I’m really enjoying Scott McCloud’s take on and passion for graphic novels (blood in the gutters, the three points of the icon triangle, etc.) I think it’s an excellent way to explore and analyze the comic tradition. I was particularly interested in Chapter 3, and its overview of the six types of transitions, and the pronounced difference between Western and Eastern comic styles.
A natural question that occurred to me as I read was how Gene Yang’s ABC would score using these parameters, since he’s straddling the two worlds of an American upbringing and Asian tradition. (Our other book, Heartbreak Soup, already appears in the charts). Does he skew toward the Western style of heavy emphasis on Type 2 (Action to Action) or more toward the Type 1 (Moment to Moment) and Type 5 (Aspect to Aspect) Manga-style comic form?
I tried to “score” the first chapter and it seemed that Yang was tilting toward the latter, as I counted points in both Type 5 and Type 1, but the majority of points were in Type 2.
After this, I flipped through the book, and found much more of the moment to moment transition (the Danny looking in the mirror splash pages are one of many examples). Yang seems to especially enjoy the “full-on” view of a character’s face and a few subtle facial changes over 2-3 panels. Because of all this, I would expect Yang to score as an “Eastern-style” artist using this system, although of course he’s much more of a crossover storyteller.
I look forward to hearing people’s reactions to McCloud tomorrow.
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2 comments:
I think that your discovery is fascinating, and I'm impressed by your patience in tallying it out! It makes me wonder whether Yang was consciously emulating a traditionally Eastern mode of transition, or if it is a coincidentally cultural phenomenon.
Also, I would counter that McCloud points out later on in chapter 3 that "traditional Western art and literature don't wander much. On the whole we're a pretty goal-oriented culture," while "in the East, there's a rich tradition of cyclical and labyrinthine works of art" (81). While Yang's work has the appearance of the latter--with his three seemingly unconnected stories--he is, in fact, completely goal-oriented by the end. So does this discount or merely contrast his Eastern sense of transition?
Ben & Kathryn--what a great pairing of post and comment! Ben, I appreciate your patience in charting Yang à la McCloud's scale of transition, and your observations are quite interesting with respect to Yang's mixture of approaches. So, too, Kathryn, are your remarks about the fusion of cyclical and goal-oriented storytelling in this interlocking work whose three separate storylines turn out to be one story, after all.
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