tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post3248389777444637977..comments2024-03-04T04:08:39.755-08:00Comments on The Fies Files: How I Approach Cartooning #4: Graphic NarrativeBrian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-2058945317003224852008-11-07T17:13:00.000-08:002008-11-07T17:13:00.000-08:00John: Wow, thanks very much for the note. Your opi...John: Wow, thanks very much for the note. Your opinion and experience with potential readers (and buyers!) means a lot to me. Please don't hesitate to contact me if I can be of use on a panel or somesuch.<BR/><BR/>I don't know if Webcomics provide easier entry into GNs than other works; I've read some pretty impenetrable Webcomics! In my case, I made a deliberate decision to tell the story as clearly as possible in bite-sized bits and simple panel layouts. I wanted the art to be light, airy and inviting (against my first instinct to draw it gothic and scritchy-scratchy dark). I didn't want to make someone who'd never read a comic before "figure it out." If that worked, I'm very happy.<BR/><BR/>Wallflower, please feel free to share, I'm flattered that you'd want to. The complaint that people don't know how to read graphic novels is surprisingly common--surprising, that is, to someone who grew up immersed in the language of comics. But I think I get it. The eye doesn't know where to go, what to do first, how to take in information using different parts of the brain at the same time. I actually experienced that confusion once, looking at an X-Men comic in the '90s, when I had no idea what order the panels were in, the words seemed to have no relation to the pictures, and the art looked like random shapes that may or may not have been characters. I put it down in frustration after two pages. In that case, I blame the comic book. In fact, I really believe that if the writer/artist is doing his/her job, a graphic novel should be as easy to decode as a Garfield comic strip. <BR/><BR/>Interesting story about Bronte. I think serious illness heightens <I>everything</I>, often for the worse but sometimes for the better. Thanks again!Brian Fieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-46261869471112303852008-11-07T14:30:00.000-08:002008-11-07T14:30:00.000-08:00Brian;This is a thoughtful posting that I want to ...Brian;<BR/><BR/>This is a thoughtful posting that I want to share with my writing group, and my friend Linda who is a visual artist. Linda is a voracious reader who says she has difficulty with graphic novels because of the mixture of images and words. I think the concept of "images with bursts of words" approximating thought (and memory) will be interesting for her.<BR/><BR/>It is thought-provoking that illness, our own or a loved one's, seems to call up creativity. Charlotte Bronte wrote the first third of Jane Eyre while helping her father convalsce from eye surgery.Wallflowerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14850667583645236857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-34911806302410272022008-11-07T12:29:00.000-08:002008-11-07T12:29:00.000-08:00Hey Brian, I just wanted to let you know that Mom'...Hey Brian, I just wanted to let you know that Mom's Cancer is one of my favorite books to use in my talks and presentations I do for librarians, teachers and retailers. It works really well on so many levels but what I find really interesting is that, for those who are true linear readers, Mom's Cancer is the gateway drug.<BR/>Maybe that's due to the nature of the orgins? Do web comics translate into better books for the linear readers? I dunno.<BR/><BR/>The other way it works for my presentations is that I usually hand it to that person who seems most resistant to the idea of reading a graphic novel. I give them a brief summary and also let them know, inspite of the title, that the book is a positive story that ends on a happy note.<BR/><BR/>With that, they find themselves pulled into the story.<BR/><BR/>Thank you, for creating such a great book. It has helped me open many, many doors.<BR/><BR/>Sincerely,<BR/><BR/>John ShableskiJohn Shableskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11639992587354139386noreply@blogger.com