Armin Lippitz
VIOLENCE IN GRAPHIC NOVELS:
Boom, Zack, Pow – Comics and Graphic Novels defined, with special focus on the portrayal and mechanics of violence
MASTERARBEIT
Zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Master of Arts
Studium: Anglistik und Amerikanistik
Alpen-Adria Universität Klagenfurt
Fakultät für Kulturwissenschaften
Begutachter: Postdoc-Assistant Mag. Dr. René Schallegger
Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik
8. Jänner 2014
Declaration of honor
I hereby confirm on my honor that I personally prepared the present academic work and carried out myself the activities directly involved with it. I also confirm that I have used no resources other than those declared. All formulations and concepts adopted literally or in their essential content from printed, unprinted or Internet sources have been cited according to the rules for academic work and identified by means of footnotes or other precise indications of source.
The support provided during the work, including significant assistance from my supervisor has been indicated in full.
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Table of Content
Introduction ...... 1
1. Comics and Graphic Novels – Definitions and History ...... 4
1.1 Definitions ...... 4 1.1.1 Comics ...... 4 1.1.2 Graphic Novel ...... 14 1.2 History of Comics and Graphic Novels ...... 18 2. Components and Tools ...... 30
2.1 Images ...... 30 2.2 Panels ...... 32 2.3 Language ...... 34 2.4 Word-balloons and captions ...... 37 2.5 Color ...... 39 2.6 The Gutter ...... 40 2.7 Mise-en-page ...... 42 3. Violence in Graphic Novels ...... 43
3.1 Violent Images ...... 43 3.2 Violent Language ...... 46 3.3 Panel arrangement and borders ...... 50 3.4 Colors ...... 53 3.5 Reasons for Violence in Graphic Novels ...... 55 4. Analyses ...... 57
4.1 Frank Miller’s 300 (2006) ...... 57 4.2 Art Spiegelman’s Maus (1986/1992) ...... 63 4.3 Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.’s Kick-Ass (2010) ...... 67 4.4 John Wagner and Vince Locke’s A History of Violence (1997) ...... 71 Conclusion ...... 77
Glossary ...... 81
Bibliography...... 88
Table of Figures ...... 94
Introduction 1
Introduction
In today’s society violence is omnipresent, especially in the media. There is no medium and genre in which there is no violence at all. We read about violence in newspapers, we see it on TV and in the movies, read violent novels of all genres – even non-fiction genres such as biographies or documentaries feature violent content. Comics and graphic novels are no exception. In this work, I will elaborate on the role of violence in graphic novels. I will discuss how violence is shown in the medium and which methods are used to communicate violent content to the reader-viewer. Comics and graphic novels, a distinction that will be made in the first part of this work, are still underrepresented in scientific research today, and have previously predominantly been used as proof for negative effects on children and adolescents in psychological and behavioral analyses (c.f. Wertham, 2004; Hänisch, 1982). The odd exception focused on how comics are read (by children and adolescents) or discussed the medium’s value as an art form (c.f. Grünewald, 1984 and 1982). More recent works attempt to define the medium, as well as explain how it can be incorporated in (mostly college) education (c.f. Saraceni, 2003; Tabachnick, 2009; Monnin, 2010). Contrary to most mainstream research in comics, I will make a conscious effort not to focus on the psychological impact or behavioral effects of violent content in the media on children and adolescents, comics’ artistic merit or its possible use in education. I will rather concentrate on the way violence is portrayed and conveyed by comics artists and writers, and how these portrayals differ. The first of four parts of this present thesis will give an overview of the historical and theoretical development of comics in the Western tradition and will elaborate on the differentiation between comics and graphic novels. To clarify that distinction, a definition for each will be established. The historical evolution of the medium will be based on these definitions. The second part of the thesis will develop an understanding of the tools used in comics and graphic novels to communicate with the reader-viewer. Here I will rely on my own, as well as Thierry Groensteen’s definition in The System of Comics (2007), and Scott McCloud’s from
Introduction 2
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (1994), which itself builds on Will Eisner’s Comics and Sequential Art (2008a). This chapter will deal with concepts and tools such as mise-en-page, word balloons, panels, pictures, and an invisible aspect of comics and graphic novels, the gutter, the empty space between panels that our imagination has to fill and the reason why McCloud dubbed the medium “The Invisible Art” (c.f. McCloud, 1994). The gutter is responsible for the interesting phenomenon of the ‘reader-viewer as the perpetrator’ which is unique to the medium. The third chapter will focus on violence in comics and graphic novels. It will show that violence is an integral part in the majority of these texts and elaborate on the different ways of representing it within its framework. Violence can be expressed in various ways in this medium, such as violent images, language, panel arrangement and borders, the choice of colors etc. In addition, this chapter will deal with the value or importance of violence for the stories in graphic novels. The final part of this thesis will be an analysis and comparison of a number of core texts regarding their portrayal of violence. The list of texts consists of graphic novels that are widely considered respected works of art and will include 300 (2006) by Frank Miller, Maus (1986/19921) by Art Spiegelman, Kick-Ass (Millar/Romita Jr., 2010) and A History of Violence (Wagner/Locke, 1997). Additional relevant works include Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (Miller, 2002), Watchmen (Moore/Gibbons, 2008), Trinity (Fetter-Vorm/Gallagher, 2012), Safe Area Goražde (Sacco, 2010), Habibi (Thompson, 2011), Murder Mysteries (Gaiman/Russel, 2002), and Ghost World (Clowes, 2009) to name just a few. The goal of this thesis is to further develop an understanding of how comics and especially graphic novels work, as well as to shed light on the ways graphic novel writers and artists incorporate violence in their works. I distance myself from research about the influence of the medium on a particular audience and will rather target violence in graphic novels without value judgments. I will illustrate that violence is an essential component in graphic novels and
1 The graphic novel is divided into two parts, separately published in 1986 and 1992 and only later integrated into a single volume called The Complete Maus first published in the United States by Pantheon Books in 1996. This paper, however, will use Maus (1986/1992) as the title for quotations meaning The Complete Maus published by Penguin Books in 2003.
Introduction 3 that there is hardly any text of that kind which does not feature some form of violence. Examples throughout the work will justify this argument. As mentioned above, previous research mostly dealt with effects of the medium. The change to explorations of the medium itself and a more matter-of-factly approach in scientific investigations of comics is slow. Thus, this present work will be a contribution to a sober examination of the medium on the basis of violence, which often is one of the central themes in many comics and especially graphic novels. It shall further the discussion about the definitions of the most prominent terminology and encourage critical explorations in this field of interest.
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 4
1. Comics and Graphic Novels – Definitions and History
There has been some dispute by scholars on when comics originated and what actually constitutes a comic. I argue that Rodolphe Töpffer, a Swiss teacher, created the first comic, while others, for instance Scott McCloud and Danny Fingeroth (c.f. McCloud, 1994; Fingeroth 2008), even point to ancient art such as the Dresden Codex, the Bayeux tapestry, Egyptian hieroglyphs or prehistoric cave paintings. Some, like Will Eisner (c.f. Eisner, 2008a and 2008b), insist on the use of language to call a work comics, while many more, including Thierry Groensteen (c.f. Groensteen, 2007), also accept silent comics in their explanations of the medium. This chapter will comment on the histories and explanations provided by others in order to formulate an interpretation of the medium which will stand as the foundation for the rest of the work. This definition of comics will also be the starting point for the distinction between comics and graphic novels, the medium I am mainly concerned with. Furthermore, a history of comics and graphic novels in the Western tradition will be provided.
1.1 Definitions
This chapter will elaborate on the definitions put forward by three of the most important critics of comics theory, Will Eisner, Scott McCloud and Thierry Groensteen, as a starting point for the development of an independent definition. Based on this clarification, a subcategory of the medium, namely graphic novels, will be explained, because it is the category the analyzed texts in this work fall into.
1.1.1 Comics
The entries for “comic” in Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (1981) are very brief and also fall short of an accurate description. It defines comics as: “a group of cartoons or drawings arranged in a narrative sequence” and in another section continues with: “presenting
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 5 a series of humorous incidents or dramatic adventures in a sequence of pictures usu. accompanied by balloons giving conversation
The way we talk about the form of comics, however, is arbitrary. Researchers have to be aware of the language with which comics are described. Wolk points to the close relations comics share with other media such as prose literature and film and cautions scholars to consciously deal with issues like borrowing terminology from other fields to describe comics. The example he gives is the difference of the “viewer’s perspective in a particular comics panel”
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 6 opposed to “where the ‘camera’ is” (Wolk, 2007: 16). In addition, serious or academically relevant research has to distance itself from the preconception of comics being a medium intended exclusively to entertain children and adolescents. In the most general terms, comics is a medium in which pictures, sometimes but not necessarily combined with words, are arranged in a specific order to tell a story or form a narrative. This rough explanation would also include Greek and Roman relief columns, as well as frescoes and tapestries, not to mention Egyptian hieroglyphs and prehistoric cave paintings. All of these examples have the common denominator of sequential picture art, the distinctive feature Scott McCloud insists upon in his work Understanding Comics – The Invisible Art (1994). In order to elevate the status of the medium and to show that it is not as young or new as previously thought, McCloud integrates all works of art that feature sequentially arranged pictures in his definition. In his theory, all single panel drawings or paintings, including Fine Art and cartoons, must be something other than comics because they do not feature a sequence (1994: 20-21; 97). The rest, however, can be and is considered comics in his eyes. This notion is not supported in this work and will be dealt with over the course of this chapter. According to the basic model of communication put forward by Claude E. Shannon and Warren Weaver, every medium has its channel in which the message is transferred from the encoder, or the message sender, to the decoder, or the message receiver (1971: 7, see Figure 1). The channel represents the platform the message is transmitted on. For television it would be the television set (among other
things), for Figure 1: Basic Model of Communication newspapers it is (My own diagram based on Shannon/Weaver (1971)) paper, for speech the air the sound waves propagate in. On the basis of this simplified model of communication, comics uses paper as its channel or platform. A possible exception are online or digital comics that use a computer screen as their channel. However, it can be argued that the experience for the reader-viewer – the recipient of comics – is different for each platform comics is presented in. On paper, the reader-viewer does not have the possibility to zoom in on a panel (except
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 7 when using a magnifying glass), or to scroll over a page. All platforms have their advantages and disadvantages. I argue that the platform is a decisive factor for naming a work of art ‘comics’. A digital version of a comic is still comics, but a different kind which might be called digital comics, online comics, on-screen comics or web comics. A definition for these subcategories has yet to be produced but it is not the focus of this work. A hierarchy of terms (Figure 2) shows the medium ‘comics’ as an umbrella term for the different possible platforms Figure 2: Hierarchy of denominations under the umbrella term 'comics'
(subcategories) used to (My own diagram) present comics. The final manifestation is called graphic display, which has its own denotation for each platform. It would go beyond the scope of this paper to develop definitions for every graphic display. One, that uses paper as its platform, graphic novels, will be explained over the course of this chapter – and in more detail in the following one – since it is the category the artifacts analyzed later fall into. For the most part I agree with McCloud’s definition. His parody of a dictionary entry of the word ‘comics’ states that it is “[j]uxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the [reader-] viewer” (1994: 9). As Dylan Horrocks notes in Inventing Comics: Scott McCloud’s Definition of Comics (2001), his critique of McCloud’s manifesto, this definition is on the one hand very inclusive, yet on the other hand poses problems regarding other art forms such as cartoons and children’s picture books (2001: 35-36). McCloud rejects all single panel cartoons2 as not being comics, a claim which I will challenge. In addition, he argues that children’s picture books are not comics, because in them language, i.e. the written text in opposition to the
2 While McCloud sees cartoons as "an approach to picture-making -- a style" and says that "single panels might be classified as ‘comic art’ in the sense that they derive part of their visual vocabulary from comics", I go a step further by combining the two terms (1994: 20-21, original emphases). Consequently, in this present work ‘cartoons’ are considered single panel comics, and I am conscious of the difficulties in defining the term and aware that there are other possible techniques of creating single panel comic art.
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 8 images, is predominant and independent of the pictures. This disqualifies them as comics, a notion I agree with (McCloud in Horrocks, 2001: 24). Another way of describing comics was brought forward by the Belgian comics critic Thierry Groensteen. In The System of Comics, his book-length definition, he argues that comics is a medium that constitutes “an original combination of a (or two, with writing) subject(s) of expression, and of a collection of codes” (Groensteen, 2007: 6). The use of these codes is the reason why comics should be seen as a system, a language. He goes on to explain the fundamental building blocks of the language of comics: the shared space of the combination of panels on a page (and within a work) – the “Spatio-Topical System” – and the “multiframe” (Groensteen, 2007: 24). His definition is very useful for an understanding of how comics operate, especially because it is presented in such detailed and sophisticated terms. However, despite its meticulous explorations and explanations, it falls short in describing or clarifying what constitutes a comic. Both McCloud’s and Groensteen’s definitions ignore a very important issue, namely the platform in which the message is transported from the writer and/or artist to the reader-viewer. Especially McCloud makes a point of including all manifestations of sequential imagery in his definition to be able to lend the medium more power and relevance. I propose a distinction of platform (print, digital, fresco, tapestry, textile, hand-drawn on paper, wood-carving, etc.) in sequential picture arts. In addition, I argue that the physical manifestation in which comics is presented, is an important aspect, because it changes the reader-viewer’s experience. The sole manifestation of pictures in sequence is not enough to constitute a comic, but rather an artifact presented in comics form. In other words, a Roman column with pictures in sequence does not constitute a comic as such, but a comic-like work of art carved in stone; the Bayeux tapestry is a piece of cloth with a comic-like picture story sewn onto it; Egyptian hieroglyphs are comic-like paintings or frescos. The reading experience for all of these examples is different, which is why they need to be labeled accordingly. Because the predominant platform on which comics were displayed when they originated was paper (see chapter 1.2), this work considers comics a medium presented on paper, including all print media, like newspapers, magazines, journals, or books.
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 9
According to this approach, any text can be investigated regarding four criteria: platform, form, type, and function. First, and most importantly, the platform indicates the physical manifestation of a work. As already mentioned, a digital comic is different from a printed one, or one hand-drawn on paper, because the reading experience is different. Likewise, a printed comic scanned in to be presented in a digital format might require an entirely different reading approach. Thus, I consider texts which have changed their original platform to be adaptations. Despite the texts being the same, the platform they are presented in influences the reading experience, an important point which cannot be stressed enough. Additionally, this category distinguishes between physical aspects, such as formats, or height and width of the page, whether a book is bound with a hardcover or paperback, and how many pages a work has. The second criterion is the form of the work. This incorporates the techniques used and the production process of a text, meaning whether it was typed or handwritten, drawn with pen or ink, whether it includes computer graphics or not, and countless other possibilities to create texts. Possible distinctions in form are painting, drawing, or photography. The third criterion describes different varieties of texts. Several distinctions fall into this category, for example, novel, short story, dictionary, poem, song lyric, newspaper article, academic paper, and graphic novel to name just a few. Each text type adheres to its own rules and restrictions to define it. The fourth criterion is the function or the use of a text. A movie storyboard, for instance, is basically a comic. However, it is not the intention of the artist to publish the storyboard but rather the movie based on it. Therefore, the piece of art, which by all relevant definitions so far constitutes a comic in form, is labeled a movie storyboard and stays just that as long as it is not published separately as a printed comic. Then it would be a comics adaptation of a movie storyboard. This criterion distinguishes possible uses such as movie storyboard, screenplay and play, comic series or graphic novel. Because of its prominent use and powerful mechanics, many scholars, including Will Eisner, insisted on the inclusion of language in their definition of comics (cf. Eisner, 2008a: 127). In Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative, he defines comics as “[a] form of sequential art, often in the form of a strip or book, in which images and text are arranged to tell a story”
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 10
(Eisner, 2008b: xvii). Most comics integrate language, and the possible interrelatedness between language and pictures is also one of the unique features of the medium. However, there have been a handful of experiments in comics that do not feature any text and rely completely on sequential art to tell their stories (c.f. Tan, 2006). The absence of language, for some, marks these texts as something other than comics. This notion stems from the prevalent conviction that language as a form of expression is superior to sequential picture art and must therefore be a part of comics. I disagree strongly with this assertion. Comics is and has always been primarily a visual medium. The most important aspect is the pictures, or more precisely: one or more pictures which are arranged in or show a deliberate and meaningful sequence. The reason why the sequence of pictures is so important has been dealt with comprehensibly and conclusively by McCloud and can be found in Understanding Comics (1994: 5-21). He starts off with Eisner’s term describing comics, ‘sequential art’, and goes on to Figure 3: An example for a single panel comic transform it into his dictionary entry of (McCloud, 1994: 95) the word ‘comics’ quoted earlier (ibid.: 9). He then shows examples of comics in other platforms and stresses the importance of the sequence of pictures. Finally, he rigorously separates single panel cartoons from sequential picture art, stating that “one is an approach to picture-making -- a style, if you like -- while the other is a medium which often employs that Figure 4: McCloud insists on gutters for comics approach” (McCloud, 1994: 21, (1994: 97) original emphases).
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 11
This separation is, however, arbitrary in some instances, and McCloud himself exposes this dilemma in his chapter on time frames (1994: 95-98). There he shows a single panel cartoon in which several things seemingly happen at once. He describes how time elapses from one instance to the next within that panel, stating that “with all its actions and reactions, a panel such as this could last a good half minute or so” (ibid.: 95). He argues that we are conditioned by photography and representational art to associate a single image with a single moment in time. The conclusion of his argument marks the heart of the dilemma between single panel and sequential art, when he nonchalantly writes: “In some respects this panel by itself actually fits our definition of comics! All it needs is a few gutters thrown in to clarify the sequence” (ibid.: 97). In his view, sequential art needs some kind of visible separation between images in order to constitute comics. However, even examples of art fitting the definition of comics he gives earlier in his work, for instance the Dresden Codex or Egyptian hieroglyphic tomb inscriptions, fail in this respect. He even admits to their shortcoming but dismisses it heedlessly and without elaboration: “As with the Mexican Codex, there are no panel borders per se, but there are clear divisions of scene by subject matter” (McCloud, 1994: 13). I argue for an integration of single panel art into the definition of comics, as long as there is a clearly distinguishable sequence to decipher. In this respect, the example taken from McCloud’s work (Figure 3) would be considered a comic, whereas single panel cartoons with only
a caption and an image Figure 5: An example for a single panel cartoon (Figures 5 and 6) are not
(Oliphant, No date) supported by the definition.
