The definition of comics, deriving from Greek for “of or pertaining to comedy” (Wikipedia) justifies the contemporary interpretation of what a comic is: humorous. When most think of what they classify as a comic, comic strips like the one directly to the left are thought of. Among the many mediums of argumentation, comics are a very effective form. This medium is commonly used as a way for people “outside the mainstream to express or question what couldn’t be expressed or questioned in ‘traditional’ formats” (Wysocki and Lynch 509). However, while these colorful, cartoon comics are definitely a huge part of the comic scene, they are not alone. As stated in Compose Design Advocate, comics can “now be an art form as well as children’s entertainment, and can be a structure for serious thinking in combined words and drawings” (Wysocki and Lynch 509).“She’s Okay,” (displayed below this paragraph) photographed by Emily Horne and made into a comic by Joey Comeau, is an example of this serious thinking. The comics in the archives “A Softer World” by Horne and Comeau are modeled off of a type of writing called “romans dur,” made famous by writer George Simenon in the 1930s. This type of writing is defined by the New York Review of Books as material “in which…displays a sympathetic awareness of the emotional and spiritual pain underlying the routines of daily life” (Denny/Brookner). My selected comic definitely agrees with this definition and gives the reader a look into someone’s silent desires, in this case the want for everything to "be okay." The argument that this comic expresses this “emotional and spiritual pain” that The New York Review of Books refers to is constructed from technical elements such as logos in the form of structure, typography choice, placement and separation of certain parts of the medium, and the saturation and focus of the photograph. All of these technical elements contribute to the overall structure, pathos and aesthetic of the comic.
The overall universal structure of comics defined by Scott McCloud's essay, "The Vocabulary of Comics” describes them as a representation “filled with icons that we call pictures” (McCloud) and words that help support the pictures and guide the audience in the frame-by-frame storyline. In “She’s Okay” the structure is a little different than the structure found in common comics (such as the example at the top to the page). Instead of presenting a hand drawn picture background with bubble letters emitting from the characters’ mouths, we are presented with a digital interpretation of an edited photograph with what looks like white strips of writing pasted on top of the picture. The “cut and paste” look of these typography strips give this comic a “crafty” hand done look, even though it was digitally made. We can also see this by the uneven cutting of the frames. We are not introduced to any cartoonish characters or even given a background to where this comic is taking place. I think that this "crafty" look to the comic makes the comic more realistic and believable to the audience. Like mentioned in Scott McCloud's essay, people seem to relate to things that aren't super "high tech"and visually accurate. The crafty look of comic makes the audience look at the comic as something that they could "re-create". It does not come off as professional, but as something an average person could make. This makes a connection between the audience and the comic.When first looking into the content of the comic, the audience is first attracted to the typography. This is the primary vector of attention of the comic. Typography can be presented in many different ways to emit different reactions, or displays of pathos, from the audience. Typography, however, can also be altered for what the type is meant for. As stated by Compose Design Advocate, “in old hard-calligraphed manuscripts, pages have large ornate letters” and “these manuscripts were usually meant to be read aloud, slowly” (Wysocki/Lynch) This text was very drawn out and formal, which took a longer time to comprehend. In contrast, the text in “She’s Okay” is a very mechanical, universal form of typography, similar to what is found in newspapers. It is very straight forward and functional, making it easy to skim across the text quickly and get the idea the typography is trying to convey. The similarities in font between newspapers and my comic also helps envoke feel emotions within the audience. The connection between fonts allows the audience to think of places that they could find stories that reflect the emotional pain that can be felt through this comic. This is a very effective rhetorical choice with type, reflecting back on the simplistic style of the comic and the mention of newspapers within the typography. It is almost like these words belong in the newspaper.
This mechanical and functional typography is also presented in a very interesting way. Instead of being placed directly on the background, the designer decided to give the comic a “cut and paste” look with strips of writing placed overtop the photograph. This separates the words from the photograph and makes the argument of an underlying thought placed upon the photograph. Similar to how some people write on the back of photographs describing where and when the photograph was taken, the designer of this comic adds what thoughts cannot be displayed by the photograph alone.
