Online Comics

Online comics provide a newer and interesting take on the traditional paperback comics that we have all grown so fond of over the years.  But are they really comics? Should the be recognized as the kin of traditional graphic novels? Or should they be considered an entirely different medium?

I believe that they are still most definitely comics.  For me, what makes a comic are the transitions between panels and closure, as defined in Scott McCloud's book, "Understanding Comics".  Online comics, while providing more closure between frames with the help of motion pictures, are still a good bit of animation away from movies and cartoons.

In Scott McCloud's online comic "The Right Number", readers move through a comic by clicking an arrow.  In the center of each frame is a smaller version of the next frame.  In some instances, this inward motion actually aides in closure and transitions. An great example can be seen below:

Another aspect that really makes a comic a COMIC is frame usage.  In "The Right Number" there is minimal "traditional" frame usage (as in arrangement within the comic page), although it does still exist. In an online comic version of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, motion is used a bit more frequently (making it closer to a cartoon) but a heavy dose of frame usage and arrangement is added.

The addition of frames helps to remind readers that although there is some motion and moving pictures, the story they are reading is most DEFINITELY still a comic.

These factors give online comics the right to be considered, in my opinion, actual comics. They may be different from the traditional book version, but the same storytelling techniques and time transitions still exist in this newer, updated medium of comic book reading.