Elements Glossary of comics terminology

1 elements

1.1 speech bubble
1.2 caption
1.3 sound effects

elements

a caption (the yellow box) gives narrator voice. characters dialogue given through speech balloons. character speaking indicated tail of balloon.


speech bubble

a speech/word/dialogue balloon or speech/word/dialogue bubble speech indicator, containing characters dialogue. indicator balloon points @ speaker called pointer or tail.

the speech balloon bridges gap between word , image— word made image , expressed pierre fresnault-druelle. in renderings, speech balloons no more ribbons emanating speakers mouths, evolved , became more sophisticated, became more expressive device. shape came convey meaning well. thought balloon contains copy expressing character s unvoiced thoughts, shaped cloud, bubbles pointer. emotions can expressed shape of balloon—spiked balloons can indicate shouting, , dripping balloons can indicate sarcasm.

caption

in caption, words appear in box separated rest of panel or page, give voice narrator, used characters thoughts or dialogue. in comics, speech balloons not used, caption provide reader text happening in images. genre called text comics.

sound effects

sound effects or onomatopoeia words mimic sounds. non-vocal sound images, subtle forceful.