover between one or more characters, titles, universes or companies, but usually denotes an internal company crossover. These then typically fall into two broad categories: character or universe events. i.e. a Batman "event" will likely only feature the Batman familyBatman Family
The Batman Family was a DC Comics comic book series which ran from 1975 to 1978, primarily featuring stories starring supporting characters in the Batman comics...
of characters (an example would be the Batman: Knightfall
Batman: Knightfall
"Knightfall" is the title given to a major Batman story arc published by DC Comics that dominated Batman-related serial comic books in the spring and summer of 1993...
storylines), while a multi-character crossover will usually be universe-wide and affect several different individuals (an example would be Marvel's Civil War
Civil War (comics)
Civil War is a 2006-2007 Marvel Comics crossover storyline built around a self-titled seven-issue limited series written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven, which ran through various other titles published by Marvel at the time...
event, which affected almost-every character and title in their shared universe).
Cross-Universe events and inter-company events are considerably rarer, but do happen. 1996's DC vs. Marvel event saw the DCU and MU brought together (and ultimately, briefly, merged), while the DC Universe has also featured in events/crossovers with, for example, the WildStorm
Wildstorm Universe
The Wildstorm Universe is a fictional shared universe where the comic books published by Wildstorm take place. It represents an alternate history of the real world where ideas such as interstellar travel and superhuman abilities are commonplace...
and Milestone universes.
DCU, MU, Earth-1, Earth-616
The concept of a shared universe, wherein a companies diverse cast of characters are able to interact and crossover between books and events is usually labelled the " - Universe" (DC, Marvel, ImageImage Comics
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
, CrossGen
CrossGen
Cross Generation Entertainment, or CrossGen, was an American comic book publisher that operated from 1998 to 2004.CrossGen Comics, Inc. was founded in 1998, by Tampa, Florida-based entrepreneur Mark Alessi who sought to create a comic book universe that was uniquely varied but also connected by a...
, Valiant
Valiant Comics
Valiant Comics is a comic book imprint published by various publishers since its inception with Voyager Communications, Inc. in 1989, later Acclaim Comics, Inc. Its assets were purchased from the bankruptcy of the Acclaim Entertaintment by Valiant Entertainment, Inc. in 2007.-Voyager...
, etc.). Comics fandom has produced various shorthand ways of referring to the various universes, however, and the comics themselves also refer to themselves in specific ways. These labels are usually reserved for the universes of "the Big Two" (Marvel and DC), in large part because they are the main American comics publishers and have the largest shared universes. A non-exhaustive list of terms includes:
- The Marvel Universe, sometimes abbreviated to the MU. The shared universe in which the X-MenX-MenThe X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
, Spider-ManSpider-ManSpider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
and AvengersAvengers (comics)The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...
, etc. all exist and interact - Earth-616Earth-616In the fictional Marvel Comics multiverse, Earth-616 or Earth 616 is the name used to identify the primary continuity in which most Marvel Comics titles take place.-Origin of Earth-616:...
, The Six-One-Six, etc. denotes the numerical designation of the Earth which the Marvel Universe inhabits. The term was coined in the pages of Captain BritainCaptain BritainCaptain Britain , briefly known as Britannic, is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Chris Claremont and Herb Trimpe, he first appeared in Captain Britain Weekly, #1...
, by either Alan MooreAlan MooreAlan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
or Dave ThorpeDave ThorpeDave Thorpe is a British writer who is best known for his work on Captain Britain.-Biography:Thorpe's career began with Marvel UK's Captain Britain character in the early 1980s. He created many of the characters later used by Alan Moore...
and may have been chosen for reasons of historical significance, wry commentary, or random choice. See also: Marvel MultiverseMultiverse (Marvel Comics)Within Marvel Comics, most tales take place within the fictional Marvel Universe, which in turn is part of a larger multiverse. Starting with issues of Captain Britain, the main continuity in which most Marvel storylines take place was designated Earth-616, and the multiverse was established as...
