I found an interesting link so I decided I might as well post it: http://bit.ly/zJYrk

This link should lead to an interesting article I came across; if the link fails, searching for “Dark Knight Returns” on JSTOR or Google Scholar should take you to it. The article is called “Splash Panel Adventures!” by W. Robert Johnson, published in 1989. I chose it because it relates to a lot of what we’ve discussed in class; the first half analyzes certain comic books based on criteria that are specific to the medium, like how panels are shaped and how the words relate to the pictures. The second half offers a short history of major and underground comic book companies. I think it the author’s tone is interesting given the year it was published. I feel like he still needs to defend the study of comics itself, giving them a criteria for analysis and a history. The second paragraph on the third page basically declares, “it’s not just adolescent boys reading/writing/publishing these things, really!”

Page 43 and 44 (don’t worry, it doesn’t start on page one) are especially interesting because he uses cinematic terms to describe The Dark Knight Returns, but goes on to describe panels and coloring specifically. His comparison of one scene to a “flip book” is, I think, the same concept that McCloud calls “Moment-to-Moment” and “Action-to-Action” progressions (McCloud, pg. 70). Of course, as the title suggests, Johnson focuses on the uses and importance of splash panels: individual pictures that take up most or all of the page.

A few more notes: if you want to see an actual comic by Scott McCloud, Johnson includes some panels from Zot on page 48. And if you haven’t read Watchmen yet, for goodness sake don’t read page 51, left column. He gives away the entire twist for no real reason.