When I was a child I collected comic books. These stories were great for my young mind. I found them mimicking the fantasy life I lived in my own head. The writing was easy to understand, the plots were exciting, and the illustrations allowed me to see into another world. With all my love for them there was one thing that always turned me against comic books and that was confusing panel order or confusing imagery.
How are panels confusing?
Confusing panels happens when the reader is unsure of what panel to read next or is unable to understand what is happening in between the panel; this does not include bad drawings or where a person is unable to recognize objects in a panel. When the reader is unable to make an easy decision on what panel, word bubble, etc to read next they are temporarily pulled from the story and causes what I call “flow dissidence”.
