Does the ratio of text to picture matter?

[rodan57]

Preamble

I was thinking the other day about how pre-1965 Marvels get more difficult to find in better condition. This I understand was due to how collecting (saving) Marvels really took flight with the high-point of the Marvel Silver Age in 1965.

 

This led me to reflect on how the Marvels of 1964-65 might be the best representation of the comic book form ever. A caveat immediately came to mind as I considered the fame of the EC line -- however, EC books tend to text heavy. One can take four or five times longer to read the text in the panel than to 'read' or admire the art. This would then make the comic feel more like illustrated text as any momentum built by the artists layout from panel to panel would be sabotaged.

 

Heavy Thoughts

I concluded that Marvel's comics were a more perfect blend of text and illustration as the extent of the text would match the tempo of the art. The adventure would flow. I wonder if there is a text/picture ratio (i.e., 1:1) that makes for a better comic book and for a purer expression of the comic book medium?

 

p.s.

This might also be why I find Moderns, and dearth of captions, thought balloons and text in general, to be unsatisfying.

 

[heinlein99]

Fans of different eras might have different ideas of the better ratio.

 

Personally, having grown up with Stan Lee as my favorite writer, I like a healthy amount of text. Classic issues of ASM & FF have enough narration & snappy dialog to keep the story interesting beginning to end.

 

You also have to consider that full-length stories were often packed into 8 or 9 pages (especially in DC books) and things like 'moody' panels & two-page spreads were unheard of.

 

Most 'hot' writers today couldn't tell a complete story in 22 pages, much less 10 or fewer. I can often read a modern comic in 5-10 minutes - and then I feel cheated. Which is one more reason not to buy moderns.

[DrWatson]

Words bad. Pictures good.

[CAP Freak]

I own to EC Books. Weird Science-Fantasy 25 and Piracy 1. The artwork is nice but they poor on the words.

[PokerKid]

They've got words?!?

[adamstrange]

EC books tend to text heavy/quote]

 

EC books edited by Al Feldstein were text heavy. Those edited by Harvey Kurtzman are not.

 

Text heavy or art heavy isn't the issue it's whether the creator/creative team have used both in the best way to tell a particular story. Eisner's Spirit has many examples of being heavy on end of the spectrum or another as well as many smack in the middle and they almost always work even though they are just 7 pages long.

[Flaming_Telepath]

Words bad. Pictures good.

 

Unfortunately, not a philosophy you personally adopt here.

[DrWatson]

Words bad. Pictures good.

 

Unfortunately, not a philosophy you personally adopt here.

[jordanscott]

Words bad. Pictures good.

 

Unfortunately, not a philosophy you personally adopt here.

 

[VintageComics]

Well put Adam. All depends on my mood, that story teller and what is being conveyed.

 

 

 

R.

 

 

[Scrooge]

Moreover, looking at the pure ratio is not the correct way to assess this aspect of the medium. It's better to look at the balance between words and pictures in aiding the story. You can have a text heavy story that does not hinder the development of the story. In the case of Feldstein, the incessant (sp?) text was simply duplicating the image or not adding anything so significant that the story couldn't be understood without them. It's that rule that should be applied. Text and pictures should both work in combination in service to the story. In the case of modern books, you can go several panels to a full page or more without words or caption and yet that's okay since they are not necessary to enhance the story SO LONG AS the artist is good at relaying the atmosphere and tension and other elements visually. This is why I never begrudge text free pages in Brubaker's Captain America for example as the art stands on its own. On the other hand, it irritate me to no end in a book like The Lone Ranger since the art does not carry the story forward ... I still read Captain America and dropped Lone Ranger a while ago!

[ashrael]

Whatever the ratio of text to imagery, I don't want to only spend 5 minutes reading an entire comic. I want the text or the imagery to say a lot more. Most comics from the last 10 years just can't hold my attention long enough and I don't consider them worthwhile.

[Broken Shakespear]

I talked about this once with a writer for Marvel, but I can't remember who it was now (it was many years ago). It was Waid or Busiek ... shoot, I can't remember...

 

Anyway, the basic take away that I got was that story telling was evolving to make it more dynamic and exciting. More action and flash. To do this, words needed to give way to images, so a lower word count. Also, the theory was that omitting thought ballons would make a reader guess at the motivations and intentions of a character, because you would not know their thoughts; much like the real world.

 

This was supposed to draw the reader in, because the reader would question these things and wonder what was going on in the characters noggin (oops Cap just got shot by Agent 13, what is he thinking abut? Does he know what happened? Does he feel betrayed? Sorrowful? Oh just what is going through Caps mind right now? I wish I had a thought balloon.).

 

All these changes were supposed to make comic books better, because comics had to evolve as an entertainment media to survive (this was back in 98 or 99, when folks thought comics were about done for).

 

I don't know that the changes are always for the better. Sometimes I just want a fun romp where I don't need to guess at the thoughts of a character. Sometimes I want a thought balloon where the charater thinks (I'll trick the villains by freezing the water sprinklers) instead of saying everything out loud (I know, if I freeze the sprinklers, they will break and surprise the villain).

 

Sometimes, instead of reading an entire page of text that is page 1, filling me in on the events of the last two issues, I would rather just have a few captions throughout the book the tell me the same info, but only the parts I need to know, when I need to know it.

 

Evolution isn't always the same as progress.