{"id":2693,"date":"2018-12-31T15:26:00","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T23:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/?p=2693"},"modified":"2024-01-09T15:29:16","modified_gmt":"2024-01-09T23:29:16","slug":"maggies-world-067-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/maggies-world-067-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Maggie\u2019s World 067: Words"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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MAGGIE’S WORLD BY MAGGIE THOMPSON<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maggie\u2019s World 067: Words<\/h1>\n\n\n
Maggie Thompson<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Polonius: \u201cWhat do you read, my lord?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hamlet: \u201cWords, words, words.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was in Act 2, Scene 2; Shakespeare wrote those words around 1600, more than five centuries after the Bayeux \u201cTapestry\u201d had told its story in pictures\u2014and it came to mind while looking at earlier Maggie\u2019s World<\/em> columns, because it was in the very first installment that I quoted Albert the Alligator\u2019s comment about words in Animal Comics<\/em> #28: \u201cAh good at readin\u2019 pitchers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pogo read words. Albert, on the other hand \u2026\u00a0Animal Comics<\/em>\u00a0#28 (August 1947) \u00a9 2019 Okefenokee Glee & Perloo Inc. Sheldon Mayer took another approach to providing words with pictures. Hey, was this an ancestor of The Marvel Method?\u00a0Sugar and Spike<\/em>\u00a0#12 (December 1957) \u00a9 2019 DC Comics<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was certainly one of the appeals of comic books for the little kids that were attracted to picture-stories. But, given that, just how important are words in comic books? (Note that Walt Kelly used a lot of words on that page.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harvey Pekar remarked, in response to evaluations of comic art as somehow inferior to other art forms: There\u2019s no limit to how good the pictures can be or how good the words can be. A major focus of many fans\u2019 attention to and love for comics has been the pictures; fans quickly began trying to identify otherwise-anonymous storytelling by its art style. But far more anonymous have been the hundreds (thousands?) of comic-book and comic-strip writers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dell Comics editor Oskar Lebeck, himself a writer, often credited writers in bylines; many other Golden Age editors were not as forthcoming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The process of providing to comics both stories and their words can, of course, be a complex endeavor. It can involve plots, layouts, rough pencils, and finished scripts. It can involve editors, writers, artists, other designers, and letterers. Writer-artists might find themselves with less editing, since they could be more in control of the package and, even if they worked anonymously (John Stanley, Carl Barks), they could sometimes do pretty much as they pleased. In other cases, writer and artist never even met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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These are among recent explorations of the varied aspects of words in comics.\u00a0Words for Pictures<\/em>\u00a0\u00a9 2019 Jinxworld, Inc. and \u00a9 2019 Korero Press Limited\u00a0Logo-a-Gogo\u00a0<\/em>\u00a9 2019 Rian Hughes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Plus \u2026<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

While we\u2019re on the subject of the art of words, we can also consider the matter of putting words and sound effects on the page. Back in the ninth installment of this column, I discussed the origin of what Mort Walker popularized in Backstage at the Strips<\/em>: Charlie Rice\u2019s lexicon of symbols for expressions ranging from censored swearing to displays of emotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, in lettering and layout, there\u2019s the necessity of form following function: Most traditional comic book lettering is all uppercase. If the letterer doesn\u2019t have to make extra room for ascenders and descenders, more words can fit in balloons and captions. But all-caps lettering makes reading more challenging for dyslexic readers, who often have to depend on word shapes for recognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also customary has been the use of bold typeface, rather than italics or underlined words, for emphasis: Well, it just works, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you recognize distinctive lettering styles in comics? Todd Klein is an award-winning master of lettering that supports the story, indicates the speaker, and catches the eye. Walt Kelly, Dave Sim, and Chris Ware are among artists known additionally for their mastery of lettering as a function of their art. (Speaking of words suitable for framing, let me note that Klein\u2019s Compendium of Calligraphic Knowledge<\/em> is a print that is all words but gorgeously presented, with samples of kerning, line spacing, and balloon \u201cair,\u201d among other treats.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that involves words in speech balloons and captions. What about words that identify something at a glance? What\u2014in other words\u2014about distinctive logos? When the words, themselves, are pictures?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the acknowledged geniuses of the art of the logo was Ira Schnapp (1894-1969), whose first such comics work was his redesign of the logo of DC\u2019s Superman<\/em> with #6 (September 1940). When you\u2019re looking through the comics racks and back-issue bins, do the logos attract you? Do you look for certain designs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

There are a plethora of books and other guides on writing comics and providing the words for the stories. Good writers and good artists have been there to help readers find the way for decades. If you have favorites, you might enjoy checking to see whether they have provided insights into their work. The more you know about the work that went into what wordsmiths have done, the more you\u2019ll probably admire the skills that went into your entertainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Maggie\u2019s World by Maggie Thompson appears the first Tuesday of every month here on <\/em>Toucan!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Written by<\/p>\n\n\n

Maggie Thompson<\/div>\n\n\n

Published<\/p>\n\n\n