Literary Web Comics
New technology offers up different and innovative ways to convey information, ideas, and creativity in ways that were not available in the past. As a result, the way society views literature changes constantly to include up-and-coming forms. One such new form is web comics. Like books, poetry, and other conventional forms of literature, web comics can come in a variety of different formats, genres, and lengths. Web comics are any comic designed specifically for viewing in a digital medium such as the internet. Several of the web comics available for public viewing may be considered as literature in a similar way to audio poems by Bergval Carol or shape poetry by John Hollander. Such forms do not follow the conventional ideas of literature, and not every example of these forms is literature, but web comics should be eligible for consideration in the literary field.
By using pictures, web comics (comics created for the purpose of internet viewing) present another branch of form for telling narratives and portraying ideas much in the same way as abstract poets who deviate from conventional forms in order to use words to draw pictures, or use fast movement of carefully placed text to convey tone in a new way. In an essay published in the 91st volume of The English Journal, English teacher Rocco Versaci argues that this combination has the potential to heighten the literary effect held by some comics. Versaci states that comics make “use of standard literary devices such as point of view, narrative, characterization, conflict, setting, tone, and theme” as well as “[operating] with … very complex poetics that [blend] the visual and textual” in a way that furthers the story and literary value of the form (Versaci).
Web comics can use music, flashing words, changing pictures, and the
like to change tone, slow down reading speed, and effect other literary
devices in ways that traditional forms of literature cannot. The web
comic called Homestuck is an example of the application of these
techniques combined with literary conventions
such as plot, metaphor, characterization, tone, suspense, imagery (in
text form), and allusion. This web comic is an exploration of the
application of form and technique on the we
b. Using a second-person
narrative in text that appears below the pictures, the author presents a
story about four characters developed through dialogue, their
interactions with the world around them, and demonstrations of their
personalities through constructed images of their rooms and houses as
they work their way through a problem-filled game that has somehow
turned their world into a smoldering crater. The tone created by the
text alone is typically ironic or humorous, but the creator of Homestuck
uses music, space created by digital pages, paragraphs of text, and the
pictures in unison to create other scene-appropriate tones, as well as
suspense, characterization, and other elements important to literature.
Allusions to American pop culture occur now and then, such as including
a quote from American Sports Legend Charles Barkley, or popular
literature of today.
Some would argue against counting web comics as literature in the same ways they would argue against ordinary comics as literature. According to Dictionary.com, literature is “writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic for essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays” (Dictionary.com). It can be argued that the comic strips found in the Sunday paper are too short to delve into universal interest, or to even use the writing conventions typical to literature such as characterization, sound-devices, or creative metaphor. According to the University of Leeds’s Aaron Meskin in his article ‘Comics as Literature?’ featured in the British Journal of Aesthetics, the hybrid state of pictures and limited text prevents comics from truly being literature (Meskin).
This unique combination of drawings coupled with text might not be such an excluding factor for web comics. As Samantha Cleaver points out in an essay featured on the Scholastic website, “the illustrations and text are meant to be ‘read’ together,” reinforcing the happenings and meanings in a reader’s mind (Cleaver). A reader cannot simply look at the pictures and understand the significance of a comic. In a similar way, readers cannot simply read the text of a web comic and have a full grasp of the dynamics being used. The pictures are there to supplement the text. Now, a comic may demonstrate an analogy, but a reader has to look closely at a character’s facial expressions to catch the tone, irony, or even foreshadowing that makes the analogy significant.
Arguing that web comics should be eligible for consideration among
literature, not all web comics have the literary devices necessary to be
called literature. Some are more or less jokes, satire, or anecdotes
written on individual strips that have little or no connection to other
strips from the same comic.
These web comics are often without continuing plot, characterization,
or personification. Considering the difference between web comics that
demonstrate multiple literary elements verses web comics that
demonstrate little to no traits of literature may help people in the
literary field to see the literary value of web comics as a genre.
Similar to poetry, there are almost limitless possibilities for authors
to explore to find new ways of presenting literature conventions to tell
their story and convey their ideas. It would be a shame to label this
developing genre as little more than a low-culture popular trend. Web
comics are unique, and present a new field of literary study that can be
explored and elaborated on, and may even create some conventions for
its genre in the future as it develops further.
Carla Vangrove studies English with an emphasis in creative writing at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. Her central focus in these studies is not how creative mediums fit within the literary field, though she enjoys researching this on the side for her writing arguments class. As a creative writing student, she believes in not entirely limiting the literary potential of mediums without thoroughly researching the medium and considering all arguments for and against it.