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 12
So far, this definition of comics has argued what decisive factors make a piece of art comics or not, but has not addressed the artwork and the way these texts are made. Some scholars also regard the style with which a comic is created as a decisive characteristic of the medium (cf. Fletcher-Spear et al., 2005: 37). From their point of view, a comic needs to be drawn, mainly with pencils and ink, in order to result in a comics style. But what is this ‘comics style’? How is a work of sequentially arranged pictures drawn with pencil and ink any different from one, for instance, painted with water colors, illustrated woodcuts, or computer aided graphics? Characters do not necessarily have to be drawn in a Figure 6: Love Is... cartoon slightly humorous way because of the linguistic connection to (Casali, No date) the word ‘comic’. Besides, a determination of what is ‘humorous’ and what is not is very subjective. A work that is not drawn, arranged photographs for example, can be comics as well. There are countless possibilities and methods to create pictures in sequence, and the way they are drawn, painted, photographed, etc. is not important. In addition, there are different styles, such as impressionism, expressionism, pointillism or realism, but they may all constitute comics. Style cannot be a decisive factor of whether or not a piece of sequential art is comics, because there is no meaningful or reasonable separation between styles. Just like any genre can be applied to comics, so can every style and method of production. In other words, as long as the four criteria mentioned earlier are aligned accordingly, a work is considered comics regardless of the style and genre. The same can be said for subject matter. The medium of comics is capable of telling all kinds of stories, be they humorous, serious, romantic, violent, weird, complex, simple, or any other identifiable characteristic. It is only important for a story to be comprehensible. In his chapter about closure and panel-to-panel transitions, McCloud introduces one group of transitions he calls “the non-sequitur, which”, he explains, “offers no logical relationship between panels whatsoever!” (McCloud, 1994: 72). On the following page he then argues that
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 13
“by creating a sequence with two or more images, we are endowing them with a single --//3 overriding identity, and forcing the [reader-]viewer to consider them as a whole” even if they are “totally unrelated to each other” (ibid.: 73). In other words, the reader-viewer creates a meaningful connection between images or panels even if there is none. No matter the intention of the writer or artist, the reader-viewer creates the story, extracting meaning from something incomprehensible. I agree with this view. However, it can be argued that a work consisting entirely of non-sequitur panel transitions is not comics, because then again any combination of images has to be considered comics. The key to the solution of this dilemma lies with the writer or artist. It has to be acknowledged that it is not only the reader-viewer extracting meaning from a work, but the writer or artist instilling, or at least invoking, some of it as well. This notion ties in with the argument mentioned earlier about the function of a text. Some of the power to create meaning from a piece of visual art, be it paintings, film, photography, or comics, has to be retained by the author, because it is the author who encodes the text. As has been established earlier, comics can be used to deliver any kind of message, in any genre, with any style, as long as the message is comprehensible. This does not mean that there is only one definite meaning to a text that has to be understood by the reader-viewer, but that there actually is at least one conceivable message intended by the author. In other words, comics texts need to have a narrative or tell a story. The possible manifestations of such narratives are limitless. Even the instruction manual for the construction of a piece of furniture is a narrative and can, when presented with pictures as the dominant communication device, be comics. Of course, all other types of stories, such as hero/heroine stories, and plots, like ‘boy-meets-girl’, can be narrated with comics as well.
This interpretation of the medium of comics builds on existing definitions by three essential critics in comics theory, Will Eisner, Scott McCloud and Thierry Groensteen, as a jumping-off point. From all those previously existing definitions the most useful aspects were taken, commented on and complemented with important distinctions for the medium. To have a short, precise and meaningful aggregation in this present work, I therefore define comics as
3 The two forward slashes (//) mean that there is a change in speech bubble or a panel transition within the quote.
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 14 follows: Comics, in its original manifestation, is a medium presented on paper (platform) which features one or more pictures, sometimes juxtaposed with words (form/production process), showing a deliberate sequence (text type), that realizes a narrative or tells a story (function).
1.1.2 Graphic Novel
In A Dictionary of Cultural and Critical Theory (2010) Hillary Chute uses the phrase “graphic narrative” to describe “a book-length work in the medium of comics”, which, despite its shortness, already comes close to a satisfactory definition of “graphic novel” as well (2010: 310). Recent scholarly investigations have tried to distance themselves from the term ‘graphic novel’, pointing out the restrictions implied by the latter part of the phrase – especially the dissonance to the term ‘novel’ – or simply dismissing it because of its history as a popular label in comics advertising, purely used for commercial reasons (c.f. Saraceni, 2003: 4). Using dictionary entries as a start-off point, these restrictions will be examined in this chapter in order to formulate a definition of ‘graphic novel’. The dictionary entries for “graphic novel” are even less satisfying than the ones for comics. The Oxford English Dictionary refers to it as “a full-length (esp. science-fiction or fantasy) story published as a book in comic-strip format” (oed.com – graphic novel). The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as “a fictional story that is presented in comic-strip format and published as a book” (merriam-webster.com – graphic novel), while, most disappointingly of all, the online Oxford Dictionaries only offer “a novel in comic-strip format” (oxford Dictionaries.com – graphic novel). There are several problems with these definitions that will be dealt with, but some points are a useful basis to start from. Graphic novels are comics. They use pictures and images, often paired with language, arranged in meaningful sequence to form narratives and to tell stories. This work also agrees that they are books, or at least presented on paper, in order to be called ‘graphic novel’. Digital or other publication formats, constitute different platforms and are therefore adaptations or at least situated on a different branch in the hierarchy of the medium (see Figure 2). Comics or graphic novels originally published digitally, for example, represent their own subcategory of graphic display and thus are not part of this definition. The following paragraphs will comment
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 15 on the issues in these dictionary entries and aggregate their useful aspects together with other definitions towards a more precise explanation of the term. First of all, what does ‘full-length’ mean? Can a graphic novel only be one if it has a certain page count? The Oxford English Dictionary seems especially set on the importance of length. Even graphic novel artists see length as important, for instance Art Spiegelman explains that "a graphic novel is a comic book that you need a bookmark for" (Spiegelman in Fingeroth, 2008: 4). Admittedly, most graphic novels are longer than the average comic book, but that does not mean that they have to be. In addition, the term ‘full-length’ is not precise enough to allow for a defining characteristic, and the use of a bookmark cannot be a satisfactory device of differentiation either. I argue that length is not a decisive factor for graphic novels. Secondly, just like comics, graphic novels are not restricted in any way regarding their content, which includes genre, type of story, language or style. The emphasis on two genres (science-fiction and fantasy) by the Oxford English Dictionary is misleading. Several artists, including Pulitzer Prize-winning Art Spiegelman, Marjane Satrapi, Joe Sacco and Guy Delisle, to name just a few, have proven that graphic novels not necessarily have to be works of fiction and are, within the confines of what the medium is capable of, completely free of any stylistic, artistic or narrative restrictions. This argument ties into the third point of criticism regarding the dictionary entries quoted earlier, namely that graphic novels are novels. The definition of novel reads “[f]ictional prose narrative[s] of considerable length and some complexity that deal […] imaginatively with human experience through a connected sequence of events involving a group of persons in a specific setting” (merriam-webster.com – novel). The Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory (Cuddon, 1992), as well as the Glossary of Literary Terms (Abrams, 1971) use almost exactly the same description, but both are even more restrictive. Cuddon states that novels "are extended pieces of prose fiction" (1992: 599), and Abrams that they “are extended works of prose fiction” (1971: 110). Graphic novels constitute their own textual category which should be seen as separate from the classical novel, because they stray too far from that description. First of all, graphic novels do not have to be fictitious, a notion accepted by most scholars (cf. Chute, 2010: 311). Secondly, even though they might be, they do not have to incorporate prose. In fact, just like
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 16 comics, graphic novels might not even use language at all, as is demonstrated successfully by Shaun Tan in The Arrival (2006). Thirdly, I argue that all narratives are investigations of human experiences, which means that this characteristic of novels is true for any narrative text, including graphic novels, and therefore it has no distinguishing value. In addition, the actual content of a graphic novel is free to roam in any imaginable direction. A graphic novel like Trinity (2012) by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm and Michael Gallagher for example, which is presented as an illustrated textbook (Figure 7) dealing with the invention and the first deployment of the atomic bomb, is far from Figure 7: Trinity, a graphic novel as an being a novel in the classical sense, but counts as a illustrated textbook graphic novel for various reasons. The subsequent short (Fetter-Vorm/Gallagher, 2012: 8) analysis of Trinity (Fetter-Vorm/Gallagher, 2012) will establish exemplary guidelines for a definition of graphic novels in general. The first reason, and a prerequisite for texts to be considered graphic novels, is that they are comics. Trinity (Fetter-Vorm/Gallagher, 2012) adheres to the restrictions and parameters of the definition of the medium given in the previous chapter. The example text is a copy of a print medium (book) telling the story of the invention and first usage of the atomic bomb in sequentially arranged images (and words). Secondly, the story is published as an independent and self-contained book and is not part of an ongoing series. This means that the story is not just a chapter from a magazine, or other serialized publication format, but stands alone. One very important factor in distinguishing periodically published comics and graphic novels is the approach of the author. I would like to point out and argue that there is a different idea behind creating a story in comics form on the one hand, and developing a graphic novel on the other. The thought and production processes by the creators differ. One, namely the comics author, produces one narrative after the other connected by a set of characters and/or settings while each issue is
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 17 separated from the others and the series could possibly be extended endlessly. Thus, usually a plot-driven production process, including repetition of established formulas, is employed. A graphic novel author, on the other hand, has one finite narrative in mind from the start. In addition, graphic novels are generally theme-oriented, feature hidden meanings and try to incorporate new ideas or approaches. Many graphic novels originate as sections in periodicals or serialized publications. I, however, argue that they remain ‘only’ comics as long as they are not published separately in one self-contained, finite volume, which might transform them into a graphic novel, given the above mentioned production process has been employed. As stated earlier, comics texts considered graphic novels need to be finite, which means that they end and are not part of an ongoing series. However, longer works are sometimes separated into several parts and published in a series of volumes, like it is the case with Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim (2004- 2010). All volumes together make up the graphic novel, but each part of the series, each separately published chapter, is just a comic book.4 Finally, the most important reason and the main factor that differentiates graphic novels from comics is their level of complexity. Here the definition of the classical novel, stated previously, is helpful. It is not enough to simply publish a lengthy story in comics format and call it a graphic novel, like so many writers, artists, critics and especially publishers and book stores do these days, but the story itself needs to have a critical element, or at least be thought- provoking in any way. Trinity (Fetter-Vorm/Gallagher, 2012) is well researched and deals with a highly sensitive and controversial yet important invention in human history. It is presented like an illustrated textbook and is as accurate in its depiction of history as possible. It also manages to engage the reader-viewer emotionally without being overly dramatic. A complex story, however, is not the only way to transform a comic into a graphic novel. Some comics artists find new, interesting and innovative ways of using the tools and techniques of their trade to create texts that differentiate themselves from the mainstream. A good example is 300 (1998) by Frank Miller who used a highly unusual format for his publication (13 by 10 inches landscape format), which of course is not the only distinguishing feature, yet
4 Some exceptions elude this restriction, for example, Sin City (1991-2000) by Frank Miller. Initially planned as only one graphic novel, the popularity of the first book, Sin City – The Hard Goodbye (Miller, 2005), sparked the idea of creating a series of graphic novels set in the Sin City universe.
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 18 one that is obvious from the moment the reader-viewer takes up the book. Another example would be a different approach towards genre, like Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's deconstruction of the superhero genre in Watchmen (1986).
In this thesis, I will continue to use the established term ‘graphic novel’, because it should suffice to be aware of the differences between graphic novels and novels explained above to justify this more conventional and popular expression. There is no need for obscuring it with newly invented terminology like 'graphic narrative'. A comic can thus become a graphic novel because of its critical engagement of a subject, interesting, complex and thought provoking story, innovative way of presentation and unique style, covert meanings and themes, and revision or interpretation of genre. A purely or predominantly entertaining comic cannot be a graphic novel if none of these features are incorporated. A graphic novel therefore is a comic, which engages the reader-viewer on more than just an entertainment level and is planned and presented as one finite text.
1.2 History of Comics and Graphic Novels
According to McCloud, Fingeroth and other critics of the comics medium, its origins can be traced back to ancient art using sequentially arranged pictures to tell stories (McCloud, 1994; Fingeroth, 2008). As already established in chapter 1.1.1, these manifestations of sequential picture art are not comics but precursors of what later would evolve into the medium itself. In consideration of the definition developed previously, this paper argues for a stricter analysis and delineation of the medium’s history than the open-ended one put forward by McCloud. Fingeroth in The Rough Guide to Graphic Novels (2008) mentions that “[t]he English painter and printmaker William Hogarth is one of the key figures in the development of Western sequential art” (2008: 11-12). Hogarth displayed series of paintings, which later became engravings, in which each picture was part of a greater narrative. His two best known works are A Harlot’s Progress (1731) and A Rake’s Progress (1732). However, none of these works are comics. Even though the individual paintings were meant to be shown side by side, they remain paintings. When these paintings were later engraved and published in print, they became a comics adaptation of a series of paintings.
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 19
The first real comics artist – in the Western tradition at least – was the Swiss teacher Rodolphe Töpffer, who “is generally considered the father of modern comics” (Fingeroth, 2008: 12). His creation of Histoire de M. Vieux Bois in 1827, hand-drawn on paper and published in 1837, marks the beginning of the Western modern comics tradition. Töpffer was the first who “employed cartooning and panel borders, and featured the first interdependent combination of words and pictures seen in Europe” (McCloud, 1994: 17, original emphases), using captions for narration as well as dialogue. Even though Töpffer himself “failed to grasp at first the full potential of his invention, seeing it as a mere diversion, a simple hobby” (ibid. original emphases), other European artists followed in his steps. The German caricaturist Wilhelm Busch, for example, created the hugely successful Max und Moritz: Eine Bubengeschichte in sieben Streichen (1865). At the end of the 19th century the newly invented medium became popular in the United States through the creation of Richard F. Outcault’s Hogan’s Alley (1895-18985) published as a Sunday supplement comic strip in The New York Journal (and later under a different name in The New York World). Its lead character was the Yellow Kid, a bald, big-eared, gap toothed street urchin in a yellow nightshirt. […] It was the first newspaper cartoon feature that people followed faithfully, and it even spawned the term ‘yellow journalism’, which became shorthand for the lurid reporting found in the rest of the paper (Fingeroth, 2008: 12-13).
Outcault drew single panel cartoons and only later switched to a multi-panel design, which became the standard format for newspaper comic strips. Most popular of these at the time was The Katzenjammer Kids (1897-present) by Rudolph Dirks, which “became the longest- running strip in American history” and is still published (Sabin, 2010: 24). Both Hogan’s Alley and The Katzenjammer Kids were weekly and “daily humour comics [which] were soon joined by adventure strips […]. Comic strips were often the reason, above and beyond news or editorial content, why people bought newspapers” (Fingeroth, 2008: 13). This popularity directly caused publishers to rethink their selling strategies. Max Gaines was the first to start publishing reprints of newspaper comic strips separately in “tabloid-sized
5 The dates mentioned refer to Richard F. Outcault’s creation only. When he changed publishers from The New York Journal to The New York World in 1896 a fierce bidding war between the two newspapers resulted in the lead character, the Yellow Kid, changing publishers with its creator, while the rights to the comic strip Hogan’s Alley itself remained with The New York Journal. Effectively, Hogan’s Alley drawn by Outcault lasted only until 1896 (other cartoonists filled in when he left). However, the all-important lead character was then published until 1898 in The New York World.
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 20 anthologies – what would become known as ‘comic books’” (ibid.: 13). These comic books, sometimes referred to as ‘funnies’, were celebrated to such a degree that before the end of the 1930s publishers started to put out original stories to meet demand. The most dramatic shift for the medium at the time came about with National’s6 Action Comics #1 (Liebowitz) in 1938, introducing Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster’s character Superman. The Superhero genre was born and dominated the comics market until the early 1950s, sprouting countless superhero (and villain) characters, some of which are deeply embedded in pop-cultural consciousness, such as Batman by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, William Moulton Marston’s Wonder Woman, or Captain America by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. This period became known as the Golden Age of comics and lasted up until the early 1950s, when a new set of superhero characters emerged and another genre took over, namely horror. Inheriting his father Max's publishing company Educational Comics, William Gaines renamed it Entertainment Comics and started publishing more and more outrageous horror stories. He and his associates were pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable and in good taste: “Eventually, their stories caught the eye of those who felt comics were bad for kids to begin with, and that these horror comics were the worst thing yet” (Fingeroth, 2008: 14). The psychiatrist Dr. Frederic Wertham was the leading figure in what became a crusade against comics. In his work Seduction of the Innocent – the Influence of Comic Books on Today’s Youth (originally published in 1953), he warned about the negative and harmful effects of comics on American children and adolescents, for instance that “[t]he antisocial suggestions from comic books reach children in their leisure time, when they are alone, when their defenses are down” (Wertham, 2004: 167). He criticized not only the crime genre and its gruesome images, but also condemns the permissive depiction of women and female nudity stating that “[t]he difference between the surreptitious pornographic literature for adults and children’s comic books is this: in one it is a question of attracting perverts, in the other of making them” (ibid.: 183). Furthermore, he disapproves of themes of homosexuality and perverted sexual practices in superhero comics. For instance, he reads Batman and Robin as gay partners, saying the text “is like a wish dream of two homosexuals living together” denouncing that the comic’s
6 National later became Detective Comics, one of the biggest comics publishers in the US sometimes redundantly called ‘DC Comics’.
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 21
“atmosphere is homosexual and anti-feminine” (ibid.: 190-191). Most prominent of all and a continuous theme throughout the work, however, is his animosity towards all kinds of violence depicted in comics. The book triggered a U.S. Congressional inquiry on comics, and consequently publishers agreed to voluntarily self-censor their publications. The Comics Magazine Association of America established the Comics Code Authority which granted their stamp of approval only to comics complying with their restrictions. These restrictions, however, made it extremely hard, especially for horror comics, to get published. This period, which lasted until the early 1970s, is generally referred to as the Silver Age of Comics, “which was characterized by increased public scrutiny of comics and further refinement of generic conventions” (Bryant, 2010: 12-13). The history of European comics up to this point is by and large only marginally different from US-American ones. Of course, language plays a very important role in European comics because of the vast range of different languages. However, during the 1920s especially Scandinavians employed many wordless comics in order to be competitive on the multilingual market, which was very rare overseas (Lefèvre, 2010: 186). Other differences from American comics include the use of captions rather than word balloons. European adaptations of American comics were not common but when publishers produced them, the balloons “were erased and replaced by captions” (ibid.). The reason for this is simple and deeply entrenched in European minds, namely the strict separation of the visual and verbal systems, the view that words are superior to images. Nonetheless, the trend of replacing balloons with captions started shifting even before World War II “when new popular [European] comics with balloons were launched (e.g., […] in Belgium with Hergé’s Tintin), and new comics magazines […] reprinted American comics with balloons, often in full color” (ibid.). However, adaptations and imports of American comics or Japanese Mangas were rare. Just like in America, European comics were sold at newsstands in comics magazines, and later, following the American model, in newspapers, and they were generally aimed at children. Unlike in the US where the superhero genre dominated the market, European comics featured four popular genres: the adventure comic in a realistic style, the humorous adventure in a more caricature based style, the animal comic, and the gag comic (Lefèvre, 2010: 187). “Within each group, series were specially destined for boys or girls – in the middle of the 20th
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 22 century, several girls’ comics magazines were popular, particularly in countries like Great Britain, France, and Spain” (ibid.). In the 1950s some governments, the British for instance, started regulating comics because of increased concern about their harm for children. Much like in the US following Wertham’s crusade, European comics were under scrutiny. However, comics in Europe were still successful even though government restrictions were sometimes severe. “Up until the 1960s, clearly most European comics were destined for a juvenile public, but some series, such as Tintin or Astérix, offered several layers, which made them interesting both to children and adults” (Lefèvre, 2010: 188). In the following years more and more creators concentrated on adult comics, which often featured explicit violence and sex. European comics in general started to mature presenting new and complex storylines, protagonists and perspectives, such as feminism. Their quantity and quality increased causing a shift in public perception and status, especially in countries like Belgium or France where they are now called le neuvième art (the ninth art). The commercial success of this art form in Europe led to “the creation of comics museums (in Brussels, Angoulême, Lisbon, Groningen, Lucca)” and introduced “more and more merchandising and spin-offs, such as animation series or [video and other] games” (Lefèvre, 2010: 189). In the U.S. of the 1960s a counterculture formed that would later be called underground comix (see Glossary – Comix) and which “reflected the rebellious atmosphere of the times: experimentation with mind-altering drugs, the challenging of sexual taboos, and rejection of the establishment and middle-class mores” (Fingeroth, 2008: 17). Selling his magazine Zap Comix (1968-2005) out of a stroller in the streets of San Francisco with his wife, Robert Crumb spearheaded this movement. Underground comix tried to get as far away from the mainstream as possible, and their creators outdid themselves regarding sexual and violent content. One of the main reasons was to ignore the Comics Code Authority’s restrictions. Fingeroth explains: The comix themselves – mostly black-and-white interiors with colour covers – were usually sold through head shops, which catered to those seeking drug paraphernalia and so provided the perfect audience for the wild undergrounds. By selling their comix here rather than on newsstands, the underground creators sidestepped the Comics Code and so gave themselves the freedom to break taboos – although confiscation of certain issues by the police was not uncommon (2008: 17).