. - The DC Universe or DCU refers to the shared universe inhabited by BatmanBatmanBatman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
, SupermanSupermanSuperman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
, the Justice League of America, etc. - Earth-1 was the Pre-Crisis designation of the "main" DCU, in contrast to Earth-2 (featuring the JSA), and latterly dozens of individual Earths which were home to a plethora of characters, and were destroyed in the Crisis on Infinite Earths maxi-series.
- New Earth is the designation of the "main" DCU after the events on 2005's mini-series event Infinite CrisisInfinite CrisisInfinite Crisis is a 2005 - 2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, and a number of tie-in books...
, in which a revised Multiverse of 52 worlds was created. See also: DC MultiverseMultiverse (DC Comics)The DC Multiverse is a fictional continuity construct that exists in stories published by comic book company DC Comics. The DC Multiverse consists of numerous worlds, most of them outside DC's main continuity, allowing writers the creative freedom to explore alternative versions of characters and...
, Multiverse world lists.
In addition to the core shared universe, some companies have subsidiary universes/imprints, which can be part of the main universe, or can not be (or can be thoroughly confusing). DC Comics' mature readers' imprint Vertigo Comics, for example mainly publishes stand alone ongoing, mini- and maxi-series, but also variously includes characters who were once part of the DCU, or have intereacted with it in such a way as to make them at least an honorary part of it. Characters such as The Sandman family of titles, Doom Patrol
Doom Patrol
The Doom Patrol is a superhero team appearing in publications from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80...
and Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing, a fictional character, is a plant elemental in the created by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson. He first appeared in House of Secrets #92 in a stand-alone horror story set in the early 20th century . The Swamp Thing then returned in his own series, set in the contemporary world and in...
all began publication as part of the DCU, but have gradually drifted to a corner of it quite far removed, if still nominally a part. The WildStorm
WildStorm
WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, published American comic books. Originally an independent company established by Jim Lee and further expanded upon in subsequent years by other creators, WildStorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1999...
Universe, which was initially published by Image Comics
Image Comics
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
, is now largely accepted as part of the wider DC Multiverse, but not part of the DCU-proper. Similarly, the Ultimate Marvel
Ultimate Marvel
Ultimate Marvel is an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics, featuring reimagined and updated versions of the company's superhero characters, including Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four. The imprint was launched in 2000 with the publication of the series...
Universe is not part of the 616, while the MAX Imprint
MAX (comics)
MAX is an imprint of Marvel Comics aimed at a niche 'adults only' audience, launched in 2001 after Marvel broke with the Comics Code Authority and established its own rating system...
is on the fringes in a similar way to the Vertigo/DC interaction.
Crossover
Crossovers can be both internal and between different universes and companies. At their most basic level, a crossover can refer simply to a character making a guest appearance in a different comic (e.g. DaredevilDaredevil (Marvel Comics)
Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
"crossing over" into an issue of a Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
comics), but typically a "crossover" implies more than a simple appearance, and denotes a cohesive storyline spanning more than one title, often as part of an event. Thus when the JLA and JSA featured in a two-part story beginning in the pages of one comic and concluding in the pages of the other, this is referred to as a crossover. Typically, crossovers are more than two-issues in length, and often span multiple titles, rather than just two. For example, the X-Men: Messiah Complex
X-Men: Messiah Complex
"Messiah Complex" is a comic book crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics from October 2007 to January 2008, which ran through the various X-Men books....
crossover event sees the storyline unfold over four X-Men titles, as well as two one-shot issues.
Most crossovers occur within the confines of a shared universe, although crossovers between universes (and companies (see below)) also occur, for example in the upcoming DC/WildStorm: Dreamwar crossover event.
- N.B. Crossover and Tie-in issues are often confused, conflated and used interchangeably. This is inaccurate.
