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”.
What is “Flow Dissidence”?
Comic Book Flow Dissidence is so named because the reader feels dissidence (conflict) about the action and story flow. This situation pulls the reader from the story and in-turn makes the experience less enjoyable. While this will not completely turn the reader off from the story but if done many times it may turn a reader off from continuing to read your work or the comic brand.
What to take from this article.
All comic book artist will have panels that will cause “Comic Book Flow Dissidence” to happen to some readers while other readers have no problem following along. This is the nature of our work. The question becomes how can we reduce these situations from happening and more importantly how do we locate and eradicate potention Flow Dissidence points in our stories. By thinking about your readers’ experience while organizing your panels it will help to reduce these issues.
