Comic+Creation

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Narrative**__

The comic above illustrates the story of a tampered with scoop of Green Tea Ice Cream. The story begins when Hector decides to pull a prank on someone at the dinner table. As Kristina and Liza think of who to prank, Hector has already made his decision! The weapon, Wasabi! Smushed, mixed and spread around a scoop of delicious Green Tea Ice Cream, the unsuspecting Angelo takes a bite of this frozen treat, only to be surprised with the pain of Wasabi. Disclaimer: Angelo was not harmed in the making of this comic, only made fun of. As of today, everyone present in this comic strip is still friends…for now.

The comic above uses concepts taken from Scott McCloud’s how to Read a Comic. Scott McCloud defines a comic as “Sequential Art” (McCloud, 9). Any form of juxtaposed images, with a story could then be defined as a comic, whether hand drawn, computer generated or a set of photos. McCloud outlines several concepts that are frequently used within comic strips, books and graphic novels. Within this comic, the concept of closure is used in several panels, focusing on a dominant image. By taking parts and perceiving the whole, the reader of the comic assumes the obvious (that there is a body connected to the hand holding the spoon) and is given the chance to focus directly on the image, in this case, the scoop of ice cream.
 * __Analysis__**

Because this is a short comic strip, several of the panels consist of Subject-to-Subject transitions, which give the reader enough information about the plot, but leaves enough space for imagination (McCloud, 71). The final two panels consist of Aspect-to-Aspect transitioning as the image of Angelo’s face implies that he had taken a bite of the tampered with ice cream.

In sequential order, the first panel depicts a character that creates the plan to pull a prank on another. The second and third panel shows two characters thinking, responding to the initial action. The gutters within these three panels are fairly wide, giving the reader a sense of time that the person in panel two is thinking about who to prank. The gap below panels two and three represents the ‘thinking time’. This larger gap (the largest within the comic) emphasizes that the characters are thinking hard as to who to prank. Finally in panel four, a wider shot reveals the beginning of what is to be the climax of this short comic strip. This panel shows a wider shot, depicting two characters that were scheming to sabotage someone else.

The panels that come after the first set consist of no gutter, implying the excitement and immediacy of the events as they occur. As Angelo is named as the target, a non-sequitur transition follows. A shot of ice cream is revealed before the idea is named and immediately after, Hector states his idea. The purpose of this is to foreshadow what is to come. A wide shot is again used to emphasize the importance of the action that occurs. This panel shows hands ‘smushing’ and mixing the Wasabi into the ice cream. The final three panels communicate, without specifically showing, that Angelo has taken a bite of the ice cream. In the third last panel, Liza anticipates the bite and immediately after the sound of disgust is communicated with the image of the spit out piece of Wasabi, followed by the Angelo's final reaction.

The limited number of panels truly shows that a comic can come in all shapes and sizes. It can be created in any way and is in fact, Sequential Art, as Scott McCloud stated. Within my comic, 11 panels were used in hopes of communicating a clear story using, photos and text.

McCloud, Scott. //Understanding Comics-the invisible art//. New York: Kitchen Sink Press, 1993.
 * __Bibliography__**