Glossary of Terms from Understanding Comics

Chapter One 1. Comics a. Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer 2. Juxtaposed a. Adjacent, side-by-side. 3. Sequential art a. Visual artistic style in which actions or ideas are presented with a sequential relationship. Chapter Two 4. Icon a. Any image used to represent a person, place, thing, or idea 5. Semiotics a. The study and use of signs and symbols and their relationship to meaning 6. Symbol a. Images used to represent concepts, ideas, and philosophies 7. Cartoon a. Abstracted pictorial image 8. Cartooning a. Process of abstraction in images down to it most abstract level 9. Animation a. The playback of sequential images to create the illusion of motion and action 10. Clear-line style a. Belgian style which combines very iconic characters with unusually realistic backgrounds Chapter Three 11. Closure a. Observing the parts but perceiving the whole 12. Gutter a. The space between panels 13. Moment-to-moment transitions a. Very little closure i. Depiction of action in small steps. 14. Moment a. A depiction of a specific event in time 15. Panel a. A single image or drawing in a sequential depiction 16. Frame a. The edge surrounding a panel, be it drawn or implied 17. Panel count a. The amount of panels per page that a comic book has 18. Splash page a. A full-page drawing in a comic book Chapter Four 19. Time frame a. The depiction of a certain duration of time through various time slots 20. Streaking a. The use of line in image to create the illusion of movement and speed 21. Polyptych a. A moving figure or figures imposed over a continuous background 22. Subjective motion a. Operates on the assumption that if observing a moving object can be involving, being that object should be more so. 23. Word balloons a. Adds to the duration of a panel by introducing the issues of action and reaction b. synthetic 24. Sound effects a. Adds to the duration of a panel through the nature of sound itself. 25. Contrast, repetition, alignment proximity a. The placement of panels on a page, variable upon importance and sequential order Chapter Five 26. Synthetics a. A combining of two or more senses 27. Expressionism a. Expression of internal sensations through an external medium 28. Thought bubble a. Amplify or express directly the thought of the image depicted Chapter Six 29. Word-specific comics a. Pictures illustrate but do not significantly add to a largely complete text 30. Picture-specific a. Words do little more than add a “soundtrack” to a visually told sequence 31. Additive combinations a. Words amplify or elaborate on an image or vice versa 32. Parallel combinations a. Words and pictures seem to follower different courses without intersecting 33. Montage combinations a. Words are treated as integral parts of the pictures 34. Interdependent combinations a. Words and pictures go hand-in-hand to convey an idea that neither could do alone Chapter Seven 35. Six steps a. Idea, form, idiom, structure, craft, surface b. The path that the creating of any work in any medium follows Chapter Eight 36. Additive primaries a. Red, blue, green b. When these three colors are added together, they can created every color in the visual spectrum 37. Subtractive primaries a. Cyan, magenta, and yellow i. Can created any color in the visual spectrum by filtering out light 38. Four color process a. Restricts the intensity of the three primaries to 100%, 50%, and 20% using black ink 39. Single-color saturation a. Done in response to the four-color system in newspapers. Gave the American comic book more expressive potential. Chapter Nine 40. Composition/design a. The use of formal elements in a intentional manner to create express an idea 41. Characters a. The people illustrated in order to tell a story 42. Action a. Events within a story that move along the plot 43. Line of sight a. Implied or depicted area of sight that shows at what or in which direction specifically the character is looking.