While understandable for web comics to use text to achieve their means, CAD tends to dominate each frame with text that isn’t 100% necessary. I wouldn’t really hold in the highest regard for quality (Yet I still read it for some reason), because it suffers from one fatal flaw. A clear example of this is my first case in point ‘Control-Alt-Delete’ ( ) It follows a typical comedic web comic format, an establishment panel, one or two for building up the joke and the final delivering the punch line. For this reason, they will often allow most of the writing to lead up to the joke, only using images to back up their script or for a visual pun. What differs web comics from others is the fact they often focus on humour rather than artistic content or messages within the comic itself. I’ve got a few examples of some comics that show a successful combination of script and illustration and others that fail when trying to overwork certain aspects.Īs I spend a lot of time on the internet I find myself reading a lot of web comics, more so than ones such as Marvel, DC or whatnot. Words can reflect or detract from what’s being said in the picture or they can give us storyline, expression emotion or specific detail ultimately rendering them as an extremely powerful tool for shaping the direction of the comic.

Through it ideas can be connected in unlimited ways. It is in fact the combination of words and image that are propelling comics forward in style and content. And while images and writing separately can easily be considered ‘high art’, the combination of the two is often overlooked and seen as childish and not seeing how useful it can be. And this is where the clash we see within the likes of comics begins. While words are considered to be more abstract art (In static terms) and pictures as more representation, current artistic trends are seeing the development and allowing them to cross into each others fields.

Throughout the chapter, McCloud makes constant reference to the differences between image and illustration. The sixth chapter of the Scott McCloud’s ‘Understanding Comics’ explains the nature of both the written word and images and how together they can influence the style and direction of a comic, strengthening in some ones whilst weakening it in others.

Understanding comics