Because of their experimentation with the medium, it was comix that laid the stepping stones for graphic novels. Some underground artists, including Robert Crumb and Art
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 23
Spiegelman, began to “exploit the potential of the medium to do much more than shock and titillate” (Fingeroth, 2008: 18). Their stories became more sophisticated and aimed at an adult, more intellectual audience. Sales in mainstream comics dropped drastically after the introduction of the Comics Code, but one reason why comics took off again after this decline was the growing interest in collectible titles. Especially comics by Marvel, the biggest mainstream comics publishing house at the time, were particularly devised to be collected. A faithful fan-culture evolved and led to a set of changes of the comics market. Specialist fan shops emerged, exclusively selling comics and associated paraphernalia. “The growth in the number of shops was slow but steady in the 1970s, while in the 1980s things began to boom: by the end of the decade, there were estimated to be roughly 400 in Britain and 4,000 in America” (Sabin, 2010: 157). A comics subculture was successfully established. These shops catered to the fanatic following of mainly male teenage and young adult comics collectors. Many fans started to buy certain issues only to resell them for profit later. These speculators often did not even read the comics but tried to keep them in mint condition “by storing them unopened in plastic bags” (Sabin, 2010: 158). The publishers reacted with price guides for their comics. Through the shops, a new way of distribution was found and the old newsagent networks were ignored. Previously, newsagents would get a fixed number of copies each week and could return everything they did not sell. Now, “[p]ublishers would send flyers to shops promoting their forthcoming comics, which would then be ordered in specific numbers on a sale-or-keep basis” (Sabin, 2010: 158). This much more efficient selling strategy helped publishers to balance print runs and reduce waste. A number of smaller publishing houses started putting out their own superhero series and sold them exclusively to fan shops, which enabled them to establish themselves on the market. They were no big threat to the major companies regarding sales. However, they were successful in wooing established comics creators away from Marvel and DC by offering them royalties – a practice entirely new to the business but which the whole industry over time had to incorporate, which meant a tremendous improvement in creator’s rights. The European comics industry underwent a similar change. Because of the popularity of merchandising, TV-series and video games, smaller publishers merged to form big conglomerates dominating the mainstream market and reducing variety in products. This led
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 24 fans and artists to form smaller publishing houses on their own with more artistic and creative freedom. The forming of rather small, local publishers, which like the ones in America did not pose a real threat in terms of sales to the mainstream conglomerates, and the language barriers between countries are the main reasons why many European comics and comics series “remain a national or regional phenomenon” (Lefèvre, 2010: 189). However, European comics are not to be seen as isolated from other comics traditions. Lefèvre elaborates: Even in the 19th century, many North American comics were created by artists from German roots (Dirks, Feininger), while the French artist Georges Ferdinand Bigot founded a bilingual French-Japanes comics magazine Tobâé (1887) in Japan. Similarly, after the disaster of World War II various Italian artists (such as Hugo Pratt) emigrated to Argentina; various British comics authors (Neil Gaiman, Dave Gibbons, Simon Bisley, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison) worked from the 1980s on for the American comic book industry and were responsible for some outstanding comic book miniseries such as Watchmen. Europe, meanwhile attracted important artists from other continents, such as the work of the Argentines Muñoz and Sampayo (Joe’s Bar, Alack Sinner), the American leader of underground, Robert Crumb (Dirty Laundry Comics), the Iranian Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis) (2010: 189-190, original emphases).
Although sometimes inspiring European artists, the superhero genre was never as successful in Europe as it was in North America. In addition, “European publishers were in general not very efficient in exporting their creations to other continents. While North America and Japanese characters such as Batman, The Peanuts, Astro Boy, or Dragonball became known worldwide, only a very limited number of European comics such as Tintin, Tex Willer, Astérix, and Les Schtroumpfs (the Smurfs) were known and read outside Europe” (Lefèvre, 2010: 190). Furthermore, most of the success of those comics was due to adaptations into television- series. Although technically not part of the history of comics, it is important to mention some of the practical differences between American and European comics here as well. In the US, comics were published in only one predominant format, namely 7 by 10.5 inches. Because of the various small publishing houses and different preferences from country to country, European comics were presented in a great variety of formats. While some, especially Eastern European ones, used the landscape format, most publishers printed their comic books and magazines in portrait format. Nowadays most European comics are either printed in a pocket book format (DIN A5 – 14.7 by 21 centimeters), or in the so-called album format (DIN A4 – 21 by 29.7 centimeters). In addition, while American comic books and graphic novels usually are paperbacks, European albums generally prefer a hardcover. Comic albums tend to have a higher page count than American comic books and gravitate towards graphic novels regarding
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 25 content, even though collections of short stories within one album are very common too. However, more and more creators, working outside the mainstream, nowadays lean towards self-contained, sophisticated graphic novels on both sides of the Atlantic. While American mainstream comics publishers like Marvel and DC primarily worked in the superhero genre, many creators, inspired by the freedom of underground comix, explored neglected genres, such as science-fiction or fantasy. This movement became known as ground- level comics and situated itself between the outrageous underground comix and the mainstream. Many of the ground-level comics creators also worked for the mainstream but used the underground comix channels for publishing and distributing their experimental science fiction stories, because the big publishing houses thought there was no market for them. This duality enabled creators to “push back the boundaries of what was acceptable in terms of content and storytelling techniques even in their work on company-owned heroes” (Fingeroth, 2008: 20). This led to innovations within the superhero genre heralding the Bronze Age of Comics, which lasted from the 1970s until the mid-1980s. The biggest success in terms of sales, and the reason this period is sometimes referred to as the Marvel Age, was the revamped X-Men series by Marvel which “established the ‘fan comic’ style” (Sabin, 2010: 159). Chris Claremont’s writing as well as the art by famous names like, John Byrne, Marc Silvestri, or John Romita Jr. added to the success. Storylines were deliberately long and complex to keep fans coming back to the shops and buy every issue. Instead of the over-confident, untouchable superheroes of previous eras this style featured more down-to-earth, conflicted and consequently more realistic characters. “The fact that they fell in love, fell out, got married, gave birth, died and, above all, experienced discrimination from prejudiced humans only added to their appeal” (Sabin, 2010: 159). Other creators adopted these types of characters, and superhero comics overall featured more adult content and seriousness. One of the “milestone events that challenged the genre’s previous optimism, [was] the death of Spider-Man’s girlfriend Gwen Stacy” (Bryant, 2010: 13). Comics, even in the superhero genre, became more realistic and “storylines typically centered on urban unrest and real-world issues such as illegal drug use, racism, poverty, and social injustice” (ibid.). The Comics Code relaxed the restrictions on violence during this period which
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 26 further helped comics to mature. In 1986 a new age of comics was introduced, namely the Modern Age, sometimes also referred to as the Iron Age or the Diamond Age (ibid.). Two extremely popular and important works were the starting point of an era of comics that changed the perception of the medium and influenced an entire generation of comics creators: Frank Miller’s four-part series Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and Watchmen (1986), a 12-issue limited series by Allan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Tim Bryant in The Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels (2010) summarizes the period and the importance of these two graphic novels as follows: This period’s comics are characterized by morally and structurally complex storylines in both independent titles and traditional superhero comics. Both Moore’s and Miller’s work focused on the concept of the anti-hero in protagonists who, despite their superhero status, were flawed and vulnerable both morally and physically. The theme of vengeful justice, pursued by heroes lacking in superhuman abilities, is seen frequently in the actions of this age’s increasingly violent characters, such as Wolverine, The Punisher, and Todd McFarlane’s Spawn. Even Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series, the third landmark work of this age, is premised on the title character’s initial desire for revenge against both his captors and lost loves (2010: 13, original emphases).
Both Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (Miller, 1986) and Watchmen (Moore/Gibbons, 1986) revised the superhero genre and set new standards in visual storytelling. They were tremendously successful and paved the way for comics to find a place in regular book stores and to get their own shelves there. Their success was mainly due to three reasons: their superior quality in comparison to contemporary comics texts, Batman’s well-known status among mainstream audiences, and their publication format as graphic novels (Sabin, 2010: 165). In addition, they were not only popular and celebrated amongst fans but also critically acclaimed in the mainstream media, which helped change the perspective on the comics medium as a whole. It seemed that this juvenile type of text had finally grown up and people such as Will Eisner, Scott McCloud and Art Spiegelman in America, as well as Thierry Groensteen in Europe started to define the medium on a theoretical, scholarly level. As a short aside, understanding the history of graphic novels helps to make sense of more recent developments of comics. Hillary Chute reports that “Richard Kyle first publicly used the phrase in a 1964 newsletter circulated to members of the Amateur Press Association, and the term was subsequently borrowed by Bill Spicer in his fanzine Graphic Story World” (2010: 311). The term was only used as a label to make comics seem more interesting and appealing to adult audiences. One text, however, a collection of short stories revolving around
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 27 everyday life in New York, set itself apart, both on an artistic level and from a storytelling perspective, namely Will Eisner’s A Contract with God, and Other Tenement Stories (1978). Although not the first to use it, Will Eisner made the term popular, starting a trend in publishing houses to label their longer comics ‘graphic novels’ to improve sales. Even today, many people working on or with comics are critical of the term when used only as a selling strategy (c.f. Saracini, 2003: 4). While many publishers abused the label, Art Spiegelman raised the standards for the new subcategory with his groundbreaking, Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography Maus (1986/1992). He helped to reinforce the term’s meaning as a complex story presented in comic book format and increased its popularity even more. Furthermore, his success was one of the reasons for publishers to reprint books of collected self-contained miniseries and sell them as graphic novels, like the examples above. Publishers capitalized on the shift in interest from comics to graphic novels. Their hope was to open up a new market “away from the fan-shops” and they advertized the format as “a ‘new wave’ in literature” (Sabin, 2010: 165). Even though the graphic novel format has been around for a longer time than it was made out, especially in Europe where the so called album- format was and still is dominant, it was after the two texts mentioned above received praise by the mainstream media that it really took off. In addition, the success of these works, and a handful of others including Maus (1986/1992) and Persepolis (2000/20017), meant that their authors became known outside of the fan culture. The two big publishing houses, Marvel and DC, drifted apart regarding their strategies for selling comics. While DC concentrated on adult content graphic novels and launched a new imprint called Vertigo, focusing specifically on horror and fantasy and directed towards mature audiences, Marvel took the traditional route, specializing in comics series aimed at teenagers. In what fanzines (magazines specifically printed for fans) later called ‘the British invasion’, DC thrived on writer-driven stories by mostly British authors, like Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison and Jamie Delano, that could all potentially be released as graphic novels. This approach saw the
7 The graphic novel is divided into two parts, separately published in 2000 and 2001 in Paris by L'Association and only later integrated into a single volume called The Complete Persepolis first published in New York by Pantheon in 2004. This present work will use Persepolis (2000/2001) as the title for quotations meaning The Complete Persepolis published by Pantheon in 2004.
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 28 release of new popular characters and the reimagining of old ones. Marvel on the other hand stayed track with their established superheroes and capitalized on the teenage market, directing attention to the artwork rather than the writing. Especially their Spiderman and X- Men series were very successful at the time. At the end of the 1980s and during the 1990s, many comics were made into Hollywood movies. In particular the DC heroes Batman and Superman were popular on the big screen and did very well at the box-office. However, by that time Marvel and DC were not the only publishers dominating the market anymore because “certain independent companies had grown to such a stature as to pose a real threat. Three companies in particular made an impact on the early years of the decade: Dark Horse, Voyager and Image” (Sabin, 2010: 173). The most successful of these was Dark Horse which landed some hits with movie-tie-ins such as Aliens (Verheiden/Nelson, 1988), Predator: Concrete Jungle (Verheiden/Warner, 1989) and The Terminator: Tempest (Arcudi/Warner/Guinan, 1990), which were written as mock sequels to the movies. However, the main reason why Dark Horse did so well was the shift in the perception of comics creators after The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen. Much like film auteurs, comics and especially graphic novels creators were celebrated as stars, and Dark Horse was fortunate in employing one of the most popular ones, Frank Miller, almost exclusively. At the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the new millennium, Hollywood caught on to the popularity in superhero comics in earnest and started putting out a massive amount of adaptations. The fact that the two big publishing houses, Marvel and DC, were owned by Hollywood studios and some of the independents had close connections to them as well, meant that the two industries drew closer together and established profitable marketing campaigns including merchandising. Films doing well at the box-office would sell everything from action figures to T-shirts, from jewelry to drinking cups. Of course, the movies also ensured that the comics they originated from were advertised and sold as well. Bryant argues that despite the influence of the movie industry, the period is marked by “the evolution of comics as an art form, the maturation and diversification of subject matters, and the appeal of comics to a wider audience” (2010: 14). However, it seemed that the movie industry, with their enormous budgets, was finally capable to visually replicate the fantastical settings and situations which were previously the
Comics & Graphic Novels - Definitions and History 29 exclusive privilege of comics. Computer animation and other cinematographic tricks made it possible to emulate the extraordinary images from comics and bring them to life on the big screen. In addition, the popular characters from comics meant “instantly recognizable brand names – a corporate logo, an icon embodying a neat tag-line” for the movie industry (Sabin, 2010: 175). The sheer list of films featuring superheroes, or comics characters in general, is testament to that development. Furthermore, many of the characters were given their own movie series or were at least featured in sequels, like Batman, Spiderman, Superman, the X- Men, The Fantastic Four and Iron Man, to name just some of the most popular. All these characters and many others are deeply embedded in today’s popular culture and celebrated on conventions, which themselves gained a tremendous increase in reputation. Because of the ties to movies and TV-series, comics conventions are not only attended by fans of the medium anymore but now have a very diverse audience. One reason for the increased popularity of comics conventions is the dramatic evolution of online or web comics over the last decade. The internet allowed comics creators to circumvent the publishing industry entirely and release their works independently, practically for free, online. Because of that, more and more web comics appear every day. Admittedly, as explained in chapter 1.1.1, comics presented on a platform other than paper must be considered adaptations or a subcategory of comics if paper is not their original platform. Nonetheless, online comics have become so vast and liked by people all over the world that this subcategory cannot be left out of a historical summary. It is impossible to give any conclusive report of online comics because of the sheer volume of texts that have emerged since the introduction of the internet. Even though most of them are short lived, some artists have managed to establish themselves and have a decent number of fans. Many of the more popular web comics creators, like Scott R. Kurtz (PVP), Jerry Holkins, Mike Krahulik (Penny Arcade), Ryan Sohmer, Lar deSouza (Least I Could Do and Looking for Group) and Greg Dean (Real Life Comics), can earn a living with their digital comics and are regularly invited to and celebrated at comics conventions. In addition, web comics open up new ways of storytelling in sequential picture art. For example, a higher degree of interactivity between the artists, or the texts, and the reader-viewers is possible. As a result, new ways of presentation as well as new reading strategies are constantly being developed.
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2. Components and Tools
The previous chapter dealt with definitions of comics and graphic novels as well as the history of the medium and its subcategories. In order to get a better understanding of how comics and especially graphic novels work, however, the current chapter will focus on the tools comics artists use to tell their stories. It will cover important components of graphic novels, such as images, panels, language, word-balloons, color, the gutter, and mise-en-page. In addition, these tools and how they are used to distinguish a ‘regular comic’ from a graphic novel will be explained. As already mentioned in the previous chapter, a graphic novel surpasses the usual expectations towards other manifestations of the comics medium by implementing the tools in extraordinary, new, or innovative ways in order to engage the reader-viewer on more than just an entertainment level. Examples will illustrate how graphic novel writers and artists have accomplished this feat.
2.1 Images
Comics is a picture-driven medium. In other words, the images a comic is made of are the most important aspects of a comics text. In contrast to the opinion of other scholars who favor written language over pictures, Thierry Groensteen in The System of Comics (2007) states that “[…] the sequential image is seen to be plainly narrative, without necessarily needing any verbal help” (2007: 9). This claim ties into the argument given in the definition of the medium that comics do not need any form of language in order to be comics. Put simply, comics can be comics without language but not without images. In his third book, Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels (2006), Scott McCloud gives an elaborate introduction on how to create comics and especially concentrates on the content of panels – which will be explained later. He introduces five choices for the creator of a comic about what is seen on a page. Two of these choices are directly connected to the image, namely the choice of frame and the choice of image. The other three, the choice of word, the choice of moment, and the choice of flow operate on a
Components and Tools 31 linguistic, narrative and meta-level respectively and can be ignored for the purpose of this chapter. The choice of frame is controversial, because it refers to cinematographic terminology. Of course, the connection is easily applied and understood because, just like film, comics is a visual medium. However, as Douglas Wolk also cautions, the use of terminology from other fields can be dangerous when it encroaches upon and threatens the autonomy and sovereignty of the comics medium (Wolk, 2007: 13-16). That is the reason why, despite the name, the choice of frame does not refer to the panel and its borders, but rather to what is shown within a panel. McCloud makes the connection with a film production and explains that the choice of frame decides how close the camera is to the object being recorded, from what angle it is shot and whether the camera is tilted or balanced on its vertical axis. In other words, it is about how an object or character is shown in a panel, the perspective the reader-viewer gets of an object or character. The choice of image is self-explanatory. It refers to the images within a panel, the way they are drawn, the level of detail they are drawn in, their level of abstraction, shades and colors. The choice of image is also closely related to style. The choice of frame shows how an object or character is seen, the choice of image what is actually seen. Giving advice for aspiring artists McCloud points out that in comics the “pictures’ first and most important job is to communicate quickly, clearly and compellingly with the reader[-viewer]” (2006: 26, original emphases). Graphic novel artists pay close attention to these choices so that the images communicate exactly what they are supposed to. In other words, all decisions about what the images show, what is obscured, how it is drawn or what is left out, are deliberate to further the story. Talented graphic novel artists, with the choice of frame and the choice of image alone, can make a narrative more exciting and intensify its impact on the reader-viewer, thus distinguishing their work from a regular comic. In most comics and graphic novels images are separated from one another by a border (and additionally often by a narrow strip of blank background). These borders mark individual images as panels.
