Basic Visual Trends in Comics, Manga, and Graphic Novels

Definition

A wide variety of illustration styles is discernible in graphic novels. Although many are adaptations or modifications of the visual styles associated with comic books and strips, techniques proximal to the fine arts, such as painting and mixed-media collages, are also used. Graphic novels from countries such as Japan and Belgium have also influenced the styles of US artists.

Introduction

There is no single graphic novel illustration style. On the contrary, graphic novels display a variety of styles, ranging from the linearity of Chris Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan (2000) to the painterly realism of Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross’s Marvels (2003). While many artists underscore the individuality of their style, others prefer to adhere to the conventions of visual narratives.

However, individual traces within each conventional style are usually perceptible. The difference in the visual styles of graphic novels lies in their frequent emphasis on artistic individuality and enhancement of the story toldThe stringent geometricality of Jimmy Corrigan is recognized as Ware’s trademark style and also alludes to the ordinariness of the protagonist’s life. While appearance is usually indicative of genre in many comic books, the multifarious means of visualization in graphic novels are accompanied by a greater degree of narrative relevance, as with the symbol-laden animal metaphors in Art Spiegelman’s Maus (1986, 1991).

Given the proximity of graphic novels and comics, the most prominent visual trends in comics through the twentieth century provide an appropriate background for the styles used in graphic novels. Prominent comics styles were fostered by magazines, affecting both the creation and influence of the stories and artwork. Similarly dependent on publication contexts, the greater visual innovation in graphic novels has been propelled in part by an increasing demand for graphic novels and the consequently higher publication budgets, which enable the printing of high-quality images and sometimes even unusual formats.

The range of illustration styles for word-image narration has been singularly mapped by comics theorist Scott McCloud through his “Big Triangle” in Understanding Comics. This triangle is based on a horizontal axis of realism extending from the photorealistic to the iconic, with the vertex representing the greatest degree of conceptual abstraction. The somewhat problematic distinction between iconic and abstract styles in the diagram is symptomatic of any generalized chart for visual styles, since individualistic variations persist even among artists of the same movement.

Realistic and Cute Styles in American Comics

Illustration styles for all kinds of word-image narratives generally hover between the poles of realism and iconicity. Since narratives with visual material often target children, the legacy of a cartoonlike “cute” style deemed appealing to younger readers remains discernible in many works and overlaps with the caricatural and reductive tendencies in comics inherited from satirical newspaper cartoons or broadsheets. This stylistic trend also corresponds to the predominance of young or animal protagonists, as in early American comics such as The Yellow Kid (1895-1898) and Krazy Kat (1913-1944), which nonetheless targeted older readers.

From the 1930’s onwards, caricatural exaggeration was superseded by the dramatic realism employed in the increasing numbers of superhero, horror, and crime comics. Fantasy and science-fiction works also rely on a considerably realistic visual mode. Just as the more caricatural or cute style is often proximal to animation, realism shares commonalities with certain genres of live-action films—film noir, for example, had a major influence on Will Eisner’s The Spirit and Frank Miller’s Sin City. Yet while realism persists as the preferred visual style for graphic novels targeting adults and has greater claims of seriousness, simplified styles are also common for tackling adult themes.

The Franco-Belgian Clear Line and the Marcinelle School

The styles dominating French and Belgian comics after World War II were represented by the two major comic magazines, Jijé’s Spirou (1938- ) and Hergé’s Les Aventures de Tintin (1929-1976; The Adventures of Tintin, 1930-1976). Comparably relaxed regarding both style and content, Spirou favored far more dynamic drawings than those in Tintin. In 1977, the designer and cartoonist Joost Swarte introduced the term “clear line” to denote the style established by Hergé through his studios and followed by artists such as E. P. Jacobs. It is characterized by flat color and clear contours complemented by an equally clear story line. Despite the stylization of the characters, their stances and expressions are based on poses drawn from life. In contrast to the characters, the settings are drawn with meticulous detail. While the “new clear line” style that Swarte and some of his contemporaries adopted is formally similar to clear line, the stories drawn in the style can be less straightforward.

Although clear line is regarded as the dominant Franco-Belgian style with a far-reaching global impact, this is in part due to the avoidance of strict stylistic principles by the Marcinelle school. Associated with the highly diverse artwork of Jijé, which includes the realistic Western Jerry Spring (1954-1977) as well as the playful Spirou and Fantasio, the precise legacies of the Marcinelle school are difficult to define. Nevertheless, the visual freedom it endorsed has clearly continued.

The Underground’s Ratty Line

Another style tied to the magazines in which it originated is the ratty linealso known as “ugly art” or “comix brut”which appeared during the second wave of the American underground comics movement and is regarded as its characteristic style. Gary Panter is regarded as one of its chief initiators, and Robert Crumb’s style is closely affiliated to it. Its main feature is the emphasis on the ugly and revolting, which corresponds with the adult and usually taboo themes taken up by these comics and combined with humorous and sometimes even ironic notes, as is notable in the works of Gilbert Shelton. Rebelling against the censorship imposed by the Comics Code Authority, the underground comics artists created a visual style that complemented the controversial themes, subject matter, and language of their works.

