Graphic Narrative Gutters

As the reader moves from one panel to the next they predict and conclude what is happening.

Graphic narrative gutters.

Reader moves from one panel to the next and comes to a conclusion about whats happening. In some cases it is used to express the duration of time and or changes of location by its length. The format is what makes the story a graphic novel and usually includes text images word balloons sound effects and panels. This basic way of storytelling has been used in various forms for centuries early cave drawings.

A visual or implied boundary and the contents within it that tell a piece of the story. This thesis is about the significance of the gutter in graphic narrative. Monnin s 2010 graphic novel vocabulary the basics. Although others agree with chute s use of the term graphic narrative and include comic books and manga as well in their definition gardner herman 2011 labio 2011 states that the term.

The gutter is the space between panels. The space between the panels. The gutter sometimes occupies more space than the panels and actively contributes to the narrative in various ways. Graphic novels can be any genre and tell any kind of story just like their prose counterparts.

I will look at this empty space between the panels and how it works and relates to the narrative. A splash or splash page is a large often full page illustration which opens and introduces a story. A distinctively long gutter implies a long span of time or major change of scene. Vertical gutters can be made thinner than horizontal gutters in order to encourage the reader to group each row of panels for easier reading.

Gutter the space between the panels. Graphic narrative through its most basic composition in frames and gutters in which it is able to gesture at the pacing and rhythm of reading and looking through the various structures of each. Graphic novels can be any genre and tell any kind of story just like their prose counterparts. A tier is a singular row of panels.