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2.2 Panels
In his book-length definition of the comics medium, The System of Comics (2007), Groensteen speaks of comics as a language. At the beginning of his work he establishes panels as the fundamental building blocks, the smallest units of meaning, of the medium. He explains the interrelatedness and the importance of placement of panels (as well as word-balloons) on a page and within a work, dubbing it the Spatio-Topical System (2007: 24). His insistence on a frame for each panel – the separation of images to form a sequence McCloud also postulates – in order to call a sequence of pictures comics (Groensteen, 2007: 27), is not supported in this work. However, Groensteen’s definition is very valuable for graphic novels, because they, inevitably ensured by their length, must incorporate a multitude of separated images. Panels are the tools used by the artist to arrange images on the page. The resulting framework of panels is called the “multiframe” (Groensteen, 2007: 28). The author elaborates that “the traditional schematic representation of a comics page is nothing more than a grid where the compartments are left empty, the ‘skeleton’ being only the body of the evoked object” (ibid.). He concludes that “these pictograms bring us back to what is essential about comics. They plainly confirm the two fundamental intuitions that guide me: that comics are composed of interdependent images; and that these images, before knowing any other kind of relation, have the sharing of a space as their first characteristic” (ibid.). Groensteen continues with a detailed description of panels. A short summary will suffice here. Panels share three “spatio-topical parameters [which] are always observable”, namely their “form […] (rectangular, square, round, trapezoidal, etc.) and […] area, measurable in square centimeters” as well as the “site of the panel, [which] concerns its location on the page and, beyond that, within the entire work” (ibid.: 28-29). Certain panels gain importance by differentiation from their neighbors through contrasts such as thicker margins of the frame, bigger area, or naturally privileged places on a page, the upper left corner, the lower right corner or the center of a page, for example. The arrangement, as well as the form of the panel, color and thickness of the panel borders are all deliberate, conscious choices by the writer/artist and therefore meaningful. Graphic novel creators use such distinctions to highlight panels, build up suspense, or dramatize the story.
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In the example shown in Figure 8 one panel is highlighted by its position on the page, the center, as well as the contrast of its form in relation to the other panels. In addition, while the surrounding panels show the action of a chase, including speed lines and emanata (see Glossary – Speed/Motion Lines; Emanata), they are generally darker. The prominent panel stops the action, focuses on the two characters holding each other and leaves the background almost empty. The speed lines on the top of the panel and the hands grabbing for the children are an invasion of the key
moment in the chase. Figure 8: Example of a privileged panel placement and form An important aspect of panels and the (Thompson, 2011: 69) multiframe is how they are linked together. Groensteen emphasizes “that within the paged multiframe that constitutes a complete comic, every panel exists, potentially if not actually, in relation with each of the others” (2007: 146). Because there is no natural or logical rule of how the reader-viewer is supposed to navigate their gaze over the page(s), the comics artist has to find a way to guide them. This is achieved through braiding, which means a way to connect certain panels with one another to form a series. In Groensteen’s eloquent words: The series that give birth to braiding are always inscribed within narrative sequences, where the first sense, independent of the perception of the series, is sufficient in itself. The series is inscribed like an addition that the text secretes beyond its surface. Or to put it in another way: Braiding is a supplementary relation that is never indispensable to the conduct and intelligibility of the story, which the breakdown makes its own affair (2007: 146-147).
One way of braiding as well as helping the reader-viewer through a comics text is via language.
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2.3 Language
It has often been repeated in this present work that comics and graphic novels do not necessarily need language, but it is an important aspect for most comics texts and strongly connected to the medium. Besides, language is one of the most powerful tools in storytelling. McCloud, giving advice to aspiring comics artist, states that “comics is a medium of fragments – a piece of text here, a cropped picture there – but when it works, your reader[-viewers] will combine those fragments as they read and experience your story as a continuous whole” (2006: 129, original emphases). He argues that comics need a way to balance language and images and that there are seven categories of combinations of the two to accomplish this feat (c.f. McCloud, 2006). McCloud provides a detailed explanation of all categories, however, for the purpose of this thesis it is sufficient to point out the two most important categories for graphic novels. It has already been said that to transform comics into graphic novels, creators have to incorporate extraordinary elements in their texts. Regarding the combination of language and pictures one possibility is their interdependency. In this category both the art and the accompanying language give the reader-viewer information that combined means something different than their Figure 9: The interdependency of words and images separated parts. In McCloud’s words: “[…] the (McCloud, 2006: 137) result of words and pictures in combination is utterly unlike what either could achieve alone” (2006: 137, original emphases). For McCloud, the interrelatedness of language and images is the standard mode of operation in comics. However, since language is not necessary, not an integral part of comics or graphic novels, a complementary use can be seen as an extraordinary feature. This approach to language in comics is not very common because it is hard to accomplish, which is why it can be used in graphic novels to set them apart from comics.
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The second category of language in contrast with pictures is a parallel combination, where the words and images do not “connect at all -- though their paths may bend toward each other in later panels” (McCloud, 2006: 138). The language has nothing to do with the image of a panel, but could be in reference to neighboring panels or constitute continued dialogue from previous panels. This category is often used for transitions between scenes or interlacing different storylines, like Alan Moore demonstrates brilliantly in Watchmen (Moore/Gibbons, 1986). In this revision of the superhero genre (see Figure 10), the reader-viewer is Figure 10: The innovative way of storytelling in Watchmen, weaving various storylines together offered a story within the story by a (Moore/Gibbons, 2008: III-28) boy who reads a comic at a newsstand while the newsvendor sometimes talks to himself or interacts with other characters. The comic read by the youth is called 'The Black Freighter' and its pictures, as well as captions, are visually different from the "real" story. However, both are intertwined in a way that sometimes the pictures of one are complementing the dialogue of the other, or the separated texts of dialogue and captions form another, a third, narrative when they are combined. The interplay between language and images, however, is not the only use of language in comics and graphic novels. Words are also very often used to stand in for sounds. This synesthesia of written language and sound helps comics artists to add another dimension to their texts. The resulting sound effects (see Glossary – Sound Effects) work like onomatopoeic words but are not bound to any conventions. In fact, many artists use their own system to represent certain sounds with words. However, accompanying images often help the reader- viewer to decipher the origin of these sound effects or what sound they actually represent. An innovative way to incorporate sound effects in a comic might help transforming it into a graphic novel.
8 The graphic novel is subdivided into 12 chapters, each of which starts with a fresh page count. The Roman numeral indicates the chapter, the number the page within that chapter.
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Another important aspect of language in comics is its representation. This includes font, size, lettering, color, and placement on the page, with or without a word-balloon or caption. Again, the two interrelated narratives in Watchmen (Moore/Gibbons, 1986) are a
Figure 11: Visual distinctions for characters' voices and good example. The captions from the thoughts Black Freighter story appear as if torn (Moore/Gibbons, 2008: I-1 and VI-12) out of that comic and have, just like the pictures from that story, a pointillist aesthetic. This drastic visual differentiation makes it easier for the reader-viewer to decipher where these captions belong. Other text types within the graphic novel are highlighted as well: For instance, all speech-bubbles and captions by Doctor Manhattan have a white border around a blue background, or Rorschach's journal has a yellow background and small blotches of ink scattered on it, while most of the remaining speech- bubbles have a plain white background. All of these distinctions have the function to engage the reader-viewer more closely with the text and to convey different things, like, for example, the voice of a character. However, the way language is represented sometimes also helps the reader-viewer to find out about the emotional state of a character. In Comics and Sequential Art (2008a) Will Eisner argues that the lettering of the text influences the reading of the pictures (2008a: 4). One of his examples (Figure 12) shows the letters seemingly oozing with blood, which adds a menacing nuance to both the talking character as well as the text itself. The same utterance in a plain hand-written style would not have the Figure 12: Lettering often adds same effect. The various shapes that often circumscribe language emotion to a text in comics can have similar implications and connotations. (Eisner, 2008a: 5)
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2.4 Word-balloons and captions
When language is incorporated into a comic or graphic novel, most creators use some kind of frame encircling their texts. These frames are called word-balloons, speech-bubbles, or captions, which Will Eisner calls a “desperation device” an endeavor to “capture and make visible an ethereal element: sound” (2008a: 24). Groensteen argues that, just like panels, a framework, or multiframe of word-balloons can be analyzed even when disregarding the content of those balloons. In other words, the grid of bubbles, their form and area, their place or position on the page, their relation to each other, and the way they are connected or separated is meaningful even without the texts they contain (Groensteen, 2007: 67). Art Spiegelman, for
instance, uses word-balloons in Maus Figure 13: Word-balloons braiding together panels, guiding the (1986/1992) to guide the reader- reader-viewer’s gaze viewer’s gaze over the page. The (Spiegelman, 1986/1992: 115) example shown in Figure 13 displays parts of a page from Maus on which a word-balloon is connected to another one in the panel below, signaling the reader-viewer to read those panels in succession, vertically. The jagged speech-bubble on the right hand side also braids the two panels it covers together. In addition, Groensteen argues that within the hyperframe of a whole comics text, word-balloons are always only part of a panel or the panel itself: The balloon cannot be postulated without, correlatively, postulating the panel. This affirmation signifies precisely this: a balloon that occupies, in the hyperframe, an unframed and empty position, a balloon that is detached, isolated, within an empty space, suffices to attest that there is well and truly a panel there, and that despite appearances the discourse of the page is not interrupted. Why? Because the balloon itself is at the same time information (an outline invested with a known symbolic function) and a carrier of information (the words or the graphic elements that it contains) and since, from this fact, it is identified, in this particular case, with the panel itself (2007: 68).
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Furthermore, he argues that the frame of a panel separates the image it encloses from an “exterior imaginary space” (Groensteen, 2007: 70). The word-balloon likewise “(especially when it doesn’t touch any of the exterior borders of the panel) [constitutes][…] an 'interior frame' of the image” which hides parts of the picture (ibid.: 72). In other words, the word- balloon covers parts of the image, which otherwise would have been intact. Groensteen calls this an effect of concealment because the reader-viewer is tricked into believing that the word- balloon is masking parts of the panel (Groensteen, 2007: 70-71). Graphic novel artists can make use of this effect by concealing information that gets revealed only later and has an impact on the story, for instance. Art Spiegelman demonstrates the effect of concealment brilliantly in Maus (1986/1992) and explains the reasons for his decision to cover parts of the image by a speech-bubble in Meta Maus (Spiegelman/Chute9, 2011). The author is conflicted because his story is narrated by his father Vladek who admits that he has not seen certain things which supposedly happened. Spiegelman wanted to show the gruesome practice of Nazi soldiers to
swing children by the legs against a wall to kill them, Figure 14: The effect of concealment which Vladek had not witnessed himself but was (Spiegelman, 1986/1992: 110) told about by somebody else. Consequently, the artist shows the action in one panel but conceals the outcome, the gore, in the following panel with Vladek's word-balloon, in which he admits to not having been an eyewitness to the events narrated. In addition to staying true to his father's narrative, Spiegelman also "was trying to not be coy, and not be gory" (Spiegelman/Chute, 2011: 215). The shape of word-balloons or captions is also important and is used for various effects. Elliptical or rectangular speech-bubbles with some kind of pointing annex, usually referred to as ‘tail’, are mainly used to represent spoken dialogue, whereas a cloud shape with shrinking
9 Although Hillary Chute is only acknowledged as an editor in the book, this present work will add her to the list of authors because of her central role, leading the interviews.
Components and Tools 39 circles pointing towards a character most often represent thoughts, while a jagged balloon sometimes stands for "sound or speech that emanates from a radio, telephone, television or any machine" (Eisener, 2008a: 25). However, the shape of captions or word-balloons can also signify a character's emotional state. In this case, a jagged line can mean anger or despair, a cloud might be a dream, a balloon shaped like a fire could be read as lust, passion or desire, and a bubble with icicles growing from it can be interpreted as coolness or disdain. Another way for word-balloons to indicate emotional states of characters, as well as other things, is their color.
2.5 Color
Comics today are associated with bright colors. However, they have a long tradition of being presented in black-and-white. Especially comic strips in newspapers were printed without color because it was much cheaper that way. When newspapers finally started printing comics in color it was a huge success commercially. However, as McCloud explains, “color boosted sales, but it also boosted costs” (1994: 187, original emphases). This led to the decision by publishers to restrict the color palette to four colors. These were the so called “subtractive primaries” – cyan, magenta and yellow, which, mixed together, produce black. This palette used in comics is called ‘flat colors’ and was the dominant use of color in comics in America up until the late 1970s. Some European artists “saw in their superior printing an opportunity to express themselves through a more intense subjective palette” and experimented with color (McCloud, 1994: 190, original emphasis). In the late 1970s these experiments found their way over the Atlantic and changed the approach towards color in comics. Nonetheless, Figure 15: Flat colors vs. a subjective palette color was still expensive and thus (Liebowitz, 1938 and Giraud, No date) reserved mainly for the big publishing
Components and Tools 40 houses. Independent artists often just did not have the money to publish their work in color or could not convince publishers to opt for the more expensive printing. Over the years this has changed, but not dramatically so. Comics and graphic novel experiments in color are “still the exception, not the rule. Comic artists wanting to conduct bold new experiments in comics art -- // --still have to learn in most cases to be bold in black and white” (McCloud, 1994: 191, original emphases). Consequently, it is all the more important to analyze the reasons of graphic novel artists for using color in their texts. Colors can set moods, intensify dramatic effects and let the images appear more realistic. If it is not a result of commercial pressure, whether a graphic novel is published in black and white or color is a deliberate choice by the artist and therefore meaningful. The absence of color can help to deemphasize or play down certain aspects of the story, like violence for instance. More about the role of colors in connection with violence will be explained in chapter 3.4. However, regardless of a work being in color or in black and white, the blank spaces between panels, the gutter, is one of the most important parts of comics and especially graphic novels.
2.6 The Gutter
In McCloud’s eyes, the most essential part of comics is the empty space between panels, the gutter. For him it represents the most distinguishable and important aspect of comics because it indicates a sequence of images. He argues that the reader-viewer needs to produce what he calls ‘closure’ to decipher a sequence and even goes so far as to state that “comics IS closure!” (McCloud, 1994: 67). However, as established and explained in chapter 1.1.1, Figure 16: The gutter creates the effect of ‘the reader- the gutter, or closure, is not needed for the viewer as the perpetrator’ reader-viewer to distinguish a sequence. (McCloud, 1994: 66)
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Nonetheless, for graphic novel writers and artists the gutter is a very important tool that is often used to surprise, add suspense and excitement or leave certain aspects of the text open to the imagination and interpretation of the audience. The conclusions drawn from two pictures presented side by side are different for each reader-viewer. In other words, every reader-viewer chooses what happens between panels. McCloud poetically says that “to kill a man between panels is to condemn him to a thousand deaths” (1994: 69). His example of a supposed murder (Figure 16) is very effective and a powerful instrument for graphic novel writers and artists. It makes the reader-viewer “an equal partner in crime” (ibid.: 68). I call this effect ‘the reader-viewer as the perpetrator’, which helps the audience to engage with a text and to immerse more deeply in a story. However, just like the form and placement of panels and word-balloons is meaningful and important, the same is true for the gutter. The thickness of the empty space between panels, for example, might influence the perception of how much time has passed or help the reader-viewer to decide which panel is supposed to be read next. The design, the appearance of a page, including the space left blank, has meaning and is a deliberate choice by the author. Figure 17 shows a page from Habibi (2011) by Craig Thompson. Here the gutters are formed like waves adding to the disorienting feeling of being swept through
a sewer pipe. A grid of rectangular panels Figure 17: The form of the gutter can add meaning to a would not achieve the same effect. Graphic graphic novel as well novel artists in particular are aware of the (Thompson, 2011: 447) mise-en-page, meaning how a page is designed, including panels and the gutters between them.
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2.7 Mise-en-page
Mise-en-page is everything the reader-viewer sees on a page. This includes the images, the words, the sound effects, the colors, the panel forms, arrangement and borders, the word balloons, and their forms, arrangement and borders, and even the gutter, the empty space between panels. Mise-en-page incorporates all that is up for analysis and interpretation on a comics page and beyond that page within a work. What does the author show to the reader- viewer? What is deliberately left out? How much detail does the reader-viewer get and why? What is obscured, by what means and for what reason or purpose? What is left for the reader- viewer to fill in to get the story across? Why does the author choose to show a particular panel before the reader-viewer has to turn the page? Why go for a conservative grid-like panel arrangement instead of a more sophisticated or experimental one, or the other way around? What does the artist communicate when color is or is not used? Why that specific set of colors? Are motion and speed-lines used or not, and why? Mise-en-page is one of the most important aspects of the medium of comics, especially for the author who decides what to show and what to leave out. The central question here is: By what means does the author communicate the message to the audience? Mise-en-page is the visual representation of a story by a comics artist. Everything shown, as well as things that are not shown, on a comics page is mise-en-page. Consequently it is the means by which violence, among other aspects and themes of comics and graphic novels, is expressed.
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3. Violence in Graphic Novels
Violence is as much part of comics and graphic novels as is the paper they are printed on, the ink they are drawn with, the colors they are painted with, panels, characters, dialogue, word balloons, or super-heroes. Finding a comic or graphic novel without violence is almost impossible. The role of violence, however, and the way in which violence is represented, or implied, differs greatly. This chapter will show that violence is an integral part of graphic novels and elaborate on the different ways of its representation. The various forms of expressing violence in the medium, such as violent images, language, panel arrangement and borders, the choice of colors, and sound effects, will be the main focus of this chapter. In addition, the reasons for violence in graphic novels will be discussed.
3.1 Violent Images
Stories in literature and films, or generally in popular culture and culture as a whole, are full of violence. It seems to be one of the key ingredients for a successful piece of art, the spice to make it more interesting, exciting, thrilling, entertaining. There are various ways to show, tell or imply violence in comics, and it is up to the artist to decide how to incorporate it. The most obvious way is to draw violent images, and because of our overexposure to this kind of content we are very familiar with them. But what exactly makes an image violent? To answer this question it is best to go over some examples of comics panels and pages pinpointing the features in the images which are responsible for the reader-viewer deciphering them as violent. The first example (Figure 18) is a panel from the 1997 graphic novel A History of Violence by John Wagner and Vince Locke, showing a young hitchhiker talking to a yet unknown man sitting in a car with a grin on his face and, most prominently, a gun in his hand (1997: 12).
