I did not know much about Nat Turner prior to reading Kyle Baker’s Nat Turner. I expected to see some of the obvious images of slavery since I knew about the history of slavery, but I did not expect the images to be this graphic. I opened the book and followed the scenes until I saw the baby being overthrown on the slave ship (page 55). I stopped and put the book down for a few days, because I could not tolerate the painful images. The graphics were very powerful. The first time I studied the book I had many questions and some confusion about certain actions represented in some graphics or scenes. Studying the book again after I read McCloud’s chapter three and four, the image were much more clear and my confusion dissipated.
McCloud uses the term Gutter to represents the space between the panels, which takes two separate images and transforms them into a single idea (McCloud page 66) Examples of Gutter in Nat Turner are the images of the different phases of the moon on pages 29, 33, 95, and 183 to illustrate lapse in time in the story.
Another term McCloud refers to as Closure (a great picture of it on page 114 of Net Turner) indicates a phenomenon of observing the parts but perceiving the whole, which we depend on for survival on a daily basis. Our past experiences, prior knowledge, assist us in achieving closure. When we look at the graphics of Nat Turner we commit closure – “Our eyes take in the fragmented, black-and-white image of the ‘half-tone’ patterns…. And transform it into the reality.” (McCloud, Page 64) The first image of two intense eyes, with two hands holding an open book in a complete black background is an example of Closure. We rely on our prior knowledge to conclude that the person is secretly reading the book in the dark. A similar eye appears on page 77. Another example of Closure is the third image in the book – an image of a firm grip of a sward juxtaposed against a bright full moon. We can conclude that the image represents rebellion in the middle of the night.
McCloud refers to the silent contract between the creator, through art and craft, and the reader where the reader is the silent accomplice. “From the tossing of a baseball to the death of a planet, the reader’s deliberate, voluntary closure is comics’ primary means of stimulating time and motion.” (McCloud, page 69) The six types of the creator’s craft are the panel-to-panel categorizations below:
| 1- Moment-to-moment requires very little closure. |
| 2- A single subject in distinct action-to-action progressions. |
| 3- Subject-to-subject while staying within the same scene or idea. Note the reader involvement necessary to render these transitions meaningful. |
| 4- Scene-to-scene transitions, transports us across significant distances of time and space. |
| 5- Aspect-to-aspect bypasses time for the most part and set a wandering eye on different aspects of a place, idea, and mood. |
| 6- Non-sequitur offers no logical relationship between the panels whatsoever! |
These six categories I tried to apply to Nat Turner:
| Categories | Nat Turner pages |
| Moment-to-moment | 21,38,42,43,48,71,79,80,92,157 – some show action in only two panels. |
| Action-to-action | 21,26,27,34,35,37,38,42,43,50,52,54,60,64,67,71,74,78,79,80-85,90,92,96,98-99,107,114,118,126,134-135,144-145,154-156,157,158-159,182,188-189,200 |
| Subject-to-subject | 11,14-15,16-28,30-32,34-38,40,42-43-55,0-69,70-71,72-73,74-84,85-90,91-92,94-96,96-105,100-184,188-199. |
| Scene-to-scene | 29,33,95, |
| Aspect-to-aspect | 39,41,56-57, |
| Non-sequitur |
In trying to categories Nat Turner, I became confused because many of the scenes could be a combination of the five out of six categories.
Some of the questions that came to my mind as I studied the book were:
What if I took some of the one panel images that stand alone and make even a shorter story, summarizing the book?
What if Nat Turner were a white male, a prominent figure in the church, would that have made a difference on how we would view him and his actions? Would history tell a different story?
Wow—I really appreciate the work you put into breaking down Nat Turner into the different transitions McCloud describes. I think you’re onto something when you note that many of the transitions seem to be combinations. I’d add that confusion helps to contribute to the ambiguous timeline of the work. I’ve had to read it several times to make sure I know what is going on when and to whom.