Comic Book Gutter Definition

In between the panels human imagination takes two unconnected images and mentally constructs transforms them into a single idea turns them into a continuous reality.

Comic book gutter definition. Emanata this term refers to the teardrops sweat drops question marks or motion lines that artists draw besides characters faces to portray emotion. Readers tend to fill in the blanks and imagine what happens between panels a process known as closure. The space between the panels of the comic shaded red in this example. In the comic world this space is known as the gutter.

This is an obvious observation that has not so obvious implications. Gutter this refers to the space between panels. The invisible messenger if one were to look at a comic they would see empty space between the panels that contain the illustrations and dialogue of the text. According to scott mccloud the gutter is a significant part of the story telling.

Aka borderless panels panels where one or more or even all of the sides of the comic panel are open to show dramatic effect. At its simplest form the gutter is a blank space that separates two panels. As comic book scholar scott mccloud explains the gutter is used to take two separate images and transform them into a single idea mccloud 1993 p. Reader moves from one panel to the next and comes to a conclusion about whats happening.

Comics designed by traci gardner. The gutter is the space between two panels within a comic strip or comic book. It s this kind of interaction between the story and the reader that sets comics apart after all even novels don t force you to interact in the same way. This blank space creates a transition from one moment to the next within a story.

Gutter the space between the panels.