Cross-company or Intercompany crossovers occur when the characters of two different publishers' universes meet (and usually fight - see "comic book clichés"). Usually this is in a non-canonical event, although occasionally happenings can be referred to in mainstream continuity (e.g. the character of Access
Access (comics)
Access is a fictional character owned by both DC Comics and Marvel Comics. He made his first appearance in DC vs. Marvel #1 , a special crossover between the two companies. He was created as both a way to explain the events of the story as well as a means to enable future intercompany...
appeared in a couple of DC comics issues independent of the DC/Marvel intercompany crossover). The biggest and most famous example of intercompany crossovers are the irregular meetings of the DC and Marvel Universes, most notably in 1996's crossover event DC Vs. Marvel/Marvel Vs. DC, which threw all the DCU and MU characters together in one big event, which ultimately spun out into a series of merged-character one-shot issues co-published between the companies as the Amalgam Comics
Amalgam Comics
Amalgam Comics was a publishing imprint shared by DC Comics and Marvel Comics, in which the two comic book publishers merged their characters into new ones . These characters first appeared in a series of twelve comic books which were published in 1996, between issues 3 and 4 of the Marvel vs...
line. Other crossovers include the irregular meetings between DCU characters and the Dark Horse
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
-licenced properties Aliens
Aliens (comic book)
The Aliens comic books were first published by Dark Horse Comics in 1988 and set in the Alien fictional universe.Some stories often feature the company Weyland-Yutani and the United States Colonial Marines. Originally intended as a sequel to James Cameron's Aliens, the first mini-series features...
and Predator; or the various Marvel and DC character-crossovers with Top Cow's Witchblade
Witchblade
Witchblade is an American comic book series published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint of Image Comics, from 1995 until present. The series was created by Top Cow editors Marc Silvestri and David Wohl, writers Brian Haberlin and Christina Z, and artist Michael Turner.The series follows Sara...
, Darkness, etc.
Tie-in, guest appearance, guest star
A tie-in issue, usually involves a guest appearance of one sort or another, and occurs on the fringes of an independent storyline or event. Different from a full-fledged crossover issue, the two are often confused - and, indeed, if ill-plotted or written are difficult to tell apart. Whereas a crossover issue plays an integral part in furthering the plot, a tie-in simply expands upon a minor point, side-issue or tangential-but-somehow-linked story, which is not required by the reader to fully comprehend the plot of the main storyline/event, but nevertheless enhances it or creates greater depth.A guest appearance is when a character not normally associated with a specific title/book appears briefly (or sometimes for several issues) appears there. Often (somewhat cynically, if accurately) seen as a money-making move by publishers to boost flagging sales by inserting a popular character into a lesser-selling book (and in particular, it seems, Wolverine
Wolverine (comics)
Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...
), a guest appearance may be a throwaway occurrence, may further the plot, or may be part of an event, crossover or tie-in. The character who puts in a guest appearance is, reasonably enough, also known as a guest star.
Shared universe
The concept of a shared universe is one in which a multitude of different characters co-exist and/or interact. Typically this concept confines itself to one publishing company's output (although concepts such as the Wold Newton familyWold Newton family
The Wold Newton family is a literary concept derived from a form of crossover fiction developed by the science fiction writer Philip José Farmer...
extend the boundaries considerably), and it is most common in the main superhero universes of DC and Marvel. The benefit of having a shared universe is that characters can make (sales-boosting) guest appearances and allow for team-ups between different characters, as well as allowing the "team" concept (JLA, Avengers, etc.) to exist at all. Stan Lee's initial Marvel Universe creations in the 1960s best exemplify the "shared universe" concept, whereby characters (and villains) would feature across multiple titles, sometimes in the foreground of the story, sometimes as cameos in passing, but always underlining the interlinkedness of the universe.