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Ignoring the title and the title page of the text, which are obvious giveaways for the story to be expected within the book, this fifth panel of the story already introduces a violent image: A gun, any weapon for that matter, will always Figure 18: A History of Violence introduces a weapon very early in the story constitute violence, since this is the
(Wagner/Locke, 1997: 12) purpose of a weapon. An image of a weapon or instrument implemented for a violent purpose defines the first category of a violent image. However, it also depends on the way the weapons are handled in the images. Arguably, a panel in which two people are talking about baseball, with a deer rifle hanging on the wall in the background, can be read as less violent, or not violent at all, compared to a panel in which an ordinary piece of equipment, such as for instance a vase, is used to hit someone over the head. Nonetheless, the artist must have reasons to put weapons inside a panel and most of the time it is to indicate, or at least hint at, violence. The second example is one in which an outright violent action is shown, the second category of a violent image. A gun is fired, a bullet hits a target, a bomb explodes, a victim is strangled with a chord, a razor slices skin, or a fist connects with a face, like in the illustration taken from Kick-Ass (2010) by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. (Figure 19). These are examples of images where there is no doubt about their violent content. Whether or not these actions are part of the plot, are prominent, or only shown in the Figure 19: Overt violence depicted in the image in Kick-Ass background makes no (Millar/Romita Jr., 2010: 16110)
10 This publication does not feature a page count. The title page of the first chapter called “ONE” was taken as the first page of the work.
Violence in Graphic Novels 45 difference. It is important to repeat that the action needs to be seen on the page, in the image. Otherwise, if these actions are only hinted at but not shown, they fall into a third category of violent images, namely imagined violent images. These are images in which a violent action is about to happen or has already happened. Timing plays an important role in this category and is the main difference to the images in which the action is directly shown. The example given (Figure 20) is taken from the famous Watchmen graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986). We see Ozymandias (aka Adrian Veidt) continuing his speech while holding Rohrschach, who is trying to right his mask, by the shoulder with one hand and raising a fist. The fight between the two characters started three pages previous to that one, yet looked at in isolation, there is, strictly speaking,
no violent action in that one panel. Figure 20: Covert violence in Watchmen The image shows the reader-viewer (Moore/Gibbons, 2008: XI-19) the moment right before Ozymandias is about to hit Rorschach, who is found lying on the ground two panels later. The action itself is not seen, it is hidden in the gutter. The reader-viewer has to connect the two images in their head and add their own interpretation of what happens between those two frozen moments in time. The violence is not overtly found on the page but is instilled into the mind of the reader-viewer. The interpretation by the reader-viewer is the decisive factor in whether the illustrated panel is perceived to be a violent one or not, especially when the second panel, the concluding image, is not shown. However, the way the characters are drawn, their posture, body language, facial expressions, point towards an interpretation of them fighting, even when analyzing this panel in isolation, which makes it an imagined violent image. The second panel in Figure 20 would also fall into the same category, as would a body lying in a pool of blood, a broken bone, a bleeding nose, or any other outcome of a violent confrontation.
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3.2 Violent Language
It has already been established that it is not necessary to have language in a comic or graphic novel. However, if language is incorporated at all, graphic novels tend to include violent language. This subchapter will describe the possible uses of language that constitute violence. These are descriptions of violent events by the narration, aggressive dialogue, swearwords, and sound effects. Language can be a very subtle and misleading tool, which makes it hard for the reader-viewer to decipher violent language as such. For demonstrating purposes, the examples here will be as clear cut and obvious as possible. The first example is taken from Maus by Art Spiegelman (1986/1992: 210). In this panel (Figure 21), the narrator,
Spiegelman’s father Vladek, talks about the death of a Figure 21: Verbal violence in Maus fellow prisoner in (Spiegelman, 1986/1992: 210) Auschwitz. His narration is a dry, almost unemotional description of an extremely violent event. Vladek tells his son and the reader-viewer about a guard dragging the prisoner away and jumping hard on his neck, which is also what the image in the panel insinuates. However, the second caption shows Vladek’s nonchalant confession that he does not really know what actually happened and that the prisoner might just as well have been executed in the gas chambers. He is only certain that “they finished him and he never anymore complained” (Spiegelman, 1986/1992: 210). Clearly, the language in this example constitutes ‘verbal’ violence, because violent actions are described. The fact that only one of these descriptions is accompanied by the image, which also only hints at what happened, makes the violence in the language – and the panel as a whole – even more powerful, disconcerting, uncomfortable and repulsive.
Violence in Graphic Novels 47
The second example is about violent language in dialogue between characters. This can range from the usage of words describing violence, such as, ‘kill’, ‘death’, ‘wound’, to threats, like “I’m gonna get ya!”, or swearing. Descriptive violent words always constitute a use of violent language despite the context. For example, the response “Stop it, you’re killing me!” to a joke must be considered violent language despite the metaphoric meaning, because some readers might miss the metaphor and, for its denotative meaning, the word ‘killing’ undoubtedly constitutes violent language. However, statements like the one mentioned above in which no obvious violent words are included are open for interpretation and need to be set in context. Sometimes it is only possible to decipher violent language as such in contrast with the accompanying images. A speech bubble or caption containing the example given above, “I’m gonna get ya!”, attached to an image in which two boys are chasing each other with laughing faces might not be considered violent language, whereas the same word balloon could be read as violent if it is referring to an image framed by the crosshairs of a telescope. Another example is the remark "Don't cry boy. I'm sending you to join your parents" taken from the beginning of X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills by Chris Claremont and Brent Anderson (2007: 211). Without the accompanying images the two sentences could be read in an innocent, even helpful, friendly tone spoken by a concerned adult to a child. However, the panel shows a hand holding a gun. Even without the images and text on the rest of the page, which show and tell of the execution of two mutant children, the reader-viewer can decipher the utterance as a threat and not as a sympathetic, supportive proposal. The third instance of violent language, as already mentioned, are swear words. Mostly, but not exclusively, found in dialogue, swearing is integral to almost all graphic novels in the Western Figure 22: Violent language in one of the least violent graphic novels, Ghost World comics tradition. Swear words are always violent (Clowes, 2009: 9)
11 This publication does not feature a page count. This present work regards the page immediately following the acknowledgments by Chirs Claremont as the first page of the text.
Violence in Graphic Novels 48 because they constitute a violent emotional outbreak. The range goes from rather harmless colloquialisms, such as ‘damn’ or ‘Darn!’ to loaded, explicit swear words, like ‘shit’, ‘asshole’, ‘motherfucker’ and ‘cunt’. In addition, some swear words are also used in their adjective form. The most common of those is ‘fuck’ (see Figure 22). Despite the graphic novel being slowly paced and restricted in action and emotions, right on the first page of the story Enid Coleslaw, one of the protagonists in Ghost World (2009) by Daniel Clowes, uses ‘fuck’ in its adjective form saying: “I hate this fucking magazine!” (2009: 9). Even though there is not much happening on the surface of the story and there are no physical violent outbreaks or encounters, the graphic novel contains violent language, proving that even the least violent graphic novels in context or story can feature some kind of it anyway. It is also a common practice to mask swear words by self- censorship. Many comics and graphic novel creators use a combination of icons and symbols within their dialogue standing in for swear words or obscure them by other means, such as a black line. Chester Brown, in his graphic novel Louis Riel: A Comic-strip Biography (2003) about the important historic Canadian figure, for example uses the letter 'x' in succession to express swearing. The author even includes Figure 23: Despite the censorship the reader-viewer can identify an explanation in a caption (see swearing Figure 23). (Brown, 2011: 61) Technically, this practice eliminates swear words as they are not explicitly printed. However, I argue that the reader-viewer still understands the notion of swearing even if the exact words are obscured. Thus, if
Violence in Graphic Novels 49
the context (accompanying images, facial expressions, etc.) supports the suggestion that there is swearing, the audience will identify it as such and consequently the utterance would be considered violent despite the lack of actual violent language.
The last example of violent language are sound effects. Of course, not all graphic novels feature sound effects, and not all sound effects are violent.
Figure 24: Sound effects in 300 Here, the dependence on the
(Miller, 2006: 49) image, or at least some kind of
contextual information as to the origin of the sound, is crucial. Sometimes the same words represent different sounds. Frank Miller in 300 (1998) writes “KRAK” and “KUNCH” in big, bold letters to describe the sound of bones breaking and flesh being violently torn (e.g. 2006: 6, 7, 49). The images leave no doubt as to the source of the sounds. However, it is just as easy to imagine these two words representing the sounds a schoolboy makes while eating his breakfast cereal. Without the accompanying images the reader-viewer would probably not know about the origin of these sound effects. Another aspect in language should not be left out, namely the typeface. Some artists use different typefaces to distinguish between characters and give each a distinctive voice, or to visualize accents and languages. A useful example is the Joker’s voice in the graphic novel Batman: Arkham Asylum
(Morrison/McKean, 1989). Although many other Figure 25: The unique lettering of Joker’s voice in Batman: Arkham Asylum characters in the story have their own hand-lettered (Morrison/McKean, 2004: 21) typeface or speech bubble border, the Joker’s cannot be
Violence in Graphic Novels 50 mistaken for another. It is the only one in deep red with some letters smeared with ink as if a fountain-pen was pressed too hard onto the page. Typeface, however, can also be used as a tool to give emphasis to certain character traits, such as violent behavior, for example. The scope of using typeface as an emphasizing device for violence ranges from simply highlighting certain words, for instance swear words, in italics or boldface, to a character’s speech seeping blood, as in the example by Will Eisner in Figure 12. Some artists combine these instruments with others, such as color or the shape of speech balloons which will be explained in the following subchapter regarding panels.
3.3 Panel arrangement and borders
Chapter 2 explained panels and their part in mise-en-page. Panels can be arranged in any way imaginable, use whatever space is available on a page, and take any shape possible. They are tools the artist can work with for dramatic effect. Ignoring the content of panels, what would make them seem violent? The following paragraphs will show that even shapes and their arrangement on a page can be seen as violent and how artists use them to emphasize violent content, or instigate violent interpretations in the reader-viewer. Certain shapes of panels do not even need violent content to be read as violent panels. For instance, a panel shaped like a weapon. This would be the most overt and readable use of panel borders as a tool to convey violence without Figure 26: A violent panel shape corresponding content. One example has already (Spiegelman, 1986/1992: 50) been used in a different context, namely the shape of crosshairs or binoculars. There are numerous examples of this shape in comics. Figure 26 shows one from Maus (Spiegelman, 1986/1992). The caption, in which Vladek explains he is looking through the telescope on his gun, is redundant for the reader-viewer to understand
Violence in Graphic Novels 51 what this panel is suggesting. However, if the artist is skilled enough there are countless other shapes that do not necessarily need corresponding content to be read violently. Other designs rely more on what is inside the panel, or at least what was inside previous panels. A jagged panel border, for instance, might emphasize a character’s anger and an outbreak of emotion in an argument. It could, even without the congruent content, be seen as an explosion, of physical or emotional nature. Even amorphous shapes can be read violently, for example, a pool or puddle of blood, when the content supports a congruous reading. Sometimes, the panel border in relation to the content of the panel can be used to amplify violence. This is achieved by content overflowing
Figure 27: Breaking the fourth wall the panel borders, which is called ‘breaking the
(Eisner, 2008a: 48) fourth wall’ (see Glossary – Fourth Wall). A monster framed by a rectangular border is less threatening than one jumping out of the panel, bursting through the border, seemingly even reaching out of the page, out of the paper, towards the reader-viewer, like in the example shown in Figure 27. There are countless examples of this technique, especially Superhero comics make use of it excessively to make the action more dramatic and threatening – more violent. One way to use the sequence and the arrangement of the panels on a page to emphasize violence, or at least to add to the drama and trigger a feeling of unease in the reader-viewer is a simulated fall. The example in Figure 28 is taken from Will Eisner’s theoretical analysis of comics called Comics and Sequential Art (2008a: 48). A large panel sprawling the whole height of the page establishes the height of the building. The way the other three panels are arranged in contrast to the long one, underscores a feeling of disorientation while falling and eventually crashing. As the figure inside the panel tumbles down the building, the panels spin too, adding a sense of confusion to the character
Violence in Graphic Novels 52 and enabling a clearer and therefore more engaging feeling for the reader-viewer. This arrangement clearly adds excitement to the violent action of a character falling from a building and crashing to the ground. The same principles of violent panels, their borders, the relation to content and arrangement applies to word balloons as well. No matter the content, a speech bubble shaped as a knife, for example, is more violent than an oval or rectangular one. An overflow of language beyond a word balloon’s borders might seem more threatening, and an overly large word balloon or caption seemingly pressing a Figure 28: The panel arrangement smaller one, or even the image itself, into a corner lends makes the disorientation of falling strength to what is said inside the bigger one, making it from a building even more vivid more violent. Craig Thompson provides an example in his (Eisner, 2008a: 48) graphic novel Blankets (2003), in which the protagonist’s father is asserting his dominance over his children (Figure 29). We not only see the hulking figure of the father looming over the two boys, but also his speech in bold letters weighing down on them, adding a nuance of threat to his commandment.
Figure 29: The words, as well as the father, weigh down on the children in Blankets
(Thompson, 2003: 13)
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3.4 Colors
Colors in graphic novels are often used to set a mood: they can be soothing and calming, or aggravating, agitating, exciting, highlighting and violent. They are mainly a Figure 30: Two examples of the use of color in Sin City: Hell and Back tool used for emphasis or the (Miller, 2010b: 225 and 147) opposite, to deemphasize certain aspects of a story. Frank Miller’s Sin City series (1991-2000) is one of the best examples for using color as an emphasizing instrument. The comic is drawn in black and white and uses color only sparingly to highlight specific parts of the story, a character, or other visually significant components. It is the absence of color throughout the rest of the series that makes the use of certain colors violent, because they catch the eye and come as a shock. Using color to surprise or emphasize is not, however, limited to black and white comics. Neil Gaiman’s story Murder Mysteries (2002), drawn by P. Craig Russel in very bright and often warm colors, shows that even in a colored graphic novel this tool can be used to emphasize violence. The panels in Figure 31 Figure 31: Using color for emphasis in a color graphic novel describe a conversation between two angels, (Gaiman, 2002: 30) the protagonist Raguel and Lucifer. The whole page is set in a forest clearing and the color scheme is a soothing mixture of greens, browns
Violence in Graphic Novels 54 and blues. Yet, in the center of the page one panel shows Raguel’s head and upper body in deep red in front of a bright yellow background dissolving into black, and a red and white speech balloon with a black base hanging over his head. The panel disrupts the peaceful scenery and makes the content in the seemingly burning word bubble a looming threat, even though it is just a simple statement and question. Perfectly natural sentences in the flow of the conversation are colored to become a threatening menace. Color, or rather the absence of it, is also used to deemphasize violent content. Often artists make a conscious decision not to use color in order to tone the violence down. Especially extremely violent comics sometimes refrain from using color because the content itself is enough to excite or shock the reader-viewer. Examples include Road to Perdition (Collins/Rayner, 2002), Maus (Spiegelman, 1986/1992), Persepolis (Satrapi, 2000/2001), A History of Violence (Wagner/Locke, 1997), Safe Area Goaržde (Sacco, 2010) and Palestine (Sacco, 2011). Nonetheless, a much more pragmatic reason for refraining from the use of color is the price. Clearly, a colored comic or graphic novel is more expensive to produce than a black and white one. Many artists working outside the mainstream production companies, such as Marvel or DC, simply cannot afford to color their works or cannot find a publisher willing to print their texts in color. Since often the creators know beforehand that their work will not be published in color, or intend to refrain from using color because of commercial reasons in the first place, they sometimes compensate by incorporating more graphic violent images or simply increase the number of violent pictures. In these cases, the absence of color would be the reason for more violence rather than a deemphasizing tool.
Violence in Graphic Novels 55
3.5 Reasons for Violence in Graphic Novels
Violence is an integral part of comics and graphic novels but the value these texts put on violence differs and is up to the authors, the artists, and in part to the interpretation of the reader-viewers. Especially super-hero comics feature violence excessively, because it is thrilling and exciting and that particularly appeals to an audience of children and adolescents, while it in no way restricts their appeal to an older audience as well. The previous subchapters dealt with the way graphic novels incorporate and display violence, but the question remains why it is such a central theme. First of all, conflict is interesting: It adds excitement and thrill to a story. The struggle between good and evil, virtuous and wicked has always been popular in fiction. A clash between two opposites is almost always violent in one way or another. Comics and graphic novels are storytelling media which are especially capable of delivering these stories, because of their graphic element. While a prose writer often needs hundreds of pages and a profound understanding of language, a skilled artist can instigate the most heartfelt emotions, violent or otherwise, in the reader-viewer with a sequence of a few pictures. The expression “A picture says more than thousand words” applies, and a sequence of pictures, as in comics and graphic novels, consequently increases in impact exponentially. The limits for fictitious graphic stories are the imagination and skill of the author and artist. Secondly, violence is not only popular in fiction but often also an important part in non- fiction works. Authors dealing with real life stories often cannot avoid violence, because, sadly, there is so much of it going on in this world. In fact, most non-fiction graphic novels revolve around a violent conflict, as can be seen in Maus (Spiegelman, 1986/1992) with the Second World War; Persepolis (Satrapi, 2000/2001) with the Islamic revolution in Persia; Safe Area Goražde (Sacco, 2000) and the Bosnian War or Palestine (Sacco, 2001) and Footnotes in Gaza (Sacco, 2009) that center on the struggle between Israel and the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, while Pyongyang (Delisle, 2010) describes life in North Korea and Trinity (Fetter- Vorm/Gallagher, 2012) deals with the creation and the dropping of the first atomic bomb. Reality is violent, therefore texts about it, no matter what media or format they are in, are violent as well.
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Thirdly, however, the role of violence in graphic novels is not only important because of the stories, no matter if they are works of fiction or non-fiction. Sometimes the name of the author or artist is a giveaway for a violent piece of art, because of their personal style and reputation. Borrowing from film studies’ auteur theory some comics and graphic novel authors have a distinct and unique voice, style, or language that sets them apart from the rest, making them more than just writers or artists. Some of these exceptional talents are recognized by their individual use of violence as well. One of the best examples for this kind of expertise is Frank Miller who created such over-the-top violent texts as 300 (1998), Sin City (1991-2000), Holy Terror (2011), Ronin (1983-1984) and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986). Over the years his style and way of storytelling has become a trademark, and the author is known for his use of excessive and brutally graphic depictions of violence. These three elaborations amalgamate into one overarching reason why violence is such an integral and central aspect in graphic novels. The efficiency and ease with which graphic novels tell violent stories, fictional and otherwise, makes them a popular choice for writers and artists specializing in violence, which in turn promotes this theme further. It is almost impossible to create a complex or innovative narrative without conflict or struggle. Thus, graphic novels, because of their sophistication and visual nature, are especially adept to present violence.