Over the course of more than a decade, the style changed from the more realistic and arguably more mocking mode of the magazines edited by Harvey Kurtzman, namely MAD and Help!, to the more distorted, wilder depictions in RAW, edited by Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly. Justin Green’s 1972 autobiographical comic Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary, an influential work drawn in this style, is particularly notable for its status as one of the first graphic novels to be published.

Manga

Manga, Japanese graphic novels, employ a distinctive visual vocabulary that maintains a considerable degree of similarity across genres. Since manga collections are larger and more numerous but cheaper than the average comic book, the printing conditions and techniques have influenced the formulaic, monochrome visual style prevailing among most manga. In simple terms, this manner of illustration can be seen as varying between linear and rounded depictions. Since the founding father of modern manga, Osamu Tezuka, had been inspired by Disney and other Western comics and animation, the “cute” style is more pronounced in manga than in comics.

However, alterations of style within each manga are recurrent, including the use of sketchy figures for alternative views such as behind-the-scenes commentary. This in turn must be distinguished from the superdeformed style, which is also caricatural and exaggerated but refers to the style of the entire book or story instead of stylistic changes within it. Gekiga, more mature or alternative Japanese graphic novels, extend the formal conventions to darker and realistic or grotesque tendencies. The expressiveness of many gekiga artists recalls that of the underground comics artists, and stylistic nuances in this case are indicative of genre.

From Flat to Direct Color

Colored comics were originally created in flat color that was cheap to publish. The colorization process was based on a palette of cyan, magenta, and yellow, which were layered to create various other colors but did not allow for shading or other complex effects. This manner of coloring was common on both sides of the Atlantic and used by the American superhero comics as well as the clear line bandes dessinées. One of the earliest American full-color productions, Kurtzman’s Little Annie Fanny series, began publication in October, 1962, in Playboy, the only magazine at that time willing to pay the high printing costs for all-color comics.

A more significant development is direct color, a technique in which color is applied directly to the artwork with paint. High-quality full-color reproduction of such artwork captures the nuances of both color and media, consequently rendering individual panels similar to works of fine art. In France, Enki Bilal is regarded as one of the earliest masters of this kind of illustration. The effect of this change of technique on the status of comics has been noted by comics theorist Thierry Groensteen. Contemporary manhuaChinese-language manga predominantly from Hong Kong and Taiwansuch as Orange by Benjamin demonstrate the continuing popularity of graphic narratives featuring lavish, colorful artwork.

Impact

As advancements in printing techniques coincided with an increase in the popularity of graphic novels, elaborate or striking visuals are a characteristic feature of most such works. Many graphic novels retain a strong affiliation to traditional modes of depiction but usually transform them to suit aesthetic or narrative purposes. Thus, while the principle of using anthropomorphic animals in Maus recalls the tendency of illustration toward cuteness, the expressive and often unflattering portrayal of the figures and their surroundings takes up the antiaesthetic stance of the ratty line. Likewise, the superhero comics style was used by Dave Gibbons for Alan Moore’s Watchmen (1986-1987), which transforms and subverts the concept of superheroes. A comparably stark, sparsely colored realism prevails over the dystopian V for Vendetta (1995), by Moore and David Lloyd.

Though realism is generally the dominant mode of illustration, extreme stylization is also used frequently and effectively to complement and sometimes even enhance a story, as in Paul Karasik and Dave Mazzucchelli’s 1994 adaptation of the Paul Auster novel City of Glass. For similar reasons, the new clear line style has been taken up by several graphic novelists, including Chris Ware, Seth, and Marjane Satrapi. Expressionism—which has had different manifestations in superhero, horror, and crime comics as opposed to alternative comics—is a recurrent visual trend used by artists such as Craig Thompson and Eddie Campbell, though it is highly modified in accordance with the requirements of their stories. Ultimately, each graphic novel will have a distinctive visual style that is closely connected to the storyfurther generalizations based on genre or narrative style are largely insufficient.

Innovations in production, distribution, and consumption drove trends in graphic novel visualization in the 2020s. These factors included new preferences for the consumption of digital devices. Graphic novels began incorporating technologies such as augmented reality, providing a more immersive experience. As in many other fields, artificial intelligence revolutionized graphic novels. AI-generated designs enabled instant content creation for persons beyond those with traditional artistic skills to engage in graphic novel production. Like other artistic creations, such as music production, AI was a double-edged sword. While it enabled enhanced production aspects, AI also allowed new forms of plagiarism and creative theft. As with all endeavors touched by AI, graphic novel production had to contemplate the positive and negative impacts of the technology and how it fit into traditional understandings of the art.

Bibliography

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Hatfield, Charles. Alternative Comics: An Emerging Literature. Jackson, University Press of Mississippi, 2005.

Hernandez, Elvis. "The Future of Comics: Navigating Trends and Innovations in the Industry." ToonsMag, 31 Jan. 2024, www.toonsmag.com/the-future-of-comics. Accessed 12 July 2024.

Kennedy, Cole. "10 Comic Book Artists You Should Be Following In 2022." CBR, 2 Apr. 2022, www.cbr.com/comic-book-artists-should-be-following-2022. Accessed 12 July 2024.

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