Alternative comics- 1) Comics that fall outside the most popular and
financially successful genres and styles. 2) Art comics; comics
demonstrating ambitious artistic and/or narrative goals.
Animated GIF- A method of simple, limited animation. A sequence of
images
are stored in a single image file in the GIF format.
Bitpass- A micropayment service provider. Bitpass allows paysites to charge
very small fess for access to content. Bitpass is the name of the most
popular company currently supporting these small payment transactions. See
also: Micropayment
Big Panda-- An early predecessor of Keenspot. Big Panda offered a free
webcomics hosting service, paired with an ad-based revenue-share system,
but was unable to attain profitability. The collapse of Big Panda led
directly to the formation of Keenspot.
Closure- 1) The human tendency to perceive a "whole" from incomplete parts.
2) The human tendency to unconsciously fill in gaps in sequences and
patterns. In comics, closure is often used to create the illusion of time
and motion. According to McCloud, closure forms the "grammar" of comics.
Comic- A form of graphic art that attempts to extend its meaning and
impact
by using various traditions. Examples include montages intended to
represent events in time; the placement of images and words together to
convey the idea that the images are speaking or thinking; the use of a
simplified and exaggerated "cartoonish" art style; and narratives in
traditionally comics-oriented genres, particularly the "gag" strip
and
the superhero genre.
Scott McCloud's famous and much-disputed definition of comics from
Understanding Comics: "Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer."
McCloud himself has suggested that this definition may cease to be
relevant
in the world of digital comics.
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund- a non-profit organization whose mission
is
to provide legal assistance to cartoonists and comics shop owners
facing
legal harassment from censorship groups.
Comics Journal- The first and most influential journalistic
publication
devoted to the critical exploration of comics as a legitimate artform.
It's
publishing company, Fantagraphics, is also one of the major publishers
of
alternative comics.
Comixpedia- The first large-scale online magazine devoted to
webcomics.
Crumb, Robert- The most famous and influential of the underground
cartoonists, Crumb illustrates his obsessions and fantasies, most often
in a
faux-1930's cartooning style. Crumb's life was the subject of an
award-winning documentary, Crumb.
Eisner, Will- An innovative artist best known for his series The
Spirit.
Eisner specialized in noirish lighting schemes and adventurous visual
storytelling. In his later years, Eisner wrote Comics and Sequential
Art,
an important theoretical work that preceded Understanding Comics. The
Eisner Awards are named in his honor.
Flash- See Macromedia Flash.
Gag comic- A comic strip structured around the goal of delivering a punch
line in each episode. If the strip is daily, it may also be called a
"gag-a-day" comic. Most syndicated newspaper strips are gag-a-day comics.
Herriman, George- The creator of Krazy Kat, an early comic strip
still
widely considered to be one of the finest works in the medium. Krazy
Kat
was wildly inventive, and continues to be influential. The Ignatz
Awards
were named in Herriman's honor (Ignatz was a character in the strip.)
Hypertext- The ability of a webpage to link to other webpages and
files.
Icon- A visual, frequently pictorial representation of a thing or idea.
Generally, the more broadly applicable or widely recognized an icon, the
more "iconic" it is considered to be. (For instance, a happy face is more
iconic a realistic portrait of a particular person.) According to McCloud,
visual iconography forms the "vocabulary" of comics.
Ideogram- A non-verbal icon used to represent a thing or idea. (For
instance, arrows used to indicate direction.) Ideograms are valued for
their ability to transcend language barriers, communications disorders, an
illiteracy.
Illustrator- a digital art tool widely used by professional commercial
artists to create sharp, scalable line art.
Infinite canvas- A large or unconventional viewing area for a comic
that is
generally only practical in digital media. A common form of infinite
canvas
is a comic that is displayed on a long virtual webpage that requires
scrolling to view in its entirety. Other kinds of infinite canvases
are
supported by programs like Macromedia Flash, and allow for a wide
variety of
dimensional attributes. The term was coined by Scott McCloud in
Reinventing
Comics.
Juxtaposition- The deliberate use of proximity for the creation of an
implied relationship between discrete objects. In comics, juxtaposition is
used primarily to create closure. See also: Closure.
Keenspace-Keenspot's free web hosting service, offered exclusively to
webcomickers in exchange for ad space. Despite a series of quality of
service issues, Keenspace has been home to many fledgling webcomickers, and
continues to host more than 2,000 webcomics. Sometimes used by Keenspot's
editors as a talent pool for identifying new comics to add to the Keenspot
roster.
Keenspot- The largest and most popular publisher of free creator-owned
comics on the web. Through a successful ad-based revenue-share system,
Keenspot has demonstrated one model for transforming webcomics into a
profitable pursuit. Keenspot was founded in 2000. See also: Keenspace.
Kirby, Jack- Widely considered the most influential creator in the
history
of superhero comics, Kirby had a spectacular, kinetic style and a
vigorous
imagination. He was primarily responsible for the success of Marvel
Comics'
line in the 1960s, propelling the company to become the dominant comic
book
publisher. In gratitude, Marvel involved Kirby in lengthy,
high-profile
litigation when he attempted to get his original art back. The Kirby
Awards
were the first industry-wide comics awards; after internal disputes,
they
were split into the Eisner Awards and the Harvey Awards.