Analysis 57
4. Analyses
This chapter will provide an analytic perspective on violence in graphic novels. For this purpose several well-known and critically acclaimed works will be looked at and compared to each other in terms of their use and representation of violence. Rather than on the impact of violence on a particular group of reader-viewers, the analysis will focus on the graphic novels’ implementation and use of the previously explained techniques to show, depict, convey, instill or hint at violence without judging the impression they leave on the audience. In other words, it will look closely at how the medium mechanically encodes violence, disregarding the effects of this violence on reader-viewers. The texts analyzed are prominent examples of the medium created by famous, popular and well-established comics writers and artists. These works are: Frank Miller’s highly controversial adaptation of Greek history 300 (1998); the autobiographical Maus (1986/1992) by Art Spiegelman which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992; the hyper-violent commentary on the Superhero genre Kick-Ass (2010) by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.; and the black-and-white gangster story A History of Violence (1997) by John Wagner and Vince Locke. All of these works are unique regarding their stories, style and portrayal of violence, which is why they were chosen for analysis. The order in which the analyses are presented is not significant and does not constitute any kind of value judgment. Several other great works would contribute valuable insights in the medium’s use of violence, such as V for Vendetta (Moore/Lloyd, 1982), Watchmen (Moore/Gibbons, 1986), Palestine (Sacco, 2001) or Road to Perdition (Collins/Rayner, 1998), but their examination would go beyond the scope of this thesis.
4.1 Frank Miller’s 300 (2006)
After its first publication in 1998, 300 was criticized for its historical inaccuracy and Frank Miller was accused of being homophobic. This did not, however, diminish the success of the graphic novel, which won three Eisner awards in 1999, selling over 120,000 copies in total. It recounts Greek history (and mythology) at around 480 BC focusing on the Battle of
Analysis 58
Thermopylae. 300 Spartans, together with a small army of other Greeks, supposedly fended off an overwhelming Persian army there and ultimately sacrificed themselves to buy time for the rest of Greece to prepare for war. It is said that the self-proclaimed Persian god-king Xerxes only succeeded in that battle because one of the Spartans, Ephialtes of Trachis, showed him a hidden path from which the Persians could outflank the Greeks. Frank Miller is notorious for the extremely graphic depictions of violence in his comics and graphic novels. 300 is a prime example. Almost nothing is hidden, however gruesome, and not much is left to the imagination. The point-of-view of the narration is one reason for this. The story, in large parts, is told by Dilios, one of the 300 Spartans who march with the Spartan king and army general, Leonidas, to the pass at Thermopylae, the ‘Hot Gates’, to engage the invading Persian army. Violence is a defining characteristic of the Spartan people and the horrors of war are nothing new or remarkable for them. In order to give Dilios more credibility in front of the Spartan army he talks to, the representations of violence have to be as realistic as possible. Dilios tries to convince them that their odds, three Persians for every Greek warrior, favor their army, and that they will easily overcome the Persian threat. For Spartans, the violent images he describes are nothing extraordinary; violence is ingrained in their culture; it is just what Spartans do. After the first morning of monstrous bloodshed and deadly fighting, if Dilios can be believed, Leonidas taunts and humors Xerxes during negotiations: “We’ve been sharing our culture with you all morning” (Miller, 2006: 5112). In addition, Sparta is a militaristic city-state, meaning that their men are bred and trained to a certain standard, and raised to become fighters. They are soldiers by trade. The Arcadians whom the 300 meet on their way to the battlefield in the graphic novel are ridiculed and taunted as womanly, because their professions are bakers, black-smiths, potters and sculptors, whereas the Spartans all see themselves as soldiers (Miller, 2006: 23). In their eyes, the 300 have more soldiers despite the greater number of the Arcadians. For the Spartans, violence is the answer to every argument, because that is the way they are raised and they do not know anything else. This is already made clear in the beginning of the story when Stelios stumbles and falls from exhaustion and receives a beating as punishment. After the captain
12 This publication does not feature a page count. This present work regards the title page called “Chapter One: Honor” as the first page of the text.
Analysis 59 does not react to the order to stop the beating, he himself is knocked unconscious by Leonidas (Miller, 2006: 6-7). All of that is narrated by Dilios in a dry, unemotional, matter-of-fact (maybe even admiring) way because, as already mentioned, it is nothing out of the ordinary for Spartans. Dying in battle is the greatest honor a Spartan man can achieve. This notion is reinforced in the last chapter, titled Victory, in which the 300 are betrayed and slaughtered. It is, amongst other things, mainly this glorification of violence, which is even explicitly stated, that makes 300 so distinct: And though he leads his precious three hundred to certain death--his only regret is that he has so few to sacrifice. // Every Spartan--Man or Woman--should share in this glory. And in the victory that would’ve been secured, had not king Leonidas been so roundly thwarted (Miller, 2006: 16, original emphases).
However, Dilios’ narrative cannot be taken at face value for several reasons. First, he is not on site for many parts of the story, so he would have no knowledge of the events or dialogues – like, for instance, of Ephialtes’ interview with Leonidas or his meeting with Xerxes, the negotiations between the Spartan king and Persian leader, or the last stand of the Spartans after they are betrayed. Second, the reader-viewer cannot be sure about the narrative voice at all times. For instance, the captions narrating the story often use “Dilios” in the third person, which would indicate another narrator. In fact, it can be argued that these captions are not part of Dilios’ story at all but a shift in perspective. They might represent a meta-narrator or in
Figure 32: The narrative voice is not always clear in 300 some cases show the thoughts of
(Miller, 2006: 63 and 65) some of the other characters. The close proximity of the narrative boxes to Leonidas on page 63 (detail on the left in Figure 32) might be an indication that they tell the reader-viewer his thoughts. On page 65 (detail on the right in Figure 32), however, it is not clear whose voice the captions represent and it can be argued that here a meta-narrator is 'heard'. In addition, some narration is not presented in captions but the text is directly written on the page without an encircling border – a visual distinction in narrative voice.
Analysis 60
Third, the purpose of Dilios' narration, his story, is to mobilize the Greek army. Frank Miller even hints at the discrepancies when he lets one of the Spartan soldiers listening to Dilios think: “Captain Dilios spins his stories. // His best story. // The one about the hot gates.” (Miller, 2006: 80, original emphases). The text admits to the reader-viewer that it is just a story and that there is a reason why the story is told the way it is. It seems that even the characters in the book do not fully trust what Dilios is telling them. However, his exaggerations have the purpose to strike pride and fearlessness into the hearts of his men and judging from the very last page, showing only one panel in which we see the Spartans charge, it works. Nonetheless, the narration is not the only way of emphasizing violence in the text. 300 has a very distinct color scheme. Lynn Varley, the colorist, uses quiet, somber, dark tones as backgrounds which are contrasted with bright reds and yellows for capes, blood, shields and armor. Particularly the capes, which presumably try to put the Spartans on the same level as superheroes, stick out in deep red and are present on almost every page of the graphic novel. In addition, the capes and blood are the only red objects in the color scheme. The dark, sometimes completely black, backgrounds make this juxtaposition even more distinct and help emphasize the violent pictures. All other characters, including the Persian warriors or other Greeks, blend together into one monotonous mass, usually in brown, gray or dark yellow tones, which is cut through by the Spartan capes and bloody spears. Even the color is seemingly ripping through enemy forces. Frank Miller’s talent as an artist can be seen on every page not only because of the extraordinary level of detail found in the pictures, but also in the way he divides a page. Two particular pages stand out for their innovative and unique panel Figure 33: Miller’s innovative use of panel arrangement and borders to engage the audience arrangement and borders. Pages 69 (Miller, 2006: 69) (Figure 33) and 70 show the moment
Analysis 61 before the climax of the story, the calm before the storm, where the remaining Spartans are surrounded by Persian soldiers. The interesting and remarkable feature of these pages is that the reader-viewer gets a look through the eyes of Leonidas. This is achieved by contouring the enemy forces with thick, black panel borders shaped like his helmet. In addition, to make it more palpable for the audience, these big panels, taking up half a page each, are inlayed with rectangular panels showing only close-ups of Leonidas’ eyes and helmet. The effect of this arrangement is a deeper involvement of the audience with the inevitability, the hopelessness of the situation for the Spartans. They are trapped and surrounded by enemies who display their weapons, foreshadowing the Greeks’ inescapable demise. The impact of this layout for the reader-viewers is a bigger emotional connection with the characters. The audience is immersed in the narrative. This term is often used in Game Studies and is "the feeling of being present in another place and engaged in the action therein" (Mateas, 2004: 21). The violence that ensues has a deeper impact on the audience because of that inclusion and immersion. For a comics text about violence and war it is almost unavoidable to show weapons, which, as has been established earlier, results in violent images. Frank Miller takes it to the extreme. Of the total of 81, only nine pages do not feature weapons and two of those are chapter titles. Such a high percentage of violent pictures is rare, even in crime, horror or superhero comics. The only continuous sequence that does not have weapons in its illustrations is Leonidas’ Figure 34: King Leonidas' extremely graphic demise including arrows visit to the Ephors, Spartan breaking the fourth wall
“priests to the old gods” (Miller, 2006: 77) (Miller, 2006: 18), and their oracle, which only lasts for four pages. Many pictures that do show weapons are dominated by them, especially in the last chapter, where the reader-viewer is confronted with the slaughter of
Analysis 62 the 300. Figure 34 is one extremely graphic example. We see King Leonidas pierced by arrows, still clutching his sword and falling among his fellow Spartans in their battle dress and shields. The arrows dominate the panel and even break the fourth wall, which is indicated by white streaks across the page, not only tearing the flesh of the characters shown within, but seemingly also the paper these characters are depicted on.
Aside from the sound effects, which will be dealt with later, 300 is not overly violent in its language. Besides terms of warfare, like ‘war’, ‘spear’ or ‘battle’ and occasionally general violent vocabulary, such as ‘death’ or ‘sacrifice’, the graphic novel only introduces minor swearwords, insults or curses. The strongest of these is “boy-lovers”, used by Leonidas to describe the Athenians13 (Miller, 2006: 13). Thus, compared to the gruesome images of spears piercing flesh and limbs being hacked off, the language is very timid. The closest example for an explicitly violent verbal outbreak is Ephialtes’ rant, cursing his cruel fate after surviving a suicide attempt: “Damn you. Damn you, gods! Damn you, father! Damn you, mother! Damn you all to hell!” (ibid.: 57, original emphases). There are a few references to ‘hell’ in the graphic novel. Most noticeable in Leonidas’ speech before the Spartan’s last stand he says: “Spartans. Ready your breakfast. And eat hearty-- // -- for tonight we dine in hell!” (Miller, 2006: 65, original emphases). In addition, some visual representations of religious themes are incorporated as well. For example, the splash page at the end of the story (Miller, 2006: 79), showing Leonidas lying on the floor, pierced by arrows and with outstretched arms, is a clear reference to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. These religious commentaries are not accurate at all and probably are deliberately chosen to appeal to Christian reader-viewers. The examples are a clear indication that Frank Miller intends to make the Spartans more sympathetic for such an audience, because the ancient Greeks did not believe in the notion of a Christian ‘Hell’. They rather imagined a place called Hades, the Greek Underworld, most mortals would descend to after death regardless of their behavior in life. The use of these religious themes in the images as well as the language is a way to justify the excessive violence by the 300 towards their attackers. In their eyes, they are
13 This is one example why Frank Miller was accused of being homophobic. However, the derogatory use of the word "boy-lovers" cannot only be read as a jibe at the Athenians being gay, but hints at them being pedophiles.
Analysis 63 only defending themselves (and the rest of Greece) against oppression by evil invaders and a foreign lifestyle which is threatening their own cultural values. The author demands of the reader-viewers to condemn and denounce violence against free Greek people implicated with Christian connotations, on the one hand, but on the other hand, to be accepting of the extreme violence from the Spartans. In other words, Miller tries to manipulate the audience into sympathizing with the Spartans despite their outrageous behavior. In this respect, the text can be seen as a form of propaganda favoring Christian over other beliefs.
4.2 Art Spiegelman’s Maus (1986/1992)
In 1972 Art Spiegelman was published in the first issue of Funny Animals. His contribution called "Maus" (1972) revolves around a Jewish father telling his son of life in Poland during the Nazi occupation. The three-page comic features anthropomorphic animals, namely cats as Nazis and mice as Jews. It was the first attempt at what later would turn into the awards winning graphic novel. From 1980 to 1991 each chapter of the graphic novel (except the last one) was published in Raw magazine and only in 1986 was it compiled into one volume called Maus: A Survivor's Tale - My Father Bleeds History (Spiegelman, 1986). Six years later the second volume featuring the last five chapters came out subtitled And Here My Troubles Began (Spiegelman, 1992). Finally, in 1996 Pantheon books combined the two parts into one complete volume. Maus (Spiegelman, 1986/1992) is an autobiographic history depicting the experiences of Vladek Spiegelman, the author’s father, during the Second World War and how he told his story to his son in New York and Florida. It deals with issues such as the holocaust, anti-Semitism, racism, suicide and violence in general. The characters are anthropomorphic animals, like in the three-page comic from the early 1970s, but drawn in a more simplistic, more serious and less comical style. The choice which animal represents which ethnic or religious group has been cause for endless discussions and was even the reason for public outcry and publication problems. An examination of this highly controversial subject is not, however, the intent of this thesis.
Analysis 64
Millions of people died horrific deaths during the years of the Second World War, and so, since the subject matter of the story is one of extreme violence, the graphic novel is very violent as well. However, detailed, graphic violence is not featured extensively or prominently, and the creator uses several artistic elements to deemphasize some of the gruesome acts committed by the characters. Art Spiegelman often relies on the reader-viewer’s imagination. Many of the violent scenes or incidents he describes happen in the gutter or are concealed by speech bubbles or captions – they are not seen in the panels but are assumed and possibly mentally visualized between panels or “behind” word balloons (effect of concealment, see chapter 2.4). This, however, does not diminish the impact on the reader-viewer of the horrifying narrative. On the contrary, it is even more shocking because it involves the audience, makes them a part of the crime. Sometimes Spiegelman even invokes more than one appalling thought at a time. For example, when his father, who in great parts narrates the story, describes an incident in the concentration camp where a prisoner pleads for his life and is executed in an especially gruesome way, he adds that he does not remember anymore how he was “finished”, that it could have been different (Spiegelman, 1986/1992: 210 – see Figure 21). The reader-viewers are left with the knowledge that the prisoner was executed in a cruel way, but have to think for themselves how it actually happened. The fact that all characters are drawn as animals is another way to defuse the violence a little and at the same time emphasize the notion that violence is repulsive. Spiegelman plays with the cliché of cats, mice and dogs. Cats are ferocious hunters and pose as the German Nazis, who invade Poland and go after Jews, who are depicted as mice and thus are naturally victimized. The Americans rescuing the prisoners from the concentration camps are shown as dogs. This decision in portrayal reduces some of the seriousness of the narrative matter and in some instances comes across as almost comical, such as when thinking about the breed of dog depicting Americans (cf. Spiegelman, 1986/1992: 271-273), or when the French are shown as frogs (ibid.: 253) and the Swedish as reindeer (ibid.: 285). However, non-Jewish Poles are drawn as pigs which, as mentioned above, whipped up controversy when the book was first published and is still cause for discussions. In addition, Spiegelman deconstructs his metaphor during the second part of the graphic novel when he shows himself and some other characters as human
Analysis 65 with animal masks on (ibid.: 201-207). He even argues the issue with his wife in the story (ibid.: 171-172). Language takes on a much bigger role in Maus than for example 300 and Spiegelman also tries to deemphasize the degree of violence in his written text. Despite Frank Miller’s qualities as a writer which he demonstrates in graphic novels such as Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (2002), 300 does not feature a lot of text or dialogue. Maus on the other hand, is much more worded and substantially relies on language. There are almost no panels without language and sometimes the text is more important than the accompanying images. One reason is that Art Spiegelman in this graphic novel processed an enormous volume of text he gathered from interviews with his father. In addition, he had to rely heavily on Vladek’s descriptions without having seen many of the locations, actions and people he had to draw. Finally, the style of drawing and the absence of color are another way of deemphasizing the violent content. Maus is drawn exclusively in black-and-white and, as already mentioned, uses highly stylized, simplistic drawings of characters. This allows for only a limited array of characters’ facial expressions or body language. Unlike 300, which uses color to great effect in accentuating violence, the black-and-white of Maus tries to subdue it, with limited success because of the grim nature of the story. Frank Miller shows his talent to use the medium of comics to tell a story very effectively without the necessity to write a lot of text. Nonetheless, both works feature violence in their language as well, albeit for different reasons and to different ends. While Spiegelman tries to take emphasis away from the violence in the narrative and the images, Miller continues the glorification of and the positive attitude towards violence already heavily featured in the images in the text as well. Despite the pragmatic, sober way of narrating his story, Vladek, conscious of the fact that violence is an inevitable part of his narrative, is affected by the gruesome descriptions he gives to his son. The tone in his voice is remorseful, whereas Dilios’ narration is full of pride and awe for the violent subject matter he is talking about. Comparing the two books, this characteristic becomes more apparent for each one. Another very distinct difference of language between these two texts is the use of sound effects. Both texts have language representing sounds in them. However, in Maus this is much more sporadic and of less importance, whereas 300 is full of it, often highlighted in big,
Analysis 66 bold letters. While Spiegelman uses “KPOK!” and “PNG” (e.g. Spiegelman, 1986/1992: 49, 50) for the sounds of rifle fire and a bullet hitting a target respectively, which comes across as rather comical and therefore again is a tool to deemphasize the seriousness of the situations, Miller writes “KRAK” and “KUNCH” in bold letters, to mimic the sounds of bones breaking and flesh being violently torn quite successfully and to great effect (e.g. Miller, 2006: 6, 49). Both graphic novels also have an entirely different approach towards violence. 300 shows violence as an admired and glorious trade and delivers it very unemotionally. Maus, on the other hand, emphasizes the gruesomeness and cruelty of violence and plays on the emotions of the reader-viewers. Both texts depict extraordinarily appalling actions. Still, Maus leaves a much more poignant aftertaste. The same is true for the comparison of Maus with Kick-Ass (Millar/Romita Jr., 2010) and A History of Violence (Wagner/Locke, 1997). Even though the images and thoughts the other graphic novels invoke, or even provoke, are very brutal and graphic, Spiegelman’s narrative has a much greater impact on the reader-viewer, not only because of its non-fictional story, but also because the audience is emotionally more involved in the work. One technique to engage the audience Spiegelman uses frequently is the breaking of the fourth wall. An example can be found when he introduces a comic he wrote a few years before, Prisoner on the Hell Planet, which is reproduced in Maus (1986/1992: 102-105). The recipient sees a human hand holding up the comic. From the last panel of the previous page it can be gathered that it is Spiegelman holding the comic book, but it might just as well be the reader-viewer. Involving the audience like that, or by using a real photograph (ibid.: 294), enhances Figure 35: Spiegelman breaks the fourth wall the power of the graphic novel and makes reading and viewing (1986/1992: 102) it a tremendously immersive experience.
