This DC relaunch sure has been fun, right? I've enjoyed a number of the titles immensely and I'm reading them all digitally.
One thing I was
very curious to see was how DC's creators approached double-page spreads with the knowledge that these comics would be distributed digitally. The problem with the double-page spread is that they don't work digitally. They take what should be the most majestic scene of the issue and make it the
least impressive.
Don't believe me? Look at this comparison of areas (in square inches):
- Normal comic book page: 72.2
- Double page comic spread: 144.4
- iPad2 screen: 45.9
I'm honestly surprised that the iPad's screen is only 63% the size of a standard comic page because reading normal comic pages on the iPad isn't off-putting at all. But, the double-page spreads end up being displayed at less than 1/3 of the intended size. Suddenly all the scale and majesty is lost as we squint to even read the words on the page.
But, sometimes it works better than others. Let's look at a few examples:
Justice League #1 by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee:
This is kinda the no-harm/no-foul of the digital double-page spread. Maybe we don't get the thrill of a BIG image, but we digital readers can still see the whole of the action because the double-page spread is just one big image. However, Johns/Lee could have accomplished this
same effect digitally with a single-page slash image and that would have freed up an extra page for Batman and Green Lantern to talk to each other in the sewer.
Avengers #1 by Brian Michael Bendis & John Romita, Jr.:
This is an example of a double page spread that doesn't work digitally. It gets really small and you can't read the letters. Other examples are those double-page spreads that are just normal panels, but have been arranged such that you have to read them across both pages instead of reading the left page first. In my honest opinion, these sorts of double page spreads add very little to the paper comic and since they don't work digitally, creators should stop using these sorts of layouts
now.
Batwoman #1 by JH Williams, III:
Of course, there always has to be a dude who gets special treatment. JH Williams, III is one of the true masters of the comic art form and double-page spreads are kinda what he does. He could surely figure out how to do beautiful art without using both pages, but he is such a transcendent talent that
he gets to do the comic any way he wants. However, I'm not convinced that this rule should apply to other artists because they just aren't as good. It's kinda like how a normal drivers license allows you to drive normal cars, but you have to get a special license and training if you want to also drive motorcycles or semi-trucks. Perhaps double-page spreads are something that JHW and a few other guys "get" to do and the other dudes need to make it work on a single page. For JHW, I'll suck it up and buy the paper copies.
And, before anyone belly-aches about how the artists should be allowed to produce their comics any way they want.... Hush! Artists (and writers) already have to make a bajillion compromises to work in commercial comic books. This is hardly the most taxing thing anyone has asked of them. This is probably just the first of many changes that digital will have on comics and it'll be interesting to see how it all plays out.
- Dean Stell
I refuse to hush! ;)
ReplyDeleteUntil sales on digital comics sales eclipse print sales and more importantly, until the delivery interface for digital comics becomes much more standardized and defined, it makes very little sense for comic artists to compromise what they can do just so ipad readers don't have to fret about double page spreads. Digital comics aren't just read on ipads, they're also read on computer screens of varying sizes and on other digital readers. We're still in the early stages of pad devices so their sizes may change too. Why should a visual medium make such a significant compromise to cater to what is currently a minority of it's readers?
It also makes no sense to only allow certain artists (like JH Williams) the freedom to use double page spreads while denying it to others. "Transcendent talent" is in the eye of the beholder but one of the ways Williams learned to use double page spreads effectively is through experimentation and exploration in the work he was doing. Deny others that opportunity and you deny them the chance to develop their use of the "widescreen" page as effectively as Williams uses it.
Instead of limiting what comics can do to what works on both a pad and the printed page, maybe what's needed is for digital comics software designers to find better ways to make those double-page spreads work on an ipad or similar device. Don't most digital comics programs already allow the reader to view a page or spread as a whole and then zoom up on it to read individual panels more easily?
Fair points, Jim. It's just a weird time for comics as they're trying to "print" the same material in two different mediums and what works in one, doesn't work as well in the other. Over time, it'll be the reverse where digital things aren't working well on the printed page.
ReplyDeleteOh....and I'm not so much for licensing folks literally. It's just that when you see some creators trying to do a Williams-esque panel, I kinda groan and thing, "You need to get over yourself son and stick to the grid." :)