Looking at Comic Books

I have since decided to follow the sequential narrative theme, so I found it fitting to look into some the layout of comic book pages, and also look more at 'splash' pages, where the whole page is dedicated to one giant image. This page is often used to establish an important character or plot point, or for maximum effect at the climax of a story. It is rare to see more than 2 splash pages per comic book, but Superman Vol 2 #75 is famous for having every page as a splash page.

Superman Vol 2 #75

"The Death of Superman" was a huge turning point in comic book history. Thought to be immortal, it is fitting that the issue showing the first superheroes death only used the entire page or both to tell each panel of the story.

I found it useful to look at this as I was unsure about fitting the text around my work. But I see now that the caption bubbles or boxes and text do not have to be that large in order to be clearly seen. In fact, in the double page spread, I find having the text small is much more effective in getting the point across. Also, as the image is so detailed and bold it is not really necessary for us to have to read the text in order to follow the plot.

 This is another fantastic double page spread for the character Spawn. I noticed in this the unconventional layout of the panels, and the white frame. My layout will be much more simple. Also due to the intensity of my drawings and the amount of detail, i think it is best if I stick to using plain black borders as to not upset the balance of light and dark in the images.

 This comic book page by Alex Pascenko on Deviantart uses the simple black borders. I do not think mine will be as perfect as these. I will hand draw the borders to keep in with the style of the illustrations.

Looking at this image really made me think about how much time, skill and effort is needed to create a comic book. Each panel is fantastically detailed and full of life, and I realise a lot of thought has to go into where each image will go and what it will show so the story if easy to follow and clear.