Comics Techniques and Tricks: Revealing Word Balloons

Welcome to another edition of Comics Techniques and Tricks, in which we showcase techniques that only comics can do! Click here for the archive!

In JUGHEAD WITH ARCHIE DIGEST MAGAZINE #106 (dated September 1991), George Gladir, Tim Kennedy, and Rudy Lapick give us a story where word balloons are shaped to reveal a character's actual thoughts.

I'm actually now wondering if there's any mileage into using a technique like this casually throughout a story, instead of using thought balloons or narrative captions along the lines of "I say it, but I don't really mean it."

What do you guys think?

Comics Techniques and Tricks: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Panel Transitions

Welcome to another edition of Comics Techniques and Tricks, in which we showcase techniques that only comics can do! Click here for the archive!

Pól Rua pointed me to this Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez–drawn page from BATMAN: KING TUT'S TOMB.

Look at the seamlessness of the panel flow. Garcia-Lopez manages to transition from one panel to the next with ease and that's because of the composition he uses. Note how the tree at the top left (and therefore where we would naturally start reading an American comic) leads our eyes into panel 2. The woman's leg and Batman's cape then lead our eyes into panel 3, where we see the cop chewing on a pencil that points to the right, which leads to the other woman. The other woman is looking back at Batman, the Riddler, and the first woman, so now our eyes are in the center of the page. We then take these visual cues from the conversation, and that leads us back to a straightforward storytelling tier of the final three panels.

In this manner, Garcia-Lopez manages to establish the location, the interior of the house, and all the people in the house while still making it look like a dynamic scene. Remember, it's just a conversation.

It's very subtle as well, and very understated. It does not overpower the story, because it serves the story. As Pól said to me, "It's like he knows what he's doing!"

Reclaiming History: Dave Gibbons and WATCHMEN

Welcome to a new installment of Reclaiming History, an ongoing series where the Comics Cube! tries to balance out what the history books say and what actually happened! Click here for the archive!

Regular readers of the Cube will know that WATCHMEN means a lot to me.  It's a technical masterpiece, a gripping narrative, and a true testament to the power of what comics can do. But one thing has always bugged me about it, and that's the fact that fans, casual and hardcore alike, tend to see it and speak about it as "Alan Moore's WATCHMEN." People who praise WATCHMEN point to it as proof of Alan Moore's genius. Those who don't point to it as a criticism of Moore's status, usually with the word "overrated" involved. When people discuss the controversies associated with WATCHMEN, it's as it relates to Moore.

Lost in the entire discussion is Dave Gibbons, the co-plotter, artist, letter, and designer of WATCHMEN. When people discuss WATCHMEN, they almost make it sound as if the vision is purely Moore's, while all Dave did was put it on paper. If it were true, it in itself is a difficult task and should be commended, but Dave's contributions were so much deeper.

Let's explore those contributions, shall we?