Word Montages

I am just getting around to reading McCloud's "Making Comics".  There are more thorough reviews of it out there, and I'd probably just repeat something that was more well written by doing a review here.  Besides, I want to get back (or start) talking about webcomics again.

But before I do, I do find one little passage in the book especially interesting because it pertains to my last post which I wrote before reading the book.

McCloud talks about several ways that artists combine text and image in a comic.  The final category he talks about is the "Montage", which he defines as a situation "where words and letters take on pictorial qualities and are combined more freely with the pictures that surround them."  That definition sounds a lot like my rebuses I brought up in the last post.

McCloud says that other than opening logos and sound effects this type of combination is "largely unexplored territory."  Then he ends his little section on Montage with a bland little panel were his body has become the speach balloon which reads, "Innovators of the future take note."

A while back I found Derik Badman's "Pictureless Comics".  His "Minimal Noir" seems particularly relevent to this discussion.  While he tries to make comic without images, the words and the way he articulates them in the composition almost become images.  Its a shame he didn't try to make a few more like this.

O.K. so I said last time that I'd like to see some creators try out this rebus thing and now you hear it from Scott McCloud.  If you are an experimentor in the form of comics, consider yourself commissioned!

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Rebuses

Most comics are content to have text and images integrated by having speech bubbles, text boxes and sound effects, but how often does the image also become part of the word and vice-versa?  I'm not even sure if Manga does this (before translation) unless we consider the Japanese characters as actual pictures.  (I could be convinced of that, but I don't read Japanese and have never read manga in its original language.)

I've discovered the allegorical paintings of Cristina Vergano this month.  I wouldn't quite consider these paintings comics, because there seems to be no sequence implied by them, but they do have an interesting way of integrating text and images together into rebuses.  This is something that I'd be interested in seeing comics creators play around with.

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Ta-da!

Lewis has asked me to introduce myself, so here's a brief introduction to the world of Grant Thomas.  I graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in Art Education in 2003.  I am now entering into my third year teaching art at an Elementary School in Central Illinois.  I've always been a big fan of comics and when I was introduced to webcomics by a friend, I began browsing through the thousands of titles available on the web.  Eventually, I began my own comic, My Life In Records, and illustrated Birdsworth for Gilead Pellaeon.

When I am not riding my bike with my beautiful wife, or digging through the movies and CDs and the public library with her, I also enjoy making records in my closet.  You can hear my creaking voice on my official website which will soon be revamped to actually look like it wasn't created by a hack with a Mac.

But enough about me.  I'm here to read some good comics and write reviews about them!  For some good reads, you should start by checking out Ben and Lewis' lists on the sidebar.  Then head on over to my list.  Its much like Lewis' list as it contains a few comics than I am planning on reading the whole archives eventually, but I have not currently finished reading.

I want to find new comics to read.  If you think your comics might fit in with my tastes, send me an email ( gcthomas AT illinoisalumni DOT org ) and give me a brief synopsis and a link to your comic.  At this point I cannot promise I will read everything that comes into my inbox, but if you make your email witty enough, I will give it a look.  If you have a comic that doesn't look like it matches up with what I have on my list, write me anyway and convince me why I should expand my horizons and read your comic.

I am looking forward to working with Ben and Lewis to champion the cause of webcomic creators everywhere!

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New Contributor: Grant Thomas

This post is to announce that we have added Grant Thomas as a contributor, and to welcome him to the fold.

I will allow Grant to do his own, more extensive, introduction in whatever manner he sees fit. I will note here, though, that beyond the sites linked above, he also has a webcomic, My Life In Records.

Grant will be able to post as soon as I set up his account, which is what I intend to do after I finish this announcement.

Please note also, that we are still open to further contributors. There isn't a set number that we have in mind, the goal is to have a manageably sized group that can collectively keep content coming. See this post for more details.

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