Comic Strip Part 1

What are Comics?

Comics are a method for expressing information, mostly through the use of a sequence of images. As the language of pictures is universally easy to understand, comics have been used for centuries as a simple and effective way to tell stories.

Comic History

When we think of comics, it’s really easy to imagine relatively modern characters like Superman or Wonder Woman fighting crime and saving the world, but the idea of using images to tell stories is much older than any of the ‘comic books’ that we have today.

For example, something like the Bayeux Tapestry - which is thought to date back to the 11th century - is a great example of visual storytelling.

Although it includes some text, the images are the main focus, meaning that even people who couldn’t read were able to understand the story.

Watch this wonderful animated student version from Goldsmiths College in London:

Visual storytelling has continued to develop, and has diversified into various genres. We are going to focus on “Comics”.

Take a look at this short video from the BBC explaining some background about the development of comics as a storytelling medium:

The more modern ‘comics’ that we know today are considered to have begun in the 19th century, during the era of mass printing.

The Glasgow Looking Glass (1826) is widely credited as one of the earliest comics, and is certainly the oldest known document to use speech bubbles and the term ‘To Be Continued’ at the end of part of a series.

Early comics were mostly satirical in nature, parodying current events and lampooning the fashions and politics of the day.

Certainly early comics were not considered suitable for children, as the subject matters were often pitched at an enlightened adult audience. Comics in the 1920’s and 30’s became more targeted at children, and it is during this era that we see comics such as The Dandy and Tin Tin appearing.

The late 1930’s saw the dawning of a genre of comics which most people associate with comic books today, the superhero. Superman first appeared in 1938, quickly followed by Batman and a slew of hundreds of other fantastical characters.

The term ‘comic’ is still used today by many to describe any kind of sequential storytelling artwork, even if it is not comedic in nature. In the 1950’s the term ‘graphic novel’ was coined to help avoid any confusion. The term became popular in the 1970’s and is still used today, often to describe lengthier comic books or collections.

Post World War 2 saw a growth in comic books in Japan. Far eastern countries have a long tradition of visual storytelling, and the medium became very popular, very fast, eventually spreading to western countries. This format of comic is referred to as Manga.

Since the World Wide web became available in the 1990’s there has been a growth in popularity of webcomics. Usually serialised stories that appear on blogs or websites, the webcomic has become a genre all of its own. Some creators whose work has become popular have found their webcomic work picked up by traditional publishers, and their careers have blossomed. An example is Noelle Stevenson, creator of the book Nimona, which began as a webcomic, and has since won several awards and accolades.

Comic Basics and Terminology

Comics are usually divided into Panels; single drawings which make up a larger story when put together in sequence. These make up the majority of most comics.

For visual variety, more space can be given to larger images depicting important parts of the story. When an image takes up an entire page on its own, it is known as a Splash. An image which uses more than one page is called a Spread.

Although comics are mostly based on images, text is commonly used alongside the pictures. This can be in the form of Captions to give a voice to an unseen narrator, or Speech Bubbles for dialogue. See below for examples:

Captions (Left), and Speech Bubbles (Right)

The process of creating a comic starts with a Script, which helps the artist to visualise the events of the story.

Here’s a great example script for a comic based on a famous Scottish parable, written by our tutor Colin Maxwell:

If you’re looking for inspiration, don’t forget that Behance is a really great resource for amazing examples of work produced using Adobe Tools.

Here’s an excellent graphics project based on Warner Bros’ Suicide Squad, created by Stefan Katanić using Adobe Draw: https://www.behance.net/gallery/58238797/SUICIDE-SQUAD

Now that you’ve got a bit more background about comics, take a look at today’s lecture from your tutor Colin Maxwell.

This week, it’s an introduction to Adobe Draw for Android and iOS, and a quick rundown of how to get started experimenting with hand-drawn imagery using Adobe tools.