Professor John Logie teaches us that comics have a place in academia. He
teaches it in Visual Rhetoric. Why not? Comics are visual and they are
graphic and they are certainly full of rhetoric. Comics teach us to engage ourselves
with the comic we are viewing, on our own time, in our own space. Professor Logie teaches that
Scott McCloud's
"Understanding Comics" is an essential book to do just
that,
understand comics. Logie and McCloud teach us of time and
motion and reader participation between panels. I always took the reader
participation for granted, knowing that each of us as a reader might
have a slightly different interpretation of what just took place
from panel to panel and in the time space between a panel. But it is important when understanding audience and rhetoric. In comics it is not so vitally important that everyone in the audience realm gets the exact same message as it is in other messages like speed limit signs, directions for filling a gas can with gasoline, or how to use a stove.
Reader participation in the interpretations of comics can be further explained under the Gestalt Principles of Design that Kostelnick and Roberts speak to
us about in their textbook,
"Designing Visual Language" chapter 2 on Perception and Design. Kostelnick and Roberts
says, "Gestalt principles of perception can help us understand how
readers see images in context--in relation to a whole visual field, the
whole form plays an essential role in understanding it parts."(page 52 Kostelnick and Roberts) Great!!! I have arrived at Understanding Comics in Gestalt Principles of Design. I think the problem with Kostelnick and Roberts figure 2.7 and 2.8 on page 53 is that they use dots and various shades in the background (boring) instead of using an example like comics. The use of comics would be an excellent way to teach gestalt principles.
Hey. What about that gutter between the panels? I'm happy to know what a "gutter" is. Before taking Visual Rhetoric, the word itself makes one think of the bowling alley or a situation where one might be down in life. It has also been said, "Get your mind out of the gutter." But now when I think of it in terms of comics that are juxtaposed in their layout, I learned that it is the space between each set of panels where the drawings and the action takes place in the comics. I read comic books as a child and teenager. I read the comics in the Sunday newspaper as a young adult. Lately I haven't read any. As a result of the class this week, I have a renewed interest. Is this important to my learning as a technical writer? I believe it is, since technical writing is full of vast opportunities, including the use of comics in something we might publish.
Finally, this lesson on comics, panels and gutters, made me think of my favorite comics. One was Felix the Cat. I loved cartoons, so the comics were just as important to me as the cartoons on the television or at the movies. I hope you enjoy the little story that is told in the eight panels below. It's kind of sad, but it is very Felix just the same. He tries hard to do good work and often comes up a little short.
http://www.bigblogcomics.com/2010/09/felix-cat-great-comic-book-tails.html
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