Space/Time and Flow in Graphic Narratives.

Scott McCloud’s perspective on comics and seeing the world through comics is rather thought provoking. Not only does he shed light on understanding comics, but he does so in a way that makes sense for people like me, who are used to reading and understanding books, not comics.

In his books, Understanding Comics and Making Comics, Scott McCloud dropped some serious knowledge on his readers. He talked a lot about pattern recognition, East and West comics, conveying all five sense through the combined efforts of pictures/words, and of course, the relationship between time and space.

What I found most intriguing about his thoughts on comics was what he had to say about space and time. Creating this flow is difficult, and a lot of the overall success of the story depends on the seamlessness of flow. This relationship between space and time is more dramatic than a People Magazine article on Justin Bieber’s love life. Let me explain:

A lot of the relationship takes place from panel-to-panel and in the space between the panels, called “gutters.”  If the use of space is sloppy, then story can seem choppy and fragmented, or worse, the reader can get lost and their eyes will fly around the page with more reckless peril than a fart in a fan factory.

Pulling off successful use of time and space creates magic. Done correctly, a single panel can take upwards of 30 seconds, or an entire page can take just a few seconds. (Like when an artist wants to establish setting, so they show the reader multiply viewpoints of the same place. This is more common in Manga than in American comics.)

Words and art play a crucial role in creating time and space. McCloud suggests that if you want a reader to take more time on a single image, spend time drawing all 400 leaves of a tree. Create a visual treat, something that serves as more than just a backdrop to what is being said. Even though it’s just a moment in time, maybe a second or two, it can mean the difference between the reader reading the story and actually being there.

Now isn’t that something? Richness in detail creates something that’s visually understood as only taking up a few seconds! That’s pretty darn cool.

Conversely, if you have a wordier panel, or series of panels, they can help keep the story going, or get the point across that giant leaps of time have passed. (Something panel-to-panel wouldn’t be able to pull off alone.) For example, “10 years later...” or, “30 miles west…”   Or even just the conversation in panels help convey the message that the panel encompasses more than just a second or two.

There’s so much more that is discussed in Scott McClouds books, he does a great job at explaining what to keep an eye out for while you’re reading through a comic or graphic narrative. As someone who is a newbie at this medium, I found his books to be helpful in establishing a foothold  into the enticing world of comics.