READING COMICS

Reading comics is altogether a different experience from that of reading a novel. Due to this fact, people who approach comics for the first time might find it difficult to follow the narrative, due to the fact that they are expecting to read it as they would read a novel. Reading comics involves a thorough comprehension of both text and images; the meaning of the story is conveyed through image and text, and it might seem difficult at first to ‘read’ both of them at once. In his book Comics, Comix and Graphic Novels: A History of Comic Art Sabin Roger points out the fact that

 The novice comics reader’s question is, ‘Which do you look at first, the words or the pictures?’ The answer is that you look at both of them at once. On a first reading, at least, it’s possible to take in a comics panel’s picture in just about exactly the time it takes to read the associated words  (Roger 129).

Therefore, comics should be read as a complex narrative which incorporates both images and text. The absence of either text or images is always deliberate and always bears narrative importance. For example, absence of text is usually interpreted as a break. The fact that the image is not accompanied by text signals a break in the narrative and leaves the reader somewhat puzzled. The cognitive process involved in the interpretation of this absence as a break is the following: the reader reaches a narrative stage which forces him to slow down and try to understand this sudden change. Without the help of language, the reader needs to stop and try to fill in the gap left by the absence of language. According to Roger Sabin,

   Without language acting as a ‘timer’ or contextual cue for understanding the image, every visual change causes the reader to stop and assess what exactly is happening, and how long it’s supposed to take (Roger 129).

It is also important to mention the fact that comics tend to flow and suggest motion. Furthermore, the way in which panels connect with each other stimulates the reader’s imagination. To be more specific, as pointed out by Roger Sabin, once the reader has read an individual panel, his/her mind does immediately decode the message contained in the next panel, but focuses on the space between panels. Therefore, the reader anticipates the content of the next panel before actually reading it. It is this active reading process that makes the reading of comics a particularly pleasurable activity:

Leaps of the imagination are an enormous pleasure, and comics are particularly good at sparking them. Their narrative is one kind of guide; their style is another. They’re full of enticing black spaces, in both space and time, for readers to decorate in our minds. (Roger 133)

WRITTEN BY MADALINA BORCAU

EDITED BY ANTONIA GIRMACEA