The Comic Strip : From Funnies to Fantasies

A lot of comics nowadays hold many elements that were explored and developed back in their earlier years. Of course, we're talking more than just panels in sequential order, or word bubbles that can hold character thoughts or rhetoric - we're talking about things such as character archetypes, personality traits (both relatable and characterized), world-building, and the spread of culture. To start off, comics back in the earlier open crowds were several panels, not always complete books. Due to this, jokes or points had to be taken across in a mere 3-4 panels, delivering a punchline and/or a clear personality trait about the characters involved.

Looking into comics such as Peanuts was at the time a rather somber take on the lives of children in a suburban community. Every character owns their own archetypes and personality traits (Lucy, the tough-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside girl who has a lot of attitude and isn't afraid to tell people to buzz off, for instance) that are made somewhat clear each time you read a strip. For the sake of continuity, these characters had to be clearly the same in thought, speech, and actions all throughout the series, so those who are acquainted already know what to expect, but those new are immediately in full understanding of the characters' actions. The way the short stories and interactions were told were almost in a skit-like format.

Further in, we're going to look at Calvin and Hobbes, an ongoing series based on a young kid with a clearly rampart imagination capable of bringing his stuffed tiger to life. Following the system that Peanuts had, there were be only a few panels to work from, so the archetypes of young, troublemaking but adventurous Calvin, and Hobbes the goofy, partner-in-crime biped tiger had to be clear. Sometimes it'll look like the two are embarking on a journey or traveling in some strips, only to end with Calvin snapping out of whatever daydream he was having with his stuffed animal tiger, blaming it for any troublemaking and the like.

Enter the illustrated adventures of Flash Gordon. Rather than rely on only 3-4 panels of drawings and witty humor or snappy dialogue, this comic series took up more frames, and carried a unique, more realistic style of art with a sci-fi fantasy setting. Normally the comic strip wouldn't go beyond half a page or a full one, and as a result of this, rather than deliver a punchline at the end of the series of panels, Flash Gordon relied on the cliffhangers instead, often ending in things like, "To be continued," or "Catch next week's..." and the like to keep readers hooked and interested. Instead of running multiple skits like Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes did, Flash Gordon chose a narrative-driven world and series of characters who got developed over time, with linear linking events and cause and effect situations.

Finally we enter our final inspection of popular but heavily referenced comics : Little Nemo in Slumberland, an ongoing series illustrated in a similar style to Flash Gordon with the linear story arcs, but with multiple adventures in an elongated skit-like version of what Peanuts or Calvin and Hobbes had. There were characters with clear personalities despite how much or little time they had in each panel, and the motif of a dream-like world both visually fantastical and in terms of threats, world-building, and characters really bring together the concept that this is all in a dream world, yet you get sucked in rolling with it almost like an actual dream. There's the clear troublemaker haphazard archetype character, Flip, who tends to seem like he means well but happens to mess things up for Nemo, despite other characters' intentions to prevent him from interfering with any and everything he touches. There's also the idea of visual queues with characters. Nemo is clearly the dreamer in this world, donning his pajamas amidst all the bulbous, floppy, and incredibly colorful outfits the dream characters have. Then there's the idea of Flip being a rather "older-than-he-looks" clown with the cigar which at the time meant trouble, followed by his silhouette character shape and strange clothing. Essentially, Little Nemo had more panels to make books from, however there were clear ties to previous types of comic story writing such as clear character personality, visual queues to the eye and mind, and an ongoing series.

From Silent Beginnings - The Arrival, by Shaun Tan

      For those who are intrigued by the concept of visual novels or better known as graphic narratives, a story orchestrated by Shaun Tan was made in the perspective of leaving a life behind to adopt a new one, and the outlandishness of it all, followed by the acceptance and integration into a community who has gone through the same trials one way or another. The Arrival was essentially a silent story with no use of words whatsoever, and relied on the visual cues in the panels to portray and convey the story, character interactions and settings. Interestingly enough, we as readers learn that the world our main character goes to is incredibly strange, yet we aren't alone. The main character has to also come to terms with living in such a strange new world, and get to know it better and those that live within it. At the beginning, you see and understand the dire cause of the move to the new setting, and as the story goes on, you begin to learn that it is a safe haven from other, more destructive nations out in the world based upon the stories the main character hears from those around them when asking how they got here.

      The attention to detail in the visuals is something to take notice of - primarily because of the facial and body language constantly being conveyed by both human and non-human characters. The hand motions, and the face emotions truly show when a character is unable to understand another, or perhaps show a sense of bewilderment or kindness. Essentially, the visuals alone can create the narrative and the actions the characters provide to move on with the story. Shaun Tan provided very lovely abstract world visuals to contrast the realistic human characters, yet their customs and interactions with the world around them is also prevalent. For instance, the same repetitive frames of someone picking up items off a conveyor belt and placing them in a tube shows that this person is working in a factory setting. You can already imagine the sounds of heavy machinery clunking away in the background, and loud noises being abundant. This is further confirmed when our character speaks to an older gentleman who puts his hand to his ear, and cringes his face to show he cannot hear our main character. When he speaks up, we see a sign of recognition on the older man's face, and we see how he turned up in the haven from his war-torn land.

      There's a level of creativity and complexity in Shaun Tan's work. The specific facial emotions, character movement and actions can tell the story alone, in a form of charades. The mind merely fills in the blanks with assumed voices and sounds we try to affiliate with what we see, and from that our imaginations can provide a full story, with or without words and only clear actions. There is such a rich level of story telling in The Arrival, of loss, hardships, fear, and sad emotions from those who escaped their past nations to live in the haven, and how happy they are with their new lives, along with how they're coping and showing that the new changes are for the better. The story even had a plot twist at the end with the arrival of the wife and child. You can't help but feel what the characters feel and understand that despite such a wild and strange world, there's a level of understanding that is accomplished just by imagery. Even the main character relied on drawings from his sketchbook to communicate with those around him from time to time, such as him telling the story of what happened to the city he used to live in to the shop keeper and his son, or first arriving and trying to show that he was looking for a place to live by drawing a bed. There's the phrase, "Actions speak louder than words," and I feel that a statement like that holds more than a candle to this form of graphic novel.