Along with being separated from the background, the text is actually separated from itself as well. The text is separated frame by frame and also within the same frame. The frame by frame separation of the text allows the audience to take the text step by step, paying attention to each word. The text develops as it goes on frame by frame. It starts out with “I’d like to read a story in the newspaper that ends with….” This beginning tells the audience a “background” as to what may be talked about. As an audience, we are aware that this comic is directly talking about a newspaper article that the writer would like to see. Within this frame the text is split up between “a story in the newspaper” and “that ends with.” This separates the background that the writer is giving and the beginning of the “desired article” that is about to begin. The second frame states “but she was having a bad dream.” This frame builds on from the previous frame by giving us more information on this newspaper article. This text is very shocking as a reader because in most newspaper articles, the victim is unfortunately not having “a bad dream.” The last frame continues this thought by say “really she’s okay.” The parts of the text referencing the newspaper article evoke an emotional response. It makes the audience think about what newspaper articles really say: the horrible things they report in the world and how things, for the most part, are never “okay”. This makes the typography seem unrealistic: contributing to the argument of a deep desire, or dream.
After looking at the typography included in this comic, attention is shifted to the photograph. The photograph follows the same format as the typography and brings even more pathos to the comic. The photograph is one single moment split into three frames, framed by thick dark lines. Compose Design Advocate mentions how this effect can “suggest how we think while we scan a scene around us: the scene doesn’t change, but the words in our head do” (Wysocki/Lynch). These sections are obviously supposed to be considered on a frame by frame basis. As we scan the photograph from left to right we learn more about the photograph. At the first frame we only see what looks like grass and a black triangle in the lower right hand corner. As we continue, the black triangle molds into something white, with grass still present. It isn’t until the last frame that we see that the black and white object is a hood of a car. We are also introduced to another form of life other than grass: people. These people consist of a large and smaller person. It is inferred that the larger subject is a woman by the many bracelets and what looks like painted nails, but this cannot be proven. The smaller person’s sex is also not obviously displayed. What is, however, obvious is the emotional connection between the two subjects. The placement of the subjects is in a tight embrace. They obviously know each other and are very close.
The main concept of the photograph and text that is important in the understanding of the argument is the concept of a dream. The text refers to an event or happening being “just a dream.” Evidence from the photograph supports this. The photograph is highly saturated and blurry. These characteristics portray a “dreamlike” scene. Similarly to dreams that you may have had, the photograph is also split up. This is similar to the fragmented memory you have after you wake up- you remember bits and pieces, but not always the whole thing. Not only is this “fragmented view” of the scene shown in the split up manner of the photograph, but also in the photograph as a whole. When piecing the three parts of the comic together, there is still not a very detailed “big picture” look to the photograph. This dream aspect of "She's Okay" helps support the argument of revealing the ''emotional pain" that is secretly in everyday life. Scientists studying dreams say that within our dreams we can reveal out upmost desires and wants. It is a way to escape reality. This comic does just that: its shows this person's most secret desire that they carry along with them everyday.Overall, through all of these key technical elements, the argument of this comic living up to the romans dur definition are justified. On top of living up to the romans dur definition and showing the “spiritual and emotion pain” someone endures, “She’s Okay” also proves itself as a comic. Comics are a representation of the world. Just because this comic is not an abstract representation and is more realistic in terms of the way the medium is organized, it does not make it less of a representation. This comic is very important to the world of comics, and literature, because it allows another medium of argumentation, a way to express desires and self in a different approach.
Works Cited
Wysocki, Anne Frances and Dennis A. Lynch. Compose, Design, Advocate: A rhetoric for integrating written, visual, and oral communication. New York, NY: Pearson-Longman, 2007.
"Comics." Wikipedia. 18 March 2010. Web. 24 March 2010.
Denny, Norman and Brookner, Anita. "Red Lights". The New York Review of Books. 27 March 2010. Web. 26 March 2010.
McCloud, Scott. "The Vocabulary of Comics." Understanding Comics. 195-208. Print.
