Aligning Text and Image in Nate Powell's Swallow Me Whole
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Aligning Text and Image in Nate Powell’s Swallow Me Whole Dr. Gwen Athene Tarbox, Western Michigan University, Department of English Photo: Ben Krain Comics Terminology • Comics is the medium. • A text such as Swallow Me Whole is called a long-form comic by visual theorists, but the terms graphic narrave and graphic novel are commonly used by publishers, criJcs, and English studies scholars. Comics as Child’s Play? Powell’s Career • Nate Powell’s novel Swallow Me Whole (2008) won the top award in comics, the Eisner Award for Best Graphic Novel, in 2009. • A graduate of the School of Visual Arts in NYC, Powell has worked as a caregiver for individuals with disabiliJes, has run his own Punk rock label, and has been a prolific author and arJst for numerous comics. Reading Comics • Powell oen defies convenJonal comics structure, making his work parJcularly fascinang…but it helps to understand the convenJons in the first place in order to appreciate Powell’s arJstry. Comics Resources • I have provided you with a handout of some of the best comics studies guides, but for today’s talk, I want to focus on the most popular and sJll the most frequently cited text, Sco[ McCloud’s Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (1993). BUBBLE PANEL GUTTER TEXTBOX Comics Grammar • The Panel. The basic unit of a comic. • The Bubble. Spoken or thought text within or across panels. • The Guer. The space between two conJguous panels. • The Text box. Narraon placed in the gu[ers or in the panels. • The Page. A single page of panels. • The Spread. Two pages of panels that are joined in the middle with binding. • The Breakdown. The manner in which the panels are set out in terms of size, shape, and relaonship on a page. And within an enJre comics text, the way that the enJre comic is set out. Powell’s Choices in Swallow Me Whole • Text bubbles are wri[en in different types of font and sizes. Powell’s Choices in Swallow Me Whole • The gu[ers between panels are oXen indisJnct or erased; as a result, movement between panels becomes difficult to follow in various places. Powell’s Choices in Swallow Me Whole • The narrave flow is interrupted by complicated visuals or by a string of panels that defy easy understanding. Content and Style Fuse • Swallow Me Whole is a coming of age story, but for the protagonists, growing up also means coming to terms with mental illness, finding coping devices, and aempJng to make sense of the world. • Powell breaks comics convenJons in order to provide the reader with the visceral experience of his protagonists, Ruth and Perry, who both experience schizophrenic symptomology. Time, Space, and Self • As the person feels increasingly unable to maintain a coherent sense of self, s/he will oXen engage in repeJJve behaviors that order Jme and space. Thus, many individuals will turn to dance, music, or other rhythmic pursuits that are grounded in Jme as coping devices. • Other symptoms can involve auditory or visual hallucinaons, as the individual struggles to maintain a cohesive sense of his or her surroundings. Time, Space, and Self • In Swallow Me Whole, Ruth’s carefully ordered coping devices collapse, and her dissoluJon is depicted as she sinks into a deeper and deeper state of disorientaon. Fusing Text and Image • When an arJst/author creates a complicated series of images, the reader has to work very hard to fill in the gaps. • It is helpful to read the script first and then go back to develop an understanding how the sequence of panels interacts with the text to create meaning. Ruth’s DescripJon of Her Inner Life • “At Jmes, arranging and reordering was all I could do to handle the day. Didn’t know they had a name for it and everything else. Early on, I thought I found a way way to exercise just a li[le control over my world. UnJl I felt my size through it. Felt the world shiX into place. Felt myself dissolve into it. In line with everything else, if just for a Jme. I was frightened. Every Jme. Even when it freed me.” A Return to the ConvenJonal • While Powell hopes to create empathy for his characters, he is also interested in showing the way that societal norms oXen marginalize individuals who experience mental illness. • The incident upon which everything shiXs in the novel is depicted in tradiJonal comics form, with none of the shading or the complexity that arises in the secJon of the novel that are focused on Ruth’s inner life. A Comment on “Normalcy” • Ruth’s willingness to point out hypocrisy results in the teacher telling Ruth that she needs to “act civilized.” • Ignoring the substance of Ruth’s criJque, the principal suspends Ruth and suggests that only a disturbed individual would act out as she did. • In this way, Powell demonstrates how prevailing narraves regarding “normalcy” act in repressive ways, and he draws the conflict in a tradiJonal manner so that the emphasis falls on the world surrounding Ruth – a world in which racism can be overlooked, and standing up for injusJce can be deemed an “uncivilized” act. Nate Powell’s Creave Work • Many of the themes in Swallow Me Whole are echoed throughout Powell’s texts. • In 2013, Powell’s collaboraon with Representave John Lewis and comics script writer Alvin Aydin, March, will be released. March chronicles the career of John Lewis, from the Civil Rights Movement to his elecJon to and service in the US Congress. Major Projects by Nate Powell • Sounds of Your Name, 2006 • Please Release, 2006 • Swallow Me Whole, 2008 • Any Empire, 2011 • March (with Alvin Aydin), 2013 Interdisciplinary Nature of Powell’s Work • Powell’s work has resonance for many fields beyond comics studies, fine arts, and English studies. Faculty and students in psychology, social work, and health sciences could consider Swallow Me Whole as a resource. • Powell is pictured here with his Eisner Award. .