Interplay in Comics: a Game of Words and Images

Comics consist of words and images placed together within a frame. They exist in the same space, fleshing out the world of the comic and illustrating action, either through what we read in the text or what we see in the icons. While existing in the same plane, the way these two comic components interact can complement one another to achieve something neither could accomplish on their own.

In Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud, the relationship between text and images occupies an entire chapter. By creating different combinations of text and image, you can modify the content to create different interpretations. Placing emphasis on one over the other generates new ways of delivering information: “generally speaking, the more is said with words, the more the pictures can be freed to go exploring and vice versa” (McCloud 155).
McCloud breaks these intersections of text and words into seven main categories:

1. Word Specific Combinations: where pictures serve as a compliment to the words, illustrating the ideas of the text without significantly expanding on it. The text is these panels are essentially complete ideas, but the pictures further punctuate the words. Example: using an image of a smiling woman with the text, “Beatrice smiled as she approached the desk.”
2. Picture Specific Combinations: essentially the other end of the spectrum, where the pictures dominate the frame, and the words serve to highlight the visual sequence. Example: onomatopoeias like “POW” and “BANG” during classic, Golden Age fight sequences in superhero comics.
3. Duo-Specific Combinations: the text and images send the same message, not really exemplifying any special subtext. The words and icons work together at essentially the same level. Example: a panel of a woman wiping away tears, with a caption reading “She wiped away her tears”.
4. Additive Combinations: where either the text or images amplify the meaning portrayed in the other. Typically, these build off of the same idea, just less directly than the duo-specific combinations. Example: a person standing outside of an old house, with a thought bubble reading “How many years have I been away?”, or a woman clutching her stomach exclaiming “I told you that clam chowder expired!”
5. Parallel Combinations: the text and images “seem to follow very different courses — without intersecting” (154). These panels can be used to show a character’s actions taking place while discussing an entirely different topic of conversation. Example: a woman biking along a pathway, with dialogue in captions reading “When do the test results come back?” “They should be ready by Monday.” “God, I hate waiting.” “I know. Rachel’s been losing her mind.”
6. Montage: the text and images blur into one, with the words becoming integrated into the image. These are different from the montages of movies and TV, which consist of a series of images in a row. Example: a building against a horizon composed of a character’s monologue, or a face with text in place of their skin.
7. Interdependent: the combination that McCloud postulates is the most common, “where words and pictures go hand in hand to convey an idea that neither could convey alone” (155). Two separate ideas will fuse together to form a third idea, further expanding the meaning of the comic. Example: a jovial old man smiles at the person next to them on a park bench, asking the question “do I look like a killer to you?”; or an image of a coffee getting poured into a cup with someone out of the panel saying “do you really think he’ll come?”

With both text and images at their disposal, comic writers can push the boundaries of literature and the ways we extrapolate meaning. Some of the greatest writers and artists demonstrate this interplay in their graphic novels.

In Watchmen by Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore, the opening sequence features a gutter filled with blood, matched with an excerpt from a character’s journal describing the violence they’ve seen in the city, and how they lack remorse for the unjust. Brian K. Vaughn’s Pride of Baghdad serves as an allegory for the U.S. Army’s involvement in the Middle East, and perfectly summarizes the graphic novel in the last few pages with the words “they’re free” plastered across a bombed out Baghdad. In GB Tran’s Vietnamerica, the artist punctuates his confusion over his identity using different foods, including eggs and Twinkies.

Graphic novels not only take symbolism to another level, but the way we read and write narratives as well. By paying close attention to how the text and images in comics work together to portray information, we further develop an understanding and appreciation for the thought and storytelling that goes into creating a graphic novel.

Ian Hebeisen ​

is a writer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Graduating in May 2020 with a degree in English Literature with a Writing Emphasis, Ian writes comics, poetry, and scripts. He is currently an intern for The Brain Health Magazine and aims to work in the comic publishing industry. In his spare time, Ian plays Dungeons & Dragons, board games, and bass guitar.