Analysis 67
4.3 Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.’s Kick-Ass (2010)
From their introduction in Action Comics #1 (Liebowitz) in 1938 with Superman, superheroes and superheroines have been a constitutive part of (especially US-American) comics. While they used to be plain and straight-forward ‘good guys’ in the beginning, over the years some writers and artists have tried to give them more depth and personality, or they even commented on the whole genre of superhero comics, like for instance Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons in Watchmen (1986) or Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. in Kick-Ass (2010). The latter example is a showcase for how different superhero comics have become from their earliest ancestors. While Superman, Batman, Spiderman, the Hulk and Wonder Woman, to name just a few, usually only knock their foes around with their fists, Hit-Girl, Big Daddy and Kick-Ass, the heroine and heroes in Kick-Ass turn it up a few notches. The violence in this graphic novel is unparalleled. There really is nothing left for the imagination when it comes to violent images, and it surpasses even 300 in its gruesomeness. It shows heads being chopped in half, guts being ripped out, limbs being hacked off, teeth shattering, bones breaking and blood dripping, spilling, flowing and flying around by the gallon. There is torture in great detail and execution style murders. All of that is drawn close up and in bright colors. The images are gruesome, brutal, over-the-top and numerous. During fighting sequences, of which there are many, the gutter stands in for transitions between violent images and does not, like in most other (superhero) comics, hide the actual violence by only showing the moment before and after the action. The creators made a point of focusing on the violence in particular because it is one of the central themes in this graphic novel. The end of the book even provides “Kick-Ass’s greatest hits” (Millar and Romita Jr., 2010: 213-214) showing some of the most violent panels from the graphic novel in a collage. However, despite the expressive violence Kick-Ass does not, as explained above, leave a bitter aftertaste like Maus (Spiegelman, 1986/1992). The pictures are revoltingly vicious and detailed but they only shock for a moment and do not affect the audience on the same emotional level as the instilled, or hinted at actions in Art Spiegelman’s narrative. While the images in Kick-Ass are definite, in the sense that they depict just the one violent action, Maus animates the audience to come up with their own interpretation that can even be more cruel and appalling than what is seen on the page. In Kick-Ass the reader-viewer is overtly shown how
Analysis 68 the characters inflict violence upon each other, whereas Spiegelman often employs the reader- viewer as the perpetrator of violent actions. As already mentioned, this graphic novel is a commentary on the superhero genre. The story centers on an ordinary teenage boy named Dave Lizewski, fantasizing about becoming a superhero in the real world. He describes himself as a typical high school guy whose motivation for dressing up as a superhero is boredom and fear of a mundane future. At the beginning he narrates why he chose to dress up and walk the city at night: “It didn’t take your parents getting shot… // …or cosmic rays or a power ring… // Just the perfect combination of loneliness and despair.” (Millar/Romita Jr., 2010: 14, original emphases) After ordering a wet suit online and strolling around rooftops at night, his first confrontation with criminals leaves him beaten, stabbed, hit by a car and with several weeks in hospital. His body crushed, he undergoes a number of surgeries and weeks of physical rehabilitation. His resolve in the hospital bed to never don his costume again is abandoned, however, as soon as he is off his crutches. What follows is an orgy of violent images describing how he, together with a father- daughter-duo who also trained themselves to become masked crime fighters, ends up battling a mafia conglomerate. While the characters dress as superheroes and superheroines, none of them have any actual superhuman abilities. Their seemingly extraordinary feats all stem from training or, in Dave’s case, who is able to withstand an unnatural amount of pain, from metal plates implanted into his skull after his first beat down. The main power driving them, aside from the desire to make their lives a little less mundane, is a sense of justice and incredible determination to enforce that justice. Of course, every superhero has an antagonist, a villain, usually opposed to the hero or heroine because of some personal grudge. In this graphic novel, it is Chris Genovese who starts out as a sidekick to Dave’s alter ego, but later turns out to be the son of the mobster boss Big Daddy and Hit-Girl are after when he betrays them. The ‘hero or heroine versus villain’-theme is very controversial in Kick-Ass. It is put in a nutshell during the final confrontation between the mafia and the wannabe superheroes and heroine when the crime lord asks: “But why the fuck would some comic nerd come after me? It doesn’t make sense. Why would you pick off my boys, asshole?”, Big Daddy answers: “Easy. We needed a villain.” (Millar/Romita Jr., 2010: 157, original emphases). This means that heroes and heroines
Analysis 69 cannot be without villains and vice versa. It is a vital coexistence for both parties because they need a purpose, and without a counterpart they would lack that. This is also the reason why Red Mist, Chris Genovese’s alter ego, at the end of the story writes Kick-Ass an e-mail promising to forever oppose him – violence ensured. The images in Kick-Ass are very detailed in their depiction of violence, and that includes the use of colors. As soon as Dave puts on his costume there is hardly a page without blood in deep red. The title page of chapter three even shows Kick-Ass standing with the back to the audience above three bodies lying in a pool of blood (Millar/Romita Jr. 2010: 49). His green and yellow costume stands in stark contrast to the red background which seemingly blurs together with the blood and gore on the floor. This page also symbolizes Dave’s elated feeling of withdrawal from an ordinary life when he wears his wet suit. He is elevated to stand above mortals like a god. However, reality catches up with him very quickly. All other characters dressing up as heroes and heroines also wear costumes in colors that stand in strong contrast with red in order to highlight the blood and gore generously spread over the pages during fighting sequences. The only exception is Chris Genovese aka Red Mist who, as the name suggests, wears deep, flashy red, but subsequently turns into a villain. He, however, is not involved in any bloody confrontation up until the end when he is beaten by Kick-Ass, in a sequence that is not overly gory, in comparison to the rest of the fights in the story. Nonetheless, the colors of the costumes are another commentary on the superhero genre because they are so radically different from the stereotypical representations of superhero costumes. Typical models of this category, like Superman, Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, The Fantastic Four or Green Lantern wear very bright variations of red, blue, yellow and green to highlight the characters against usually dark backgrounds and elevate their importance on a comics page. In Kick-Ass, on the other hand, the heroes and heroine wear dark purple, black, brown or green which then is accentuated with the abundantly distributed red of blood. Consequently, the colors of the costumes are another way of drawing attention to the violence by intensifying the contrast between the characters' clothing and the gore.14
14 Batman is another and especially prominent example of a superhero wearing dark colors nowadays. However, his first costume was bright grey and blue as well. In addition, the black and dark grey costume he wears now has a different purpose, namely to be stealthy at night and to strike fear into his prey.
Analysis 70
The exaggerated violent images are not the only distinction of this graphic novel. The use of language, especially swear words, is also out of the ordinary. Mark Millar does not hold back, and in a way this makes the characters more believable, because in reality many people curse like that as well. Nonetheless, even the language is a commentary on the superhero genre considering that Hit-Girl, a ten year old kid who has been trained by her father to become a heroine and consequently mass murderer, is badmouthing the most when wearing her costume. Her personality changes as soon as she wears her superheroine outfit, from an innocent, admittedly uncommon, irregular child, to a vicious killer. The juxtaposition of a little girl in a strange purple mask and cape, wearing a Hello-Kitty backpack while using words such as ‘cunts’, ‘asshole’, ‘dickhead’ and ‘fuck’, if not offensive, might be read as humorous or comical. Seeing her chopping and slicing people up or burning them with a flamethrower, however, is unsettling, odd and bizarre for the reader-viewer. The violent images in Kick-Ass are very detailed, bright and numerous. Their purpose is to shock and repulse the reader-viewer, if even for a moment, to exaggerate the violence. However, there is one aspect of comics, and especially superhero comics traditionally make heavy use of it, that curiously is not used in this graphic novel: sound effects. While the creators of 300 and A History of Violence very successfully demonstrate how to incorporate noises into their narratives to make them more engaging, interesting and violent, Kick-Ass is silent, except for dialogue. The missing sound effects, even for the most violent and supposedly loud actions, is the only aspect of the graphic novel deemphasizing the violence to a small extent. However, the pictures are so overly bloody and gory, that this feels like a drop in the ocean. Nonetheless, there is something off-putting to the silent panels in which apparent loud and noisy actions are shown, like guns being fired, for example. A possible explanation for the choice to leave out sound effects is that most other superhero comics make such heavy use of them that Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. tried to set their graphic novel apart by excluding noise from it deliberately.
Analysis 71
4.4 John Wagner and Vince Locke’s A History of Violence (1997)
This graphic novel tells the story of a man who, after getting a new identity and moving into a small town, is haunted by his past in which he was involved with the Italian mafia in New York. His new quiet life is disturbed when he thwarts a robbery by two criminals, which attracts the attention of the crime boss whose organization he and his friend attacked and stole money from some twenty years earlier. In order to protect his family he decides to go back to New York, after the Mafioso, and to finish what he started. A History of Violence is, aside from the non-fictional Maus, the closest of the four books discussed in this present work to telling a realistic story. As in Kick-Ass, none of the characters have supernatural powers, and the narrative revolves around the protagonist fighting against a crime cartel. However, while Dave Lizeswki is animated by boredom and loneliness, Tom McKenna aka Joey Muni, the hero in A History of Violence, is forced into his situation and driven by revenge and by the fear of losing his family. Unlike the characters in Kick-Ass, who are all too eager and enthusiastic to use violence, the protagonist in Wagner and Locke’s graphic novel is at first very timid and reluctant and only turns to violence as a last resort when he sees no other option. Then, however, he is just as severe in his punishment, albeit without feeling any joy or satisfaction. Even though this is not a superhero story, it still features the typical ‘hero versus villain’- trope indicative of many superhero comics. The hero, through actions from the past, created his own antagonist who is out to get revenge – unlike the heroes and heroines from Kick-Ass who feel compelled to choose a villain because it is expected of them as part of their (self- proclaimed) status. This makes Tom much more sympathetic to the audience and it is also a way of subduing or justifying the actions he takes to overcome his enemies, which, after all, are extraordinarily drastic. The violence in the graphic novel, like the rest of the story, is very realistic. Admittedly, one man taking on and eliminating a whole mafia cartel is not very common, yet, as already mentioned, the characters do not have super powers and the setting is also very ordinary. This realism is the main reason why A History of Violence has a greater emotional impact on the reader-viewer than 300 or Kick-Ass, both of which feature violence so immensely over the top that it partially almost feels comical and unbelievable. The characters in Wagner and Locke’s
Analysis 72 narrative are more engaging and tangible, their motives are coherent and their actions seem logical – the only exception being the police’s ignorance, even indifference, to the protagonists self-administered justice. Tom takes on a whole mafia organization in New York and murders their leader and three of his henchmen seemingly without consequences. A slip in protocol – the police forget to read him his Miranda rights during his arrest at the beginning of the story – leaves him unblemished and unpunished by the law as well. The whole affair of him and his partner attacking the Mafia cartel twenty years ago only has the effect that he cannot see or contact his terminally ill grandmother again and that he has to get a new identity. When neither the crime boss nor the police find him, he starts a new and seemingly happy life with a wife, son and daughter. The end of the story also seems to indicate that his actions do not have any negative repercussions for him. The villain is killed, the police are happy to be rid of a big crime lord, and apparently everything goes back to normal. Similar to 300, the narrator of the story, Tom McKenna, cannot easily be trusted. In the second chapter, dealing with his involvement in an attack and robbery of a Mafia operation, he depicts himself as very reluctant towards violence and always attempting to find a peaceful solution to problems. His role in the invasion of a restaurant used as a hideout by the criminals is downplayed and only shows his friend Richie to be overly violent. It can be argued that his actions in the first and third part of the story are only a reaction to threats and that he always acts in self-defense. However, his use of extreme force betray his history of violence. In addition, the resolve to take matters into his own hands, to go back to New York and to kill his antagonist once and for all, as well as his proficiency in taking out several armed men on his own, are all indications that he might not have told the whole truth about his past. The second chapter is his confession about his past to his wife and son, which might be the reason why he tries to deemphasize his violent nature. Although he begins one of the flashbacks with: "We were no angels, Richie and me..." (Wagner/Locke, 1997: 131), in his reports Richie is always the driving force behind getting into violent situations while Tom only reacts to dangers. In addition, Richie and Tom's reasons for going through with the attack on the mob are radically different. Richie holds a grudge against them because they killed his brother, whereas Tom supposedly wants to steal their money to be able to pay for his grandmother's surgery.
Analysis 73
However, while he genuinely sounds concerned for her health as a teenager, his interest about what happened to her after he went into hiding is practically nonexistent. His only comment about her after his disappearance is: "I never saw my gran again. I couldn't go back, couldn't write. It was too dangerous" (Wagner/Locke, 1997: 197). He seems so self-absorbed that he continues his life-story in the next panel without hesitation, which is an indication that in the quote he means the danger he was in, not his grandmother. Consequently, his noble reason for the attack, to help her, can be doubted. Admittedly, he leaves some money on her drawer before he flees, but it seems getting the funds for her surgery was not the only motivation for his actions. The depictions of violence in the book are graphic and detailed but not as gruesome or nauseating as in Kick-Ass. The main reason is the absence of color. While Millar and Romita Jr. show everything in bright, flashy colors, accentuating the atrocity, Wagner and Locke obscure some of the intense violence by dark backgrounds, black lines serving as rain or speed lines, or by leaving it in the gutter. Since most of the graphic novel takes place at night, many panels only show characters and important props in white, outlined before a completely black backdrop. Even sequences at day often feature big, dark shadows obscuring parts of the panels. The horrific acts lose some of their repulsiveness that way. Nonetheless, as in Maus, the worst images are not in the panels but left for the reader-viewer to fill in. Especially Richie's fate after the mob finally find him, is left for Figure 36: The result is shown, but the reader-viewers have to imagine the torture themselves the audience to envision, which is a cruel (Wagner/Locke, 1997: 278) trick played by the creators because they
Analysis 74 show a page filling panel of him after his years long torture (see Figure 36). It is very hard to imagine the brutality and malice, years of inhuman suffering, he had to go through. After Tom kills his antagonist, supposedly in self-defense, Richie asks to be killed. When the police arrive, Tom kneels over Richie's body, but the dismissive remark by one of the officers, "[t]oo late for this poor bastard" (Wagner/Locke, 1997: 294) without further investigation, is another indication for their ignorance in Tom's self-administered justice. However, since it is not shown in any panel, the audience does not know if Tom really put Richie out of his misery, or if he just witnesses Richie at last succumbing to the wounds from years of torture, possibly even comforting his friend in his final moments. While 300 and Kick-Ass see violence as a glorified, noble trade and as an entertaining, fun pastime respectively, A History of Violence has a different approach towards it. It is much more ambivalent, characters act in moral grey areas. It is shown, on the one hand, as an appalling concept criminals use nonchalantly and without thinking twice or remorse, on the other hand, as a necessary tool, handy to have in a life-threatening or otherwise dangerous situation. This division, however, is very unevenly distributed among the characters. Violence performed by ’evil’ characters (criminals, the mafia and Richie as a boy) is deliberately presented as brutal, gory and cruel, while violent acts by ’good’ characters (Tom and his wife) are self-defensive reactions, responses to threats or last resort survival techniques. Yet, the two aspects overlap in the protagonist as a youth, during the attack on the mafia restaurant. Admittedly, it can be argued that young Tom was sucked into this violent world by a combination of coincidental circumstances, but the fact that the two boys meticulously planned their assault for months sheds a dubious light on Tom. Nonetheless, his narrative voice stresses the point that despite their premeditation he always is reluctant and hesitant to go through with their plan. This supposedly is a way to justify or redeem his ruthless behavior and the severity of his actions, and consequently an attempt to make the character sympathetic, to classify him as one of the ’good’ guys. A History of Violence, although fictional, is very realistic and it is easy for the reader- viewer to immerse themselves in the story. One reason for the narrative to feel so tangible is the accomplished treatment of sound effects. The book makes heavy use of them throughout, which adds excitement during action sequences in which guns are fired, and lends palpability to
Analysis 75 ordinary situations with sounds for rather mundane events, like the ring of a telephone or doorbell, glass shattering, the beeping of a life-support machine, or a drop of blood hitting the floor. In other words, the world created is more believable because the story becomes more authentic and real in the reader-viewer’s mind. However, it is not only the use of sound effects itself that helps the recipient to engage more deeply with the text, but the innovative sounds for certain actions, the book's own conventions for noises. Most comics, superhero comics in particular, focus on the sound a knife makes when something or someone is stabbed using effects like "CHK", "THUCK", "SHKK" or "SLLTT" (cf. Loeb/Lee/Williams, 2009: 218; Miller, 2002: 150; Johns/Frank, 2012: 12215). A History of Violence takes a different approach, concentrating on the victim's noise, writing "GLUAR" (see Figure 37) representing the sound of the stabbed man rather than the knife. This adds a nuance of cruelty to the action and it consequently is more engaging. Contrary to the use of sound effects in Maus, where they are used as a deemphasizing element for violence, this graphic novel applies them to increase its impact. Other interesting sound effects in Wagner and Locke’s book include "POOSH" for a Bunsen burner set aflame, or
"ZZRREEE" for drilling a hole Figure 37: The sound effects in A History of Violence emphasize the violence into a thigh with a power drill (Wagner/Locke, 1997: 227) (1997: 261 and 284). In addition, the creators sometimes used various different sounds for the same action, most prominently the noise of guns being fired. Depending on the type of gun, when fired, different sound effects are used. A list of them include "BDAM", "CRACK", "BAM", "POOMPH", "FUMP", "TUMP", "KACHOW", "BLAM", "BRAPPAPPAPPAP" and "BRAKKAKKAK". The last two
15 This publication does not feature a page count. The first page after the dedications headlined "NOW." was taken as the first page of the work.
Analysis 76 are especially interesting because they are supposed to be the same model of gun but make different sounds nonetheless. This diverse array of noises is one reason the story feels realistic and is engaging for the audience, which subsequently also makes the violence more palpable. In my opinion, this creates an interesting balance between two aspects of the graphic novel that directly influence the way violence is represented. On the one hand, the absence of color, the black-and-white presentation, deemphasizes some of the gruesomeness of the violence, on the other hand, the sound effects add to its ’tactility’ and make it more repulsive. This correspondence is also the main reason why this graphic novel feels more mature and less comical in its depiction of violence than 300 and Kick-Ass. All three examples show the ghastly acts performed by the characters on the page and mostly do not hide them in the gutter. However, while in the other two texts the depictions of violence are detailed and amplified by color to the extent that it sometimes feels overindulgent, the balance between black-and-white images and interesting, unusual sound effects in A History of Violence creates a sophisticated, gripping sensation for the audience.
Conclusion 77
Conclusion
Comics and graphic novels are almost always violent in one way or another. Conflict is exciting, it spices up a story and often makes it more gripping and engaging. In order to see which tools and techniques can be employed in graphic novels to convey violence, I had to define both terms, comics and graphic novel, first. Starting from existing definitions by relevant scholars, like Scott McCloud, Thierry Groensteen and Will Eisner, I developed my own clarifications. Providing the premise, agreed upon by most researchers in the field, that comics is a medium, I established four distinguishing features that determine whether or not a work can be considered comics: platform, form, type, and function. Chapter 1.1.1 gives a more detailed explanation of each element. A condensed transcription of my resulting definition of the medium therefore reads: Comics, in its original manifestation, is a medium presented on paper which features one or more pictures, sometimes juxtaposed with words, showing a deliberate sequence, that realizes a narrative or tells a story.
