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DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 481 273

CS 512 498

TITLE Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (86th, Kansas

City, Missouri, July 30-August 2, 2003)

.Miscellaneous

Divisions.

PUB DATE2003-07-00

NOTE

492p.; For other sections of these proceedings, see CS 512

480-498.

PUB TYPE

Collected WorksProceedings (021)ReportsResearch

(143)

EDRS PRICEEDRS Price MF02/PC20 Plus Postage.

DESCRIPTORS

Advertising; Broadcast Television; Ethics; Foreign Countries; *Gender Issues; High Schools; Higher Education; *Journalism Education; Mass Media Effects; Mass Media Role; Media Coverage; Nongovernmental Organizations; Periodicals; Radio; *Scholastic Journalism; Student Recruitment; Teacher Attitudes; Virtual Reality; Writing Instruction; Yearbooks IDENTIFIERS*Civic Journalism; Communication Behavior; Digital Technology; Iowa; Japan; Middle East; Public Service Advertising; Religious Broadcasting; September 11 Terrorist

Attacks 2001

ABSTRACT

The Miscellaneous Divisions of the proceedings contains the following 17 papers: "Analyzing Sequential Art: Visual Narrative Techniques in 'Calvin and Hobbes'" (Sharron M. Hope); "A Critical Vision of Gender in

2002 Campaign Ads" (Janis Teruggi Page); "Personal Impact Assessment of

Advertising Culture of 'Whiteness': Facial Skin Color Preferences among Urban

Chinese Women" (Angela K.

Y. Mak); "Immersive 360-Degree Panoramic Video

Environments: Research on 'User-Directed News' Applications" (Larry Pryor, Susanna Gardner, Albert A. Rizzo, and Kambiz Ghahremani); "Convergence and Writing Instruction: Interviews with Journalism Faculty Members about Curriculum Decisions" (David W. Bulla and Julie E. Dodd); "Pinpointing Predictors of Print Media Career Consideration: An Assessment of the Role of Writing Self-Efficacy Student Values and High School Media Experience" (George L. Daniels); "Characteristics of Journalistic Media and Journalism Educators in Inner-City High Schools" (Jack Dvorak and Candace Perkins Bowen); "September 11, 2001: How Yearbook Journalists Covered a National Tragedy" (Melanie Wilderman and Laura Schaub); "The Communication Needs and Behavior of Iowa Apple Growers and Apple Cider Producers" (Andrew Zehr); "An Application of Message Sidedness: Encouraging Undergraduate Participation in Internship Programs" (JoAnn L. Roznowski and Brenda J. Wrigley); "A Public Journalism Model for the Middle East and North Africa: Effectiveness of Media-NGO Relationships in Partial Autocracies" (David C. Coulson and Leonard Ray Teel); "Exploring Radio Public Service as Civic Journalism" (Tony R. Demars); "When Schools Fail to Act Ethically: The Vital Role of Civic Journalism" (Janis Teruggi Page); "Civic Journalism and Objectivity: A Philosophical Resuscitation" (Hendrik Overduin); "Elite and Non-Elite Sourcing in Civic and Traditional Journalism News Projects" (Jennifer Roush); "The Portrayal of People with Disabilities in Prime-Time Japanese TV Dramas from 1993 to 2002" (Shinichi Saito and Reiko Ishiyama); "Running with Ritalin: Magazine Portrayals of Attention- Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder" (Tiffany S. Johnson and Bryan E. Denham); 'Promoting Disability-Friendly Campuses to Prospective Students: An Analysis Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. of University Recruitment Materials" (Beth A. Haller); and "The Economic Response of Religious Television Stations to Digital Implementation" (Brad

Schultz) .

(RS) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.

Proceedings of the

Annual Meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication

86th, Kansas City, MO

July 30-August 2, 2003

Miscellaneous Divisions

Analyzing Sequential Art: Visual Narrative Techniques in Calvin and Hobbes...Sharron M. Hope A Critical Vision of Gender in 2002 Campaign Ads...Janis Teruggi Page

Personal Impact Assessment of Advertising Culture of "Whiteness": Facial Skin Color Preferences among Urban Chinese

Women...Angela K. Y.1 Mak

Immersive 360-Degree Panoramic Video Environments: Research on "User-Directed News" Applications...Larry Pryor, Susanna

