a) This comic strip has 3 panels (in pink). Comic strips can have 1-5 panels typically. The spaces between the panels are called the gutters (in blue). We call the white balloons above the character a speech bubble and it is where the dialog is found.
b) Notice that a high level of artistic ability is not necessarily needed to be a comic artist. In a multi- paneled comic strip transitions from one panel to the next can show:
a change in time,
a change in action,
a change in subject or character,
a change in location or scene,
a change in perspective or angle,
and a change that simply doesn't make sense and is therefore funny.
What types of transitions does the following comic strip show?
c) When there are multiple speech bubbles in one panel you read the dialog in order from the top most (& left) to the bottom most (& right) bubbles.
d) Comic strips can include characters that are human, animals or objects with personality and emotion.
e) Comic strips often keep backgrounds simple and, if in color, use only a few colors so that the artwork is not too busy and distracting from the funny content.
f) Comic artists consider colors and shading to create a mood or depict a character.
g) Motion & emotion can be shown with lines or symbols called EMANATA. (Notice the physics comic strip is 3 panels in a vertical series instead of horizontal.)
(* All cartoons used were available for re-use as creative commons images. Attribution goes to www.webdonuts.com, snotm.com and crimesagainsthughsmanatees.tumblr.com)
2- Caption Challenge For the following comics create your own funny captions or dialog for the artwork and with someone or click "share your work" in the navigation menu.