Since the main focus of this present work is on graphic novels, a definition for this term had to be provided as well. Graphic novels are basically comics which have some or all of these additional criteria: a critical engagement of the text with a subject, theme or genre; a unique or innovative presentation or style; and a previously planned finite story. In other words, a graphic novel is a comic which engages the reader-viewer on more than just an entertainment level and is planned and presented as one finite work. Taking these definitions into consideration, contrary to the proposed theory of scholars such as Scott McCloud who advertised comics as an ancient art form that virtually can be found anywhere, the history of comics is much younger. I argue that the first comic in the Western tradition was created by the Swiss teacher Rodolphe Töpffer in 1837, because it was the first instance of sequential picture art featuring an interdependence of words and images that was presented on paper. Chapter 1.2 provides a more comprehensive recollection of the history of comics and graphic novels. The second chapter of this present work explains the basic elements comics and graphic novels are built on and further clarifies the distinction between the two terms with examples.
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The most important components are images, panels, language (although it is not needed, silent comics are rare), word-balloons, color and the gutter. All of these devices put together make up the mise-en-page, which is everything that can be seen and analyzed on a page. The main focus of the relevant chapter is to show how artists and writers use the above-mentioned tools in order to create graphic novels, and how the employment of innovative and interesting techniques and elements distinguishes comics from graphic novels. Chapter 3 clarifies how the basic elements of comics and graphic novels can be used to depict, convey, hint at or present violence to the audience and shows that it is an integral part of the medium. Four main components to accomplish that feat were introduced: violent images, violent language, panel arrangement and borders, as well as color. Each of these parts of the mise-en-page can communicate violence, deemphasizing or elevating its importance according to the intentions of the creators. In addition, it is explained why violence is such an intrinsic element in graphic novels. As the main reasons I established that the exciting, thrilling aspects of violence make stories more interesting and engaging. Reality is violent and thus non- fictional narratives are as well. Many graphic novel artists have become known for their innovative and interesting use of violence to make them into auteurs. Some of these famous creators are dealt with in the last chapter, which provides an analysis of four well-known and critically acclaimed graphic novels. The investigation of these texts further confirms that violence is an essential ingredient and sometimes even the driving force of graphic novels. Although radically different in their approaches and implementations of violence, the texts examined feature it extensively, because it is a central theme in all of them. Frank Miller's 300 (1998) and Kick-Ass (2010) by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. are two of the most graphic examples of violent images in the medium. Both books do not leave much to the imagination when it comes to violence but their colorful pictures only shock temporarily. Maus (1986/1992) by Art Spiegelman on the other hand, which grabs the audience's attention with deep, heartfelt emotions rather than with titillating depictions of gruesomeness, has a stronger impact on the reader-viewer despite it being in black-and-white, and it thus disturbs the audience more than the other texts. Part of this effect is probably due to the fact that Maus is a non-fictional tale, but the main reason is the extraordinary execution and development of the narrative. The fourth book analyzed, A History of Violence (1997) by John Wagner and Vince
Conclusion 79
Locke, although fictional, is also an attempt to tell a realistic and emotionally engaging story. While it certainly feels more tangible and believable than 300 or Kick-Ass, it cannot quite compete with the extraordinary, complex and captivating narrative of Maus. As already mentioned, violence is an essential part in all of these works, even though it is used and presented very differently. Frank Miller shows it as a glorious trade, the answer to all problems. In Kick-Ass it is a fun pastime, inevitable and necessary for superheroes and superheroines, even if that status is self-proclaimed. A History of Violence operates in moral grey areas and stresses the protagonist's reluctance for violence, while Maus openly condemns it and emphasizes its repulsiveness. These four different approaches are reflected in the works by their respective uses of violent images and language. Art Spiegelman's text is restrained in its depiction of violence and leaves many things unseen in the gutter, or concealed by other means. The language is timid as well and creates feelings of unease in the reader-viewer. The complete opposite is true for Kick-Ass, which shows every gory detail in the images and uses violent language – including swearwords – extensively. Almost as graphic in its depiction of violence, 300 at least refrains from harsh language, whereas A History of Violence operates somewhere in between regarding both the pictures and the text. While Kick-Ass and A History of Violence present their panels exclusively as rectangles next to each other without overlapping images, Maus and 300 show a little more creativity in that regard. The innovative ways of arranging the images on the pages in the latter two texts, however, serve two different purposes. Art Spiegelman uses many overlaying panels mainly in order to guide the reader-viewer's gaze over the page, to clarify the advised sequence in which the panels are supposed to be read, or how they are braided together. 300 although the rest of the work features only overlapping rectangular shapes as well, applies its innovative panel borders or shapes to create a bigger emotional involvement (immersion) of the audience. The example seen in Figure 33 helps the reader-viewers to put themselves into the position of the protagonist and engage with the text on more than just an entertainment level. The examination of these four texts in regards to violence confirmed my assumption that violence is an integral part of graphic novels. Of course, it is just one aspect of the medium but often a centrally relevant one. In fact, violence plays such an important role in most graphic
Conclusion 80 novels that analyses of texts which do not feature any form of it need to pay attention to the reasons why it is left out. In addition, the motivation for incorporating violence in graphic novels can be investigated from various different perspectives, such as, psychology, Cultural Studies, economics, etc. A graphic novel does not need language or violence to be an example of the medium, but it is unusual if these aspects are not featured and therefore meaningful. Further research consequently should incorporate observations of violence in graphic novels independent of the field and focus of inquiry, because it is a central theme. Even the absence of violence is relevant to inquiries, because it is unconventional. In this present work, I presented an overview of the various different uses of violence in graphic novels. A broader spotlight might include a comparison to other media, such as film, literature, or the fine arts. More detailed investigations could focus on particular treatments of violence, such as a closer analysis of violent language or images, or the omission of them, from numerous perspectives. Violence is a rich source for research in graphic novels and is much more sophisticated than Boom, Zack, Pow.
Glossary 81
Glossary
This glossary will explain terms used in the analysis of comics texts. They represent concepts that might be incorporated in comics (and graphic novels) but are not essential parts of the medium. However, many graphic novel artists do make use of these devices, which is why it is important to define them. In addition, the word ‘violence’ will be explained and related to comics and graphic novels, since it is the main focus of the analyses.
Comix In the 1960s, after a devastating decade of declining sales in comics following Dr. Fredric Wertham’s crusade against them, publishers restricted content, adhering to a Comics Code. Many were not happy about the restrictions and started an underground movement calling their works ’comix’ to distinguish themselves from the mainstream. The term refers to a comic that is part of the underground, or wants to show a visually distinguishing difference to the mainstream. The content of comix was deliberately exaggerated and extreme in violence, drug consumption and sex so that none of them would get a stamp of approval by the Comics Code Authority, which is the reason why most of them were self-published. Notable names representing the comix underground are Robert Crumb, S. Clay Wilson, Art Spiegelman, Spain Rodriguez and Rick Griffin. The most famous of these comix was Zap Comix (1965-2005) by Robert Crumb who led the movement.
Glossary 82
Emanata In his book The Lexicon of Comicana (2000) Mort Walker tries to come up with terms for typical styles of drawing cartoons and comics including characters’ bodies, faces and emotions, speed lines, sound effects, speech bubbles, language and backgrounds. Despite the usefulness of such descriptions and explanations most of the terminology he uses did not catch on within the community because the new words he created often sound strange or simply are too specific. Reader-viewers, or even cartoonists for that matter, do not need to know that a squiggly line rising upwards from a coffee mug is called “Indotherm” in order to understand that it means the content of the cup is hot (Walker, 2000: 29). Nonetheless, disregarding the individual realizations of emanata he lists in his work, the higher ranking category is a valuable name for what they represent. Emanata are lines, symbols or icons emanating from characters or objects, signifying emotions, internal conditions or stand for otherwise invisible things in reality, like, for instance, smell or temperature (Walker, 2000: 28-29). The actual meaning of emanata can often only be deciphered in relation to the object or character they are originating from. In addition, every comics artist has their own preference and style of depicting them. There is also a cultural difference because Japanese comics (Mangas), for example, have a different set of standards for emanata than comics from the Western tradition. The example shown in Figure 38: Emanata and facial expressions in Japanese Figure 38 is a short array of iconographic comics (Manga) conventions and facial expressions in Manga. (Animevice.com, No date)
Glossary 83
Fourth Wall The term derives from theater studies and means the imaginary wall between the actors on stage performing a play and the audience (Mackey/Cooper, 2000: 5). It marks the border between the fictitious world of a play and the reality of the audience. The meta- fictional technique of directly speaking to or acknowledging the audience is called ‘breaking the fourth wall’ and is often used in theater or film. In comics, breaking the fourth wall without the use of language is achieved by images that seemingly burst out of the page. These images are larger than the panels which should contain them and run over their borders, sometimes even
Figure 39: The fourth wall is broken and to the edge of the the image 'bleeds' to the edge of the page eliminating the page blank border which (Johns/Frank, 2012: 3616) then is called a ‘bleed’.
Sound Effects ‘Sound effects’ in a print medium is an arbitrary term. In comics, it refers to the synesthesia of visual and auditory experience. Synesthesia, the union of senses, means that the experience of one sense (in comics: visual input via language) is also experienced by a second sense (in comics: sound). In other words, comics use written language Figure 40: Sound effects more often to stand in for sounds, much like onomatopoeic words. than not need appropriate images to Language simulates sound. Comics artists have come up be understood correctly with innumerable examples and many use their own (Miller, 2010a: 163)
16 This publication does not feature a page count. The first page of the prologue chapter called "NOW." was taken as the first page of the work.
Glossary 84 conventions for the same sounds. That is also one of the main reasons why accompanying images are required for sound effects to be deciphered correctly. The example in Figure 40 is taken from Sin City – That Yellow Bastard (Miller, 2010a: 163) and shows the words “clack clack” standing in for the sounds of curtain hooks clanging together. Without the appropriate image, however, it is not obvious, not easy to decipher. The words could also mean any other clacking sound, such as high-heeled shoes on pavement or fingers typing on a keyboard to name just two alternatives.
Speed/Motion Lines Comics is a medium of still images. However, these images are full of action and motion. Comics creators have come up with ways of conveying movement in their static pictures, namely speed lines, also Figure 41: A selection of possible incorporations of speed called motion lines. These are simple lines lines drawn behind a moving object to depict its (McCloud, 1994: 114) place in the immediate past and the path it took to get where it is in the present. However, comics artists have established different innovations for speed lines. Mangas, Japanese comics, for example, introduced pictures with the moving object in the foreground and the whole background blurred with motion lines. In the Western comics tradition this use of speed lines is rarely incorporated. Here the more conventional depiction of motion lines described above is preferred. Nonetheless, there are several possibilities to convey motion within a panel, as seen in Figure 37. In addition, Figure 42: An example of a polyptych in Kick-Ass comics artists can make use of a (Millar/Romita Jr., 2010: 80) technique called “the polyptych, where a moving figure or figures --// -- is imposed over a continuous background” (McCloud, 1994: 115, original emphases). This style (see Figure 42) may or may not include motion lines.
Glossary 85
Splash Pages/Panels and Spreads Stan Lee and John Buscema see a splash page as “[t]he first page of a story, with a large introductory illustration” (1984: 14). In this present work, I opt for a more general description: A page in a comic where at least one half is covered by only one image or panel is called a splash page. Usually, splash pages only feature one image – the splash panel – to introduce new chapters, or conclude them, and stand on their own. At the beginning of a chapter, they often announce or at least invoke an upcoming theme, such as violence, for example. At the end, they are mostly used for shocking revelations or to dramatize the climax. Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee and Scott Williams created Batman: Hush (2009) Figure 43: Splash page of Superman choking Batman which introduces each chapter with a splash page
(Loeb/Lee/Williams, 2009: 10317) foreshadowing what is going to happen next. The example shown in Figure 43 depicts Superman choking Batman and tells the reader-viewer that those two are going to fight against each other in the next chapter. Images or panels taking up more than one page are called spreads. The most common is the two-page spread which is featured in many graphic novels especially during the climax of the story. More Figure 44: Two-page spread of Batman fighting Superman than two pages are rare because (Loeb/Lee/Williams, 2009: 114-115)
17 This publication does not feature a page count. The first page of the prologue chapter called "The Legend of the Batman" was taken as the first page of the work.
Glossary 86 foldouts are expensive. Batman: Hush (Loeb/lee/Williams, 2009) features a lot of two-page spreads, mainly at especially dramatic points of the story. The example in Figure 44 is taken from the above mentioned chapter in which a battle between Batman and Superman takes place. To enlarge this image into a two-page spread draws attention to the quintessential conflict within the chapter. It is even explicitly written down for the reader-viewer in the captions representing Batman’s monologue: "Deep down, Clark’s [Superman’s alter ego] essentially a good person...... and deep down, I’m not." (Loeb/Lee/Williams, 2009: 115).
Violence Definitions of violence are very diverse and every field of inquiry uses a different one. However, for the purpose of this thesis the psychological and behaviorist approach is the most applicable. Many analysts, including Robert A. Baron, see violence as a particular form of aggression which is defined as “any form of behavior directed toward the goal of harming another living being who is motivated to avoid such treatment” (1977: 7). The psychologist and psychoanalyst Udo Rauchfleisch further distinguishes between various forms of aggression, like instrumental, expressive, reactive, overt and covert, to name just a few, and defines violence as executed or believably threatened physical or mental aggression, which is purposefully directed towards an object (human or artifact), without, if it concerns people, regarding their needs and volitions (1992: 12; my translation). Martin Jung agrees and defines violence as the exertion of physical or psychological force towards third parties, from a sociological viewpoint also with the purpose to harm someone (2002: 48; my translation). Most dictionary entries restrict violence to mean some kind of physical force or action. The Oxford Dictionaries, for instance, describe violence as “behaviour involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something” (oxforddictionaries.com – violence). While that is certainly the case, there are more than just physical manifestations of violence. Another description aims at emotional states of mind explaining that violence is a “vehement feeling or expression” referencing the word ‘fervor’ (merriam-webster.com – violence). Nonetheless, for the purpose of analyzing violence in literary texts another layer has to be added as well, namely violence in language. The Oxford English Dictionary explains that
Glossary 87 violence is “vehemence of personal feeling or action; great, excessive, or extreme ardour or fervor; also, violent or passionate conduct or language; passion, fury” (oed.com – violence-5). This description includes every aspect of violence relevant for literary analysis and is the one I will base my arguments on. Violence can be found in every popular medium, including film, television, newspapers, music, literary texts, such as novels or biographies, videogames, comics and graphic novels. It is a topic that has always been controversial and a basis for debate. Violence, among other things such as nudity and sexual content, has led to (self-) regulation and censorship within the media. Comics in the United States, for example, were up until the 2000s18 regulated and censored by the Comics Magazine Association of America, which only granted their Comics Code Authority seal of approval to comics adhering to their conventions. Many researchers, especially psychologists and behavioral analysts, attacked the medium when its popularity dramatically increased, especially with a young audience, in the 1950s, stating that comics content was not suitable for and would negatively influence the behavior of children and adolescents. Comics’ use, depiction and frequency of violence in particular were criticized. In The Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels (2010) Pascal Lefévre writes: The success of comics among children continued to worry educators, parents, and politicians. Though the European comics of the 1950s were less horror-oriented or violent compared to their American counterparts, in various European countries protests were raised against this medium. Consequently, some governments began to regulate comics: for example in France the law of July 16 1949, and in Great Britain, The Children and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act in 1955. In other countries, such as Italy and West Germany, authors and publishers started self-censoring to prevent governmental involvement (2010: 187-188, original emphasis).
When the popularity of comics declined, other media, mainly videogames, became the center of criticism regarding violence. However, violence is still an issue for comics and graphic novels, although nowadays publishers, at least in the United States, use their own rating systems and mainly regulate contents themselves.
18 The first publisher to discontinue submitting comics to the association was Marvel in 2001. Others followed suit until December 2011 when the last one, Archie Comics, ceased to send comics for approval, which rendered the code obsolete (cf. Nyberg, No date).
Bibliography 88
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Table of Figures
Figure 1: Basic Model of Communication ...... 6 Figure 2: Hierarchy of denominations under the umbrella term 'comics' ...... 7 Figure 3: An example for a single panel comic ...... 10 Figure 4: McCloud insists on gutters for comics...... 10 Figure 5: An example for a single panel cartoon ...... 11 Figure 6: Love Is... cartoon ...... 12 Figure 7: Trinity, a graphic novel as an illustrated textbook ...... 16 Figure 8: Example of a privileged panel placement and form ...... 33 Figure 9: The interdependency of words and images ...... 34 Figure 10: The innovative way of storytelling in Watchmen, weaving various storylines together ...... 35
Bibliography 95
Figure 11: Visual distinctions for characters' voices and thoughts ...... 36 Figure 12: Lettering often adds emotion to a text ...... 36 Figure 13: Word-balloons braiding together panels, guiding the reader-viewer’s gaze ...... 37 Figure 14: The effect of concealment ...... 38 Figure 15: Flat colors vs. a subjective palette ...... 39 Figure 16: The gutter creates the effect of ‘the reader-viewer as the perpetrator’ ...... 40 Figure 17: The form of the gutter can add meaning to a graphic novel as well ...... 41 Figure 18: A History of Violence introduces a weapon very early in the story ...... 44 Figure 19: Overt violence depicted in the image in Kick-Ass ...... 44 Figure 20: Covert violence in Watchmen ...... 45 Figure 21: Verbal violence in Maus ...... 46 Figure 22: Violent language in one of the least violent graphic novels, Ghost World ...... 47 Figure 23: Despite the censorship the reader-viewer can identify swearing ...... 48 Figure 24: Sound effects in 300 ...... 49 Figure 25: The unique lettering of Joker’s voice in Batman: Arkham Asylum ...... 49 Figure 26: A violent panel shape...... 50 Figure 27: Breaking the fourth wall ...... 51 Figure 28: The panel arrangement makes the disorientation of falling from a building even more vivid...... 52 Figure 29: The words, as well as the father, weigh down on the children in Blankets ...... 52 Figure 31: Using color for emphasis in a color graphic novel ...... 53 Figure 30: Two examples of the use of color in Sin City: Hell and Back ...... 53 Figure 32: The narrative voice is not always clear in 300 ...... 59 Figure 33: Miller’s innovative use of panel arrangement and borders to engage the audience ...... 60 Figure 34: King Leonidas' extremely graphic demise including arrows breaking the fourth wall ...... 61 Figure 35: Spiegelman breaks the fourth wall ...... 66 Figure 36: The result is shown, but the reader-viewers have to imagine the torture themselves ...... 73 Figure 37: The sound effects in A History of Violence emphasize the violence ...... 75 Figure 38: Emanata and facial expressions in Japanese comics (Manga) ...... 82 Figure 39: The fourth wall is broken and the image 'bleeds' to the edge of the page ...... 83 Figure 40: Sound effects more often than not need appropriate images to be understood correctly ...... 83 Figure 41: A selection of possible incorporations of speed lines ...... 84 Figure 42: An example of a polyptych in Kick-Ass ...... 84 Figure 43: Splash page of Superman choking Batman ...... 85 Figure 44: Two-page spread of Batman fighting Superman ...... 85