Evidence » course: visual culture

But, while comics have come up only fleetingly in our discussions, I thought it might be an interesting topic of discussion. I don't profess to be an expert or to like all comics, but as I am an avid reader I could hardly leave comics unexplored.

There are some extremely talented persons in the comic industry today, in both writing and drawing. While on the surface most comic's drawings are straight to the point and bring the story to life in a way. However, it's amazing what details one can kind if one looks at a scene for more than the moment it takes to read the words. Everything is and must be carefully crafted. While novels can get off by simply being a solid story, graphic novels must have an intelligent plot AND must capture the audience visually as well.

Here are several images from Watchmen, Alan Moore's Hugo Award winning work. The art is by Dave Gibbons. Actually, this looks to be made into a movie sometime soon and it is a fact that comic book movies have been invading in the past few years:

Watchmen made a huge impact in the eighties. The drawing was often dark and captivating as was the plot of the story. I love how comics can capture emotion so well; the characters must come alive to us and the artists do all in their power to accomplish that feat.

Next, there is the art of The Sandman by Neil Gaiman from the nineties. And, of course, it would hardly be complete without the beautiful art of Charles Vess who worked with Gaiman on the issue "A Midsummer Night's Dream", the only comic ever to win the World Fantasy Award. Charles Vess simply has a beautiful grasp on the fanciful!

And Mike Dringenberg and Malcolm Jones III's work:

There are so many more, but you're probably getting sick of my prattling already. So, I'll leave you with Dave McKean whose work in Black Orchid is as haunting and mysterious as ever:

Anyway, if you've never seen a comic book up close and personal before, at least you have some idea of what one might look like. One feature that I thought would bug me but that I actually like is the fact that colors don't always have to make sense. Some buildings might be blue and others brown, but it's the effect and the overall picture that mattrers. It's hardly drawing something as it is read; this art is all about trying to find ways to engage the reader, to catch his or her eye and to breathe life into the words. It does not, I don't think, work in the same manner as other types of art, but it still has a purpose and I can't see it as any less beautiful than other mediums even though it is, I think it's fair to say, underappreciated.

~Elizabeth Osinga

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