Brian Fies gave a guest-lecture in class November 2nd. He is a graphic novelist. Using words alongside images is what he does. Fies’ has had two graphic novels published: ‘Mom’s Cancer’ (http://www.momscancer.com/) and ‘Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow’ (http://www.abramsbooks.com/Books/Whatever_Happened_to_the_World_of_Tomorrow_-9780810996366.html). Fies talked about the importance of the conjunction of these two elements in his lecture. He emphasized how neither the pictures nor words of his graphic novels have meaning without the other. I really liked an analogy Brian made during his lecture; it gave me a clearer understanding on the relationship between words and images. He described comics in terms of rock music. Lyrics and music are the two aspects of a rock song, and words and images are the two aspects of a comic. If standing alone, these two aspects of a rock song are often boring and repetitive; but, when mashed together they can create a legend. Just like a rock song, the two aspects of a comic complement each other to create the brilliant product. Here is an image from Fies’ book, ‘Mom’s Cancer’:
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| Image from: http://markc1.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/cancer_comic.jpg |
This sample of the book exemplifies Fies’ clever use of image and word. The image aspect of this strip depicts his mom’s decreasing health through the cancer process. The quote bubbles tell Mom’s different views of getting cancer from smoking. The drawings send a message to the viewer, but without the words, the true meaning is lost.
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