Week 6: Extra Comic pages and some of the brief comments from Tutes.

Harvey Kurtzman: Corpse on the Injim. p5. Frontline Combat, or Two-Fisted Tales- can't remember which ;P. A story with great usage of the passage of time in panels, posing/shape dynamics, empathy with the audience (YOU are involved in the story) and the use of "zooms" and shot selection to emphasis the mood and drama.

Will Eisner: The Casualty. p2-3. 'Last Day in Vietnam. Example of Eisner going beyond the confines of the  gutters and panels  to still tell clear, concise and entertaining stories. In silence, no doubt. Empathy through subject and pose. Eisner was the Master of expressing an emotion through a gesture or pose.

Eisner: Last Day in Vietnam. P16-17. Closure- we understand "we're" in a helicopter by the visual clues given, and fill in the rest with our mind (suspension of disbelief). Again, gutterless/no panel borders, but clarity to a T. Depth created through the use of shadows and scale- plus, ultimate empathy: the "main character" is talking directly to us, as if we're part of the story.

More from 'Last Day in Vietnam' by Eisner.

The following four pages are the first four pages in "Lives" by Glenn Farrington and the Fillbach Brothers. The Fillbachs made me sit down and read this on the spot at SDCC 2013, and I can see why. They wanted to see my reaction first-hand. It's a fantastic single -issue, one of the best I've ever seen in comics. Uses the language and potential of the medium beautifully. By that I mean in terms of panel information, the passage of time, clarity, layouts and utilizing the physical medium: the unknown turn to the next page.

See how repetition of layout and camera choice per scene is used, and the devices to show passage of time (water drip, made/empty beds), to communicate and introduce 5 separate (and eventually converging) characters. 

How much do we learn about the state of mind/background of a character through "aspect to aspect" panels (McCloud), on just one page, and with no dialogue?

The complete Comic short "Rubble". Recommended to me originally by cartoonist Howard Chaykin, and I'm forever thankful to him.
An epic story of life, loss, and the human cost of war in 6 pages, over a 5 year period. Layout and establishing shot repetition used again super-effectively. That's why Kurtzman is a storytelling master in comics too, even doing layouts for all the other Frontline Combat/Two-Fisted tale stories.
Would this have the same impact if told as a film?

See you all next week. Cheers.