Comic Strips
In order to understand comic strips there are some concepts we need to know about.
Follow the following suggested activities:
1. Read the following list of comic terms and their definitions.
2. Look at the images provided as examples.
3. Work with the interactive exercise provided in order to evaluate your knowledge.
Terms
A comic strip
is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief
humor or form a narrative, often serialized with text in balloons and captions
Comic strips
are written and drawn by comics artist or cartoonist.
Structure of
Comic Strips
Panels: Comic
strips are divided into panels. These are separate squares for placing the
illustrations, characters, and captions.
Landscape: This
is the setting where characters live. Use props (like rocks and trees) that
could be seen in a variety of panels as the comic progresses.
Caption: it refers to the speech or thought bubbles
that provide the dialogue. Captions are used to build up the relationship
between the characters.
Different kinds
of balloons for comic strips
BURST BALLOONS: Burst Balloons are used when someone is screaming their dialogue.
DOUBLE OUTLINE
BALLOONS: Double outline balloons serve the same purpose as a burst balloon -
to add emphasis to dialogue.
HOLLOW SOUND
EFFECTS: A relatively recent trend in sound effects - hollow sound effects have an
outline but the center is see-through so that focal art can still be seen.
JOINING
BALLOONS: There are two instances where this is used. The first is when a character says
two separate ideas expressed one after the other.
MUSIC NOTES: A lone music note generally denotes whistling. You often see one or two music
notes in a dialogue balloon, which indicates singing.
RADIO BALLOONS: These are also called, "electric balloons". Whenever speech is
transmitted through a radio, TV, telephone, or any type of speaker, it should
be italicized and you should use a radio balloon.
TELEPATHIC
BALLOONS: When a character is speaking telepathically the dialogue is italicized.
THOUGHT BALLOONS: Thought balloons have fallen out of fashion in recent years in preference for
narrative captions. Text in a thought balloon can be italicized.
Now, test yourself!
Good luck!