These are essential terms used to create a comic book page. You combine these elements while always keeping in mind that each comics panel and page should read in the same order as a page of text: from left to right and top to bottom. For example, when two characters are speaking to each other in the same panel, whoever talks first should be on the left side.
Panel: The images that are usually laid out within borders are known as panels. A comics writer can call for panels of any shape or size that’ll fit on a page: square, round, triangular, narrow vertical, shallow horizontal, diagonal, etc.
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. Lettering: Any text on a comics page. Bold lettering is used to emphasize words, large letters in dialogue represent shouting, and small dialogue lettering usually stands for whispering. Dialogue and caption lettering is usually all uppercase. Display lettering includes sound effects and any other text that is not contained in a balloon or caption (store signage, license plates, words on a computer screen, etc.). Thought balloon: A bordered shape containing a character’s unspoken thoughts. Thought balloons almost always have bumpy, cloudlike borders and tails that look like trails of bubbles. Do not overuse them, especially not for lengthy internal monologues — that’s a terrible cliché in comics. As in movies, the maxim is “show, don’t tell.” Caption: A tool often used for narration, transitional text (“Meanwhile...”), or off-panel dialogue. Captions usually have rectangular borders, but can also be borderless or floating letters. 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. |
Sound effects (SFX):
Stylized lettering that represents noises within a scene. Most SFX are floating letters, and sometimes they’re an integral part of the imagery. Sound effects and environmental sounds are presented without balloons, in bold or "3d" tex in all upper case. Percussive sound usually have exclamation points. Usually they are written/drawn in a way to emphasize their nature, such as the sound effect from a rast racecar almost leaning from the car's speed, or a shrill noise depicted in jagged, scratchy form. Some Effects: - BAM! (pistol shot) -POW! or SOK! (fist and hitting) -EEEEEEEEEE! (scream) - CRASH! (something being destroyed) - CREAK! - (squeaky door opening) Word balloon: A bordered shape containing dialogue, usually with a tail that points to the speaker. 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. Balloons such as radio, or TV, may be represented by a spiked balloon. Symbolia or Emanata:
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. Gutter:
Gutter is the space between borders. |
Definitions came from several sites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comics_vocabulary
http://www.teachingcomics.org/images/handouts/terminology.pdf (cool handout)
http://luke-arnott.suite101.com/the-visual-parts-of-a-comic-book-page-a129842
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comics_vocabulary
http://www.teachingcomics.org/images/handouts/terminology.pdf (cool handout)
http://luke-arnott.suite101.com/the-visual-parts-of-a-comic-book-page-a129842