Cover date, publication date
Most comics include a "cover date" on their covers, but this is rarely the actual date of publication, even though it can easily be referred to as such, not least for ease of reference. Much like magazines (which are typically cover-dated a month ahead) most comics are cover dated a couple of months ahead of their being published. The reasons behind this date back to comics being available on a newsstand, rather than through the direct market in a comic shop:- "This month was not the month the book went on sale, it was the month the issue was to be removed from the newsstand in the event the book did not sell."
Origins
A character's "origin" is the fictional story which describes (almost always solely for Superheroes) how they came to be; gained their powers; arrived on Earth; were bitten by a radioactive spider, etc. Origins need not be established immediately, they can be told in flashback, or slowly over the course of several issues or, indeed, years. Origins are often subject to revision and ret-cons, and may find themselves having additional information retrofitted in at a later time.They are also frequently updated to better reflect their times. For example, the origin of Iron Man
Iron Man
Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,...
has gradually been revised and updated, so that instead of serving in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, he serves in Korea
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
or the (first) Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
.
"One shot", stand-alone issue, "done in one"
Although "one shots" and "stand-alone issues" (sometimes referred to as "done in one" stories) refer to subtly different things, the two are similar in their design and intent.Imaginary tales, Elseworlds, Alternates, Possible futures, What If...?
All these terms refer to specific and general "non-canonical stories", often - but not exclusively - featuring alternate versions of established heroes and/or events. For many years some DC comics would feature stories labelled as "Imaginary Tales," signifying that the events which occurred therein did not have an active effect on continuity, and therefore that anything could happen, even the bizarre and contradictory. (This also meant that some seemingly-bizarre or outrageous stories were deliberately labelled and described with the tagline: "NOT a Hoax! Not an Imaginary Tale!" to separate them from those which were non-canonical.) With 1989's Gotham by Gaslight prestige format one shot, in which the story of Batman was re-cast and set in the Victorian era, DC produced occasional titles which they labelled ElseworldsElseworlds
Elseworlds is the publication imprint for a group of comic books produced by DC Comics that take place outside the company's canon. According to its tagline: "In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places — some that have existed, and others...
, to set them apart from the main DC Universe. These stories (and characters) can also be referred to by other names, but are most likely to be talked of Alternate World/Universe stories/counterparts. Some Imaginary Tales and Elseworlds have been assigned their own alternate (numbered) Earths in both the DC and Marvel Universe; others (like Frank Miller
Frank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
's dystopian Dark Knight Returns or Mark Waid
Mark Waid
Mark Waid is an American comic book writer. He is well known for his eight-year run as writer of the DC Comics' title The Flash, as well as his scripting of the limited series Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright, and his work on Marvel Comics' Captain America...
& Alex Ross
Alex Ross
Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross is an American comic book painter, illustrator, and plotter. He is praised for his realistic, human depictions of classic comic book characters. Since the 1990s he has done work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an...
' Kingdom Come have variously been considered pseudo-canonical, as potentially in-universe futures for their respective casts.)
Marvel Comics' main rival to the mainly-DC preserve of alternate tales are their series' and one-shots under the What If...?
What If (comics)
What If, sometimes rendered as What If...?, is the title of several comic book series published by Marvel Comics, exploring "the road not traveled" by its various characters...
banner. These tend to shy away from DC's Elseworlds stated method whereby "heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places - some that have existed, and others that can't, couldn't or shouldn't exist," (i.e. in typically in self-contained continuities) and are largely based on specific events or happenings. Most What If...? stories changed one minor (or key) detail in a major Marvel event, and posited how events might have played in a mostly same-universe situation - "What if Spider-Man joined the Fantastic Four?", while many Elseworlds suggested what would happen if known heroes had existed in completely different situations (e.g. Superman: Kal which grafts the Superman mythos onto the story of King Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
).
