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.

Essex County Story Structure

Jeff Lemire’s Essex County presents a very unique, interlocking story between its three segments.  As each story unravels, so does its characters. Each of the story’s main characters are all interrelated with each other. Their background help to create an entire story of the history of these characters and how they all arrived in Essex County.

In the Book One: Tales From the Farm, we are introduced to Lester Papineau, a quiet young boy with a very active imagination.  As the story progresses, we find out that Lester’s mother died while he was young and that he lives with his Uncle.  He later ends up meeting a now retired, but once up and coming hockey player named Jimmy Lebeuf.  Due to an injury sustained to the head, Jimmy was forced to quit hockey and ended up suffering minor mental problems from it. Later, without the consent of Lester’s Uncle, Jimmy starts to spend time with Lester.

Book Two: Ghost Stories, tells the history of two hockey playing brothers, Lou and Vince Lebeuf. Eventually, Vince ends up marrying a woman named Beth Morgan. Unbeknownst to Vince, there is a strong emotional and sexual tension between Beth and Lou.  This tension eventually culminates into Lou and Beth conceiving Vince and Beth’s daughter, Mary.  Mary and her husband have a child named Jimmy Lebeuf, Vince and Lou’s promising hockey athlete grandson.

In Book Three, the stories collide and lock into place as we discover the origin of the nurse named Anne Byrne. She is caring for Lou as he is elderly and in need of daily assistance.  Anne’s grandmother, Sister Margaret Byrne was a nun who cared for orphans with a priest named Charles Gerrard.  Against the vows of celibacy they had taken, they conceived an illegitimate child, Anne Byrne’s mother. Amongst the children that Sister Margaret cared for, was one Lawrence Lebeuf, the father of Vince and Lou. 

One day the orphanage burned down and Sister Margaret and the orphans were forced into the wintery wilderness to find a new home.  During the fire, Charles Gerrard died while rescuing one of the children, Lawrence Lebeuf. Sister Margaret and the children wandered the wilderness until they came to a town in Essex County.

Towards the end of Book Three, we also find out the real father of Lester Papineau. His mother, who had died years before, was married to Jimmy Lebeuf. Jimmy is Lester’s real father, but as Lester’s mother, Claire Papineau, saw it on her death bed, Lester’s Uncle Kenny was more suited to care for Lester than Jimmy. Jimmy left Claire during their marriage. Lester was never told that Jimmy was his real father until the end of the book when Kenny decides to reveal it to him.

I feel that Lemire decided to create such a complex and intricate story in order to build suspense throughout the book as well as keep the reader’s interest. He succeeded in making one big story out of three separate ones.  While I had somewhat questioned the real story underneath the three separate stories, it all became clear by the end of Book Three when all the story’s paths join together.  This book was extremely entertaining to read and the connection of the stories intensified the reading pleasure. 

Frame Usage for “Essex County Book Two: Ghost Stories” and “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns”

     Jeff Lemire's "Essex County" and Frank Miller's "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns" both have very unique structures with their frame usage. Both use a wide variety of different frames. As well, both possess an interesting and varied usage of transitions.

Jeff Lemire's "Ghost Stories"

Lemire's second installment, "Ghost Stories" is a story of recollection and memories of past events.  Many of the frames correlate with this mode of narration. The frames are somewhat standard of comics but are often interrupted to aid in the display of flashbacks and flashforwards.

Jeff Lemire's "Ghost Stories"

Frank Miller's "Dark Knight Returns"

     Frank Miller's "Dark Knight Returns", uses a very unique style for its framing.  Often times the standard format of framing is as per the example on the left. However oftentimes, the normal format of framing is interrupted by segments in which the frames resemble TV screens viewing the news. The example on the right displays how this format typically repeats throughout the novel.

Frank Miller's "Dark Knight Returns"

     While at times each novel has similar standard frame formatting, both novels use their own unique formats to help aid their narratives. "Ghost Stories" relays dissonant and dreamy sequences with its frame usage to tell a flashback/memory based story.  In "Dark Knight Returns", the story is very much based in chaos. The frame usage helps reflect the anarchy and tense conflict that the story is based on.

