Tao of Guerra

I remember many years ago waiting in line to get Will Eisner’s autograph at my local comic store. At the time I was studying film and debating whether I should pursue my dream of drawing comics. While I was dead last in line, I could hear the guy in front, who was getting his books signed by Will, say something about film and comics being the same. Will seemed to find the topic amusing. He chuckled and politely disagreed. He said they’re more like cousins than brothers. I understood exactly what he meant, although the guy in line didn’t seem to get it. Anyone who has read Eisner’s Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative would understand his point of view on the subject. Another good resource is Scott Macleod’s, Understanding Comics.

This memory popped back into my noggin when I read an MTV interview with Alan Moore about his thoughts on films and comics. He raised some very interesting points. Here’s an excerpt, “In comics the reader is in complete control of the experience. They can read it at their own pace, and if there's a piecalan moore, art, books, comics, digital, film, graphic, graphic novels, Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative, medium, miguel guerra,paintine of dialogue that seems to echo something a few pages back, they can flip back and check it out, whereas the audience for a film is being dragged through the experience at the speed of 24 frames per second. So even for a director like Terry Gilliam, who delights in cramming background details into his movies, there's no way he'd be able to duplicate what Dave Gibbons was able to do in Watchmen. We could place almost subliminal details in every panel, and we knew that the reader could take the time to spot everything. There's no way you could do that in a film.”

Since I studied film and have pursued art, I can appreciate the strengths of both mediums. A book has the advantage of limitless length (short, long, multiple volumes). It ignites the imagination since the reader is an active participant. The reader decides how the characters look, what they sound like, and fill in all the missing details. Have you ever read a comic, then looked at it again years later and said to yourself, “I thought this was more detailed.” Your mind filled in all the extras and made it seem more real.

Film on the other hand is recorded, edited and played back to a captive audience. The visual elements of film give motion pictures a universal power of communication. People can instantly be educated (or indoctrinated) by the recorded images that are whizzing past them. Film is powerful because the message of the film is instantly transmitted to the audience, who passively sits, watching and listening. That doesn’t mean no one thinks while they watch a movie. Some movies provoke though and discussion. But whether you think or not is up to you. The movie will continue, regardless of your brain wave activity.

Then there’s animation, which bridges the gap between film and comics. In my opinion, it’s closer to graphic storytelling; like detailed storyboards. Animation is like the crazy half-brother to comics. You want proof of the close relationship? Windsor McKay and Osamu Tezuka were pioneers of both comics/manga and animation. Hey, that’s a good topic for another post, but I digress.

What really makes movies fabulous is motion. Good old 24 frames per second. I’ve always thought this lack of motion in comics is a hurdle. Japanese manga artists are great at this, and can teach us a few things about a good speed chase or fight scene. Motion in comics is in itself a skill to be mastered. Movies can also pan in and out. Comics can do a good job of this, although it’s not quite the same. The reader has to fill in the motion between the key frames. The artist has to have superior page layouts to give the impression of motion. Music is the other huge difference. It can get you mad as hell or tug at your heart strings. I’m afraid comics can’t offer that (although animation can).

What are some of the limitations of film as a story telling method? Hollywood movies are almost always plot driven. One of the biggest drawbacks to movies is the time constraint. The entire movie is constructed not around the story or character development, but how it can all be told within a set time limit. The script, directing, cinematography, acting and editing are all done with a fixed boundary. Movies also have to deal with astronomical budgets. Even an independent film costs tens of thousands of dollars. It’s hard to afford anything.

Where do comics fit in? Comics are basically books with pictures (graphic novels, ah, now I get it!). They use the active and passive parts of your brain. A twilight medium if you will. They eliminate the need for both excessive text and excessive detail. They also have the strength of not being constrained by time (although comics are only 22 pages, while graphic novels end when the writer/artist decides). The reader gets to imagine voices and some details, but still gets to see what the characters look like. And let’s not forget that you need to be literate in order to enjoy them. My mother used to say if there are comics in the house, there will eventually be books.

So what else makes comics different than movies? You don’t need a massive budget to create a comic or graphic novel. There are no limits to the story or the character designs. The reader can start and stop whenever they have time and even take them wherever they go. While comics can be limited by a cliff hanger at the end of every comic, they can compensate by writing as many issues as they want…or as many as the publisher wants. My experience is with graphic novels, so I have the luxury of ending my book as the story dictates. I don’t have to worry about a fixed length and then work backwards from there. As my co-writer Suzy Dias says, “It ends when it ends.” A book (graphic novel) should dictate its own story and its length. This even allows you to meander away from the main plot, something you never have time to do with a movie. You can use this technique to impart the history of a place, delve into a side character, have a flashback, or anything else. That’s not to say that you forget good storytelling. There’s no point in veering from the main plot if it hurts the overall story, or worse yet, bores the reader. However, it can be a useful tool when used correctly.

A good comic artist and writer understands the strengths and limitations. Looking back, I agree with Eisner’s assessment. Today I understand more deeply what he meant. Know thy medium!

Post by Miguel & Suzy