Some Imaginary Stories can be adapted into the accepted canon of a Universe (particularly possible futures, but also as taking place on parallel worlds which can then be interacted with), but it is most common for them to either stay completely separate, or even for some formerly-canonical stories to be retconned into Imaginary Stories as after a major event. Thus some stories which may have once been "real" for the characters to whom the occurred can be retroactively said not to have happened, and thus that any memory of them is of an "Imaginary" tale. (For a knowing take on retroactive continuity and Imaginary Tales, see Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
's Supreme: The Story of the Year
Supreme (comics)
Supreme is a fictional superhero created by Rob Liefeld and first published by Image Comics, then Maximum Press, and later by Awesome Entertainment...
)
Direct market
When comics were first launched, they could be purchased in many places, most particularly at the newsstand, alongside newspapers and magazines. In the 1980s, with comics sales on the wane, attempts were made (notably by conventionFan convention
A fan convention, or con , is an event in which fans of a particular film, television series, comic book, actor, or an entire genre of entertainment such as science fiction or anime and manga, gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and...
-organizer Phil Seuling
Phil Seuling
Philip Nicholas Seuling was a comic book fan convention organizer and comics distributor primarily active in the 1970s. Seuling was the organizer of the annual New York Comic Art Convention, originally held in New York City every July 4 weekend throughout the 1970s...
) to buy comics direct from the publisher, rather than through a traditional magazine distributor. In addition, rather than returning unsold copies after a certain date (see: cover date), with a higher initial discount, buyers could keep unsold copies as back issue stock. This led to the formation of specialist shops ("comic shops"), with wide-ranging stock of older issues, as well as the creation of a number of tailored comicbook distributors.
Panels
Panel (comic strips)
A panel is an individual frame, or single drawing, in the multiple-panel sequence of a comic strip or comic book. A panel consists of a single drawing depicting a frozen moment....
.
The layout of the panels can be in a grid. Watchmen
Watchmen
Watchmen is a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colourist John Higgins. The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form...
was notable for utilizing a nine panel grid of three rows and three columns. Occasionally, Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
and Dave Gibbons
Dave Gibbons
Dave Gibbons is an English comic book artist, writer and sometime letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries Watchmen and the Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything"...
would use larger panels that broke the format of the grid to emphasize specific acts or points in the narrative.
Other techniques of representation used within comics are: the speech bubble; the thought balloon; the narrative box; and the style of lettering
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 comic's "display lettering": the story title lettering and...
.
Panel frames
The border or edges of a panel, when drawn, are called frames. These are normally rectangular in shape, but this shape can be altered to convey information to the reader. A cloud shaped panel can indicate a flashback or a dream sequence, whilst one with a jagged edge can be used to convey anger or shock. A panel without a frame is used to convey space. The frame itself can be formed by the image. For example, a scene can be framed by a door frame or by binoculars.Bleed
Full bleed is usually used on a comic book cover, and is when the art is allowed to run to the edge of each page, rather than having a white border around it. Bleeds are sometimes used on internal panels to create the illusion of space or emphasize action. This is more common in mangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
and modern comics.
Splash page
Poster
A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and informative. Posters may be...
s.
When used early in the issue, the splash provides a means of establishing characters or setting as well as draw the reader's attention. If used far later, it is commonly employed to dramatically portray the climax of a story. Rarely does an issue include more than two splash pages; however, Superman #75, Vol. 2
Superman (vol. 2)
Superman was an ongoing comic book series featuring the DC Comics superhero of the same name. The second volume of the previous ongoing Superman title, the series was published from cover dates January 1987 to April 2006, and ran for 228 issues...
is notable for consisting entirely of splashes.