Revealing Characters: Maus and Essex County

In the story of Maus, the character Vladek is a very charismatic and lively person.  His personality aids in revealing his character more in depth and at a quicker pace as the story progresses. Since the story is focused mainly on the character Vladek and his story, readers are able to learn more thoroughly about his character.  His background is almost forcefully learned by the nature of the story.  As he recollects his story of the Holocaust to his son Art, we learn about his past in depth and are given some foreground into the character he is in the present and will be in the near future.

Spiegleman's style provides lots of information within each page.  This leaves less questioning from the readers since they can understand exactly what is going on.

On the other hand, Jeff Lemire reveals the character Lester, from Essex County, very differently. Lester is a more enigmatic individual.  His character doesn't speak much when he actually does speak. This speaks volumes based on the style of Essex County.  Unlike Maus's small panels with lots of text, Lumire creates a story with large picture panels and very little dialouge within. Some pages are solely artwork. Very little information is gathered between pages. Given this style, each character is revealed very slowly.  Readers eventually learn some background on Lester, but they are still left questioning.

Panel Transitions in Maus

In the graphic novel Maus, Art Spiegleman uses a wide range of panel transitions. As explained in Understanding Comics, by Scott McCloud, there are 6 different types of panel to panel transitions commonly found in comics.

From what I have read in Maus, Spiegleman uses nearly ALL of these transitions (with the exception of Non-Sequitur).  On pages 62 and 63 alone, Spiegleman uses 4 different types of transitions. These pages are when Vladek is explaining a night when he had to go outside of his tent to pee and someone shot at him. Since the story is based around Vladek recollecting the events of his life during World War II, flashback transitions occur frequently. Page 62 starts with one of these panels, the Old Vladek, explaining an event.

This first transition is a Scene-to-Scene transition. In the next panel, Vladek recalls a conversation. Between the two panels we see an Action-to-Action transition, one that requires more closure from the reader. When Vladek is getting shot at, the Subject-to-Subject transition is seen from Vladek leaving the tent, urinating, then diving back under the tent. On the next page, after transitioning back to the Old Vladek with Scene-to-Scene again, a Moment-to-Moment transition is clearly seen in three consecutive panels with Vladek speaking to Art.

Art Spiegleman uses a wide variety of panel transitions in his novel. These help to keep the story more visually entertaining for the reader.  Since his story is based on flashback storytelling, Spiegleman almost has to use Scene-to-Scene transitions on about every other page.  Other than the frequent use of this transition, Spiegleman’s novel, Maus, uses an engaging and varied number of transitions throughout.

Received and Perceived

   The concept of the movement from what is Received by us and what is Perceived by us in Understanding Comics was very interesting. This concept helped to explain how as art moves from being photo realistic to a picture of a face that consists of two dots a line and a circle, we still perceive the image of the smiley face as a human face.  It also explains that with more detail and realism comes less imagination from the reader.  For example a detailed picture of a man doesn’t allow us to imagine it as ourselves or perceive the image as we would like to. It simply shows us a picture of a man how it is meant to be with less wiggle room for imagination.  A more ambiguous image of a stick figure however, can allow the reader to imagine the image as more than just a stick figure.  That stick figure can transform into almost any person or represent almost any person.
    While reading Maus, this concept can be applied to the artist’s choice to use animals for the characters.  The animals take on a very personified role rather than the role of actual animals.  They behave like humans instead of behaving as animals do. They wear clothing and speak with each other.  Spiegelman’s choice to use mice for the main characters is similar to the use of ambiguous stick figures.  We are able to interpret the characters as we see fit.  Mice obviously aren’t Jewish and didn’t get killed by a animal Hitler in the Holocaust.  They can’t do these things in real life but we perceive them as the humans who actually went through these parts of history.
    The openness to interpretation continues through other aspects such as setting and props in the story.  As I was reading the very Jew-y English dialect and accent spoken by Vladek, I couldn’t help but hear his voice in my head as Mel Brooks’ character voice Yogurt from Spaceballs (who speaks with a similar accent that I imagined).  Concepts such as these are just a few that make comics a very unique medium.