Kurtzman, Harvey- The original editor, writer, and frequent artist
for Mad
Magazine, Kurtzman is primarily known as a talented writer. In
addition to
Mad, his work on Frontline Combat for EC Comics was a high-water-mark
of
1950's comics. Kurtzman's Mad, much more daring and controversial than
later versions of the magazine, was an inspiration for the underground
comics movement of the 1960s. Kurtzman went on to produce Little Annie
Fanny for Playboy. The Harvey Awards were named in his honor.
Long form- 1) A serialized webcomic telling an ongoing story of significant
length. 2) A non-serialized webcomic with a complete story of significant
length.
Macromedia Flash- A software package that supports relatively
low-bandwidth
animation and other effects; it enjoys wide usage on the World Wide
Web.
Refers to both the software on web browsers for viewing Flash files,
and the
digital art tool used to create them.
Manga- Comics from Japan; the term also refers to various styles and
influences from Japanese comics.
McCloud, Scott- A comics artist best known for his groundbreaking
theoretical book Understanding Comics. McCloud went on to author
Reinventing Comics, which spearheaded widespread interest in webcomics,
and
defined many of the concepts that have shaped the new medium.
Micropayment- A very small electronic payment. Micropayments have been a
much-anticipated (and much debated) technology since the publication of
Scott McCloud's Reinventing Comics. McCloud has remained a vocal proponent
of micropayments. See also: Bitpass.
Modern Tales- One of the first and most successful webcomics
subscription
paysites. Modern Tales is associated with a number of sister sites
offering
a wide variety of comics.
Otaku- Japanese for "home," it became a derogatory term for an
individual who is obsessed with manga, anime, SF, and so forth. The
English term would be "fanboy". Western anime fans have taken the term
for their own and now use it to identify to themselves in much the
same way "Trekker" or "Trekkie" has been used.
Painter- a digital art tool that imitates physical painting tools.
Panel to panel transitions- McCloud's UC defines six transitions from one
panel to the next: 1. Moment-to-moment, where relatively little change
takes place between the two panels. 2.
Action-to-action, where the actions of a single subject are shown. 3.
Subject to subject, which transitions between different subjects in the
same scene. 4. Scene-to-scene, which
"transports us across significant distances of time and space." 5.
Aspect-to-aspect, which "bypasses time for the most part and sets a
wandering eye on different aspects of a place, idea, or mood." 6.
Non-sequitur, "which offers no logical relationship between panels
whatsoever."
Paysite- a website that requires payment to view all or part of its
contents.
Pekar, Harvey- A self-publishing comics writer who specializes in
stories
about trivial incidents from his own life. Pekar's "auto-bio" style of
comics writing has influenced some of the most important works in the
medium. Pekar's comic, American Splendor, was adapted into an
award-winning
motion picture.
Photoshop- A digital art tool widely used among cartoonists.
Poser- A digital art tool used to create 3D human figures.
Shoujo- A style of Japanese comic primarily aimed at pre-teen girls.
Known for their experimental page layouts, reliance on background
effects to show emotion, and romance-themed story lines. "Sailor Moon"
is the most famous example of the style.
Spiegelman, Art- Creator of the only comic to receive a Nobel Peace
Prize,
the highly-respected and influential graphic novel Maus. Spiegelman
also
edited and published Raw, a lavishly-produced publication that helped
establish comics as a form of highbrow art.
Sprite comic- Any comic that uses sprites (low resolution, pixel-based
artwork) as its primary artwork. This includes ripped sprites (sprites
harvested from video games or other pre-existing sources) as well as
original sprites.
Subscription-
A periodic fee (usually a monthly or yearly fee) charged by a
paysite for access to all or part of the content of the site.
"Subscription" is a misnomer; this agreement resembles more a day pass at
the amusement park or a season ticket at the ballgames.
Tarquin Engine- A Flash-based tool developed by Daniel "Merlin" Goodbrey.
The Tarquin Engine allows a webcomicker to create complex infinite canvas
layouts through a simple drag-and-drop interface. Note: Not yet available
to the public.
UC- Common abbreviation referring to the book Understanding
Comics by Scott McCloud.
Underground comics- Controversial, taboo-busting and politically
radical
comic books from the 1960s. They originated in the underground
newspapers
of the era, and were mostly distributed to head shops that sold drug
paraphernalia. Enormously influential, the undergrounds spearheaded the
establishment of an intelligent, adult-oriented branch of the comics
medium.
Robert Crumb, Harvey Pekar, and Art Spiegelman were among the creators
who
got their start in the undergrounds.
Vector art- image files that consist of geometric algorithms for
creating
the finished image. This is an efficient method of storing images, and
produces scalable art that retains its sharpness when expanded in size.
It
is the storage method used for Flash and Illustrator files.
Web Cartoonists Choice Awards- An awards program exclusively devoted
to
webcomics.
Webcomic- A comic that appears on the World Wide Web.
Webcomicker- Someone involved in the creation of webcomics.
Word and picture combinations- McCloud's UC defines seven distinct
categories of combinations of words and pictures: 1. Word specific, where
"pictures illustrate, but don't significantly add to a largely complete
text." 2. Picture specific, where "words do little more than add a
soundtrack to a visually told sequence." 3. duo-specific, where "both words
and pictures send essentially the same message." 4. Additive, where "words
amplify and
elaborate on an image or vice versa." 5. Parallel, where "words and pictures
seem to follow very different courses-- without intersecting." 6. Montage,
where "words are treated as integral parts of the picture." 7.
Interdependent, where "words and pictures go hand in hand to convey an idea
that neither could convey alone."