Speech balloon, word balloon, speech bubble
The speech or word balloon (also known as a speech bubble), is a graphic used to assign ownership of dialogue on a particular character. Bubbles which represent an internal dialogue are referred to as "thought balloons". The shape of the balloon will indicate the type of dialogue contained, with thought balloons being more cloud-like and connected to the owner by a series of small bubbles. Speech bubbles are more elliptical, although those used to represent screaming or anger tend to be spiky, and square boxes have been used to represent dialogue spoken by robots or computers. Whispers are usually represented by balloons made up of broken lines. Surprised thoughts in Japanese MangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
are usually round and tend to spike out. Balloons such as radio, or TV, may be represtented by a spiked balloon. Certain creators are particularly renowned for their inventiveness with the format of the balloon; writer and artist Dave Sim
Dave Sim
David Victor Sim is an award-winning Canadian comic book writer and artist.A pioneer of self-published comics and creators' rights, Sim is best known as the creator of Cerebus the Aardvark, a comic book published from 1977 to 2004, which chronicles its main character in a 6,000-page self-contained...
(who also letters his own work), is particularly innovative with this aspect of the comic book - using particular balloons for drunkenness, echoes etc.
Captions
See also: Speech balloon- "Boxes on a comic book page that contains text... While sometimes used to convey dialogue, they are more often used to impart a character's thoughts or as a narrative device."
Like word balloons, they need not be of uniform shape, size, design or color (indeed, some modern comics use different colors to assign different textual captions to different characters).
Motion lines
Motion lines, also known as "speed lines", are lines that are used to represent motion; if a person or some other mobile object is moving such indicators of movement will follow in straight lines behind it. Line length may be said to vary proportionately to the rate of speed of the object moving.Gutter
Gutter is the space between borders. Scott McCloudScott McCloud
Scott McCloud is an American cartoonist and theorist on comics as a distinct literary and artistic medium...
identified the gutter as one of the most important narrative tools in comics, invoking as it does a procedure McCloud defined as closure.
Symbolia
The Lexicon of Comicana
The Lexicon of Comicana is a book that was written in 1980 by American cartoonist Mort Walker. It was intended as a tongue-in-cheek look at the devices cartoonists utilize in their craft. In it, Walker invented an international set of symbols called Symbolia after researching cartoons around the...
, the iconic representations used within comics and cartooning as "symbolia". Examples being the lightbulb above a character's head to indicate an idea, the indication of sleep by a saw cutting a log or a line of "zzzz", Kirby dots
Kirby dots
Kirby dots are an artistic convention in superhero and science fiction comic books and similar illustrations: a field of black, roughly circular dots that are used to represent negative space around unspecified kinds of energy...
, and the use of dotted lines to indicate a line of sight, with daggers being used instead of dotted lines to indicate an evil look.
Sound effects
Sound effectSound effect
For the album by The Jam, see Sound Affects.Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds, or sound processes used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media...
s and environmental sounds are presented without balloons, in bold or "3D" text in all upper case. Percussive sounds usually have exclamation points. Usually, they are written/drawn in a way as to emphasize their nature, such as the sound effect from a fast racer car almost leaning from the car's speed, or a shrill noise depicted in a jagged, scratchy form.
Some effects:
- BAM! (pistol shot) (image)
- SPANG! (bullet hitting metal) (image)
- SPLAT! (bullet hitting masonry or concrete) (image)
- WANG! KAWUNNGG! (bullet hit with ricochet) (image)
- POW! (fist hitting chin) (image)
- SOK! (fist hitting chin) (image)
- CRAK! (nightstick hitting skull) (image)
- CRACK! (wrench hitting skull) (image)
- CREAK! (squeaky door opening) (image)
- EEEEEEEEEE! (scream) (image)
- CRASH! (furnishings being destroyed in a fight) (image)
Cf. Onomatopeia
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' characters have several specialized sound effects that are under Marvel's copyright: Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
's web deploys with a "thwip", Wolverine
Wolverine (comics)
Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...
's claws emerge with a "snikt", and Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler (comics)
Nightcrawler is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Universe. He has been associated with both the X-Men and Excalibur, originally appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, he debuted in Giant-Size X-Men #1...
teleports with a "bamf".
External links
- Comic Book Glossary at About.comAbout.comAbout.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
- Glossary at Don Markstein's ToonopediaDon Markstein's ToonopediaDon Markstein's Toonopedia was a web encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation. Don D...