Gardner, Albert A. Rizzo, Kambiz Ghahremani

Convergence and Writing Instruction: Interviews with Journalism Faculty Members about Curriculum Decisions...David W. Bulla

and Julie E. Dodd

Pinpointing Predictors of Print Media Career Consideration: An Assessment of the Role of Writing Self-Efficacy Student Values

and High School Media Experience...George L. Daniels

Characteristics ofJournalistic Media and Journalism Educators in Inner-City High Schools...Jack Dvorak, Candace Perkins Bowen

How Yearbook Journalists Covered a National Tragedy...Melanie Wilderman, Laura Schaub The Communication Needs and Behavior of Iowa Apple Growers and Apple Cider Producers

An Application of Message Sidedness: Encouraging Undergraduate Participation in Internship Programs... JoAnn L. Roznowski,

Brenda J. Wrigley

A Public Journalism Model for the Middle East and North Africa: Effectiveness of Media-NGO Relationships in Partial

Autocracies... David C. Coulson, Leonard Ray Tell

Exploring Radio Public Service as Civic Journalism... Tony R. DeMars When Schools Fail to Act Ethically: The Vital Role of Civic Journalism... Janis Teruggi Page Civic Journalism and Objectivity: A Philosophical Resuscitation...Hendrik Overduin Elite and Non-Elite Sourcing in Civic and Traditional Journalism News Projects... Jennifer Roush

The Portrayal of People with Disabilities in Prime-Time Japanese TV Dramas from 1993 to 2002...Shinichi Saito, Reiko Ishiyama

Running with Ritalin: Magazine Portrayals of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder...Tiffany S. Johnson, Bryan E. Denham

Promoting Disability-Friendly Campuses to Prospective Students: An Analysis of University Recruitment Materials...Beth A.

Haller

The Economic Response of Religious Television Stations to Digital Implementation...Brad Schultz

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RUNNING HEAD: Sequential Art

Analyzing Sequential Art:

Visual Narrative Techniques in Calvin and Hobbes

Sharron M. Hope

Ph.D Candidate, Purdue University

827 South 4th Street #24

Lafayette IN 47905

(765) 420-0333 hopesm@purdue.eduSequential Art 1 S

CCD-°r37

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

Sequential Art

2

Abstract

Comics and comic strips are two examples of a unique art form best described as "sequential art," a rarely studied but important cultural phenomenon whose usefulness as a communication tool is underestimated. As a means to better appreciate and apply this art form, this paper examines the history of newspaper comics, then uses several Sunday Calvin and Hobbes comic strips to identify four visual elements that contribute to an effective sequential art narrative.

Sequential Art

3 Analyzing Sequential Art: Visual Narrative Techniques in Calvin and Hobbes The idea of a scholarly investigation into the comics might strike some as peculiar, if not a frivolous waste of time and effort. However, in his book Picture Theory, W.J.T. Mitchell calls for "a critique of visual culture that is alert to the power of images for good and evil and that is

capable of discriminating the variety and historical specificity of their uses" (p. 3). This paper is

an attempt at such an examination of a piece of popular visual culture: the comics, a.k.a. "sequential art." Sequential art has been defined as "juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer" (McCloud, 1993, p. 9). While this method of expression is employed most often in comic books and comic strips, as a medium there is no limitation on content or subject matter or requirement for dialogue within the frame. As an example, graphic novelsfull-length books dealing with serious subjects are beginning to appear. The graphic novel MAUS by Art Spiegelman, which addresses the Holocaust and its survivors, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1992. However, comic books and graphic novels are different enough applications of sequential art to deserve separate treatment elsewhere. This paper will discuss sequential art as it applies only to comic strips appearing in the newspapers. The comic strip is characterized by "narrative by sequence of pictures, continuing characters from one sequence to the next, and the inclusion of dialogue within the picture" (Berger, 1973, p. 35). Given this definition, the single panel cartoon is also excluded from this discussion. Even though a single panel may share certain elements with a comic strip, the lack of a series of images removes it from the category of sequential art. However, both sequential art and the single frame cartoon often employ the style of drawing referred as cartooning. Creators of comic 5

Sequential Art

4 strips, comic books and other sequential art are most often called cartoonists. With talents as

authors, humorists, writers, editors, designers, drawers, and artists, these people create a little bit

of joy for millions of people every day through their comic strips. The popularity, influence and communication potential of comics make the study of this form of sequential art important work. According to media scholar Arthur Asa Berger, the comic strip as a