Constrained comics
Encyclopedia
Constrained comics is a form of comics
that places some fundamental constraint on form. By adding a constraint, the artist is attempting to produce original art within tightly defined boundaries.
A conceptually similar movement is the constrained writing
movement, where writers have attempted to do things such as write novels in palindromic
form or without the letter "e"
. Poetry
is sometimes constrained into specific rhyme and meter categories such as haiku
or sonnet
.
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
that places some fundamental constraint on form. By adding a constraint, the artist is attempting to produce original art within tightly defined boundaries.
A conceptually similar movement is the constrained writing
Constrained writing
Constrained writing is a literary technique in which the writer is bound by some condition that forbids certain things or imposes a pattern.Constraints are very common in poetry, which often requires the writer to use a particular verse form....
movement, where writers have attempted to do things such as write novels in palindromic
Palindrome
A palindrome is a word, phrase, number, or other sequence of units that can be read the same way in either direction, with general allowances for adjustments to punctuation and word dividers....
form or without the letter "e"
Lipogram
A lipogram is a kind of constrained writing or word game consisting of writing paragraphs or longer works in which a particular letter or group of letters is avoided — usually a common vowel, and frequently "E", the most common letter in the English language.Writing a lipogram is a trivial task...
. Poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
is sometimes constrained into specific rhyme and meter categories such as haiku
Haiku
' , plural haiku, is a very short form of Japanese poetry typically characterised by three qualities:* The essence of haiku is "cutting"...
or sonnet
Sonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
.
Examples
Notable examples of constrained comics:- The Angriest Dog in the WorldThe Angriest Dog in the WorldThe Angriest Dog in the World is a comic strip created by film director David Lynch. The strip was conceived by Lynch in 1973 during a period when he was experiencing feelings of great anger. First published in the LA Reader, the strip ran from 1983 until 1992.The strip is introduced with a small...
a comic strip by David LynchDavid LynchDavid Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
. Each comic features the same four panels, the first three of which are identical. - Dinosaur ComicsDinosaur ComicsDinosaur Comics is a constrained webcomic by Canadian writer Ryan North. It is also known as "Qwantz", after the site's domain name, "qwantz.com". The first comic was posted on 1 February 2003, though there were earlier prototypes. Dinosaur Comics has also been printed in two collections and in a...
which uses the same artwork, with only dialogue changing. - Partially Clips which uses three identical panels based on clipart.
- The many works of the OubapoOubapoOuBaPo is a comics movement which believes in the use of formal constraints to push the boundaries of the medium. OuBaPo is styled after the French literary movement Oulipo , founded by Raymond Queneau and Georges Perec...
group. - Matt MaddenMatt MaddenMatt Madden is a U.S. comic book writer and artist. He is best known for original alternative comics, for his coloring work in traditional comics, and for the experimental work 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style, which is based on the idea of Raymond Queneau's Exercises in Style...
's 99 Ways to Tell a Story99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style99 Ways To Tell a Story: Exercises in Style is an experimental graphic novel by Matt Madden, published by the Penguin Group. Inspired by Raymond Queneau's book Exercises in Style, it tells the same simple story in 99 different ways...
. - Garfield Minus GarfieldGarfield Minus GarfieldGarfield Minus Garfield is a webcomic created by Dan Walsh, a technology manager from Dublin, Ireland, which received considerable attention during 2008. Each strip consists of a reprint of a past episode from the comic strip Garfield, from which all the characters except Jon Arbuckle have been...
, which features the comic character Jon ArbuckleJon ArbuckleJonathan Q. Arbuckle is a character from the Garfield comic strip by Jim Davis. He has also appeared in the animated television series Garfield and Friends, the computer-animated The Garfield Show, and two live-action feature films....
without the titular cat, who has been digitally removed from the otherwise untouched comic.
See also
- Infinite canvasInfinite canvasThe infinite canvas is the idea that the size of a digital comics page is theoretically infinite, and that online comics are therefore not limited by conventional page sizes. An artist could conceivably display a complete comics story of indefinite length on a single "page"...
, a movement in comics in a sense opposite to that of constrained comics.
Further reading
- Baetens, Jan. Comic Strips and Constrained Writing. Image & Narrative. Issue 7. October 2003. Retrieved on 2008-09-24.
External links
- Article about constraint on ComixTalk