Definition of a 'comic'

For the next three weeks I have chosen to look at comic books and graphic novels as my optional subject. Our first task is to consider our own definition of a comic. Mine went something like this:

A story told via a series of frames containing visual and textual elements, which is read by following the flow of frames on the page. Comics usually (but not always) feature bright colours, stylised graphics, and are often executed in pen and ink. Text is either in the form of 'speech bubbles' or in boxes within the frames that contain the narrative. Generally they consist of several pages, but do not nearly approach the length of a short book (unlike the graphic novel which tends to be longer).

Of course, everyone knows what a comic is, yet defining anything in words is always harder than it seems. After reading Roger Sabin's thoughts on "What is a Comic?" I realised I had left out, or overlooked some crucial elements. These include:

• The use of cinematic angles, shots, and techniques (such as close-ups, cropping, panoramas etc)
• The compression or extension of time - whereby several actions may be seen to be occurring in a single frame, even though logically they could not all be happening at once; or where events occur in slow motion, leaving (for example) time for the protagonist to deliver a short monologue in a single moment of time.
• Graphic conventions, often to do with showing a character's emotions. (Think steam blowing out of ears etc)
• The regularity and affordability of most comics. This is an interesting point considering that some comic books become amazingly expensive collector's items!

Finally, I am ashamed to admit that I forgot about an additional form in which text is delivered within the comic book - sound effects! Superheroes just wouldn't be the same without a few "WHAMMY!"s or "BAM!"s would they? On that note I leave you with a frame from a Batman comic, where Batman delivers a double punch to his assailants even though he has been rendered temporarily blind:

Sources:

Sabin, Roger. “What is a Comic?” In Adult Comics: An Introduction. Routledge: London, 1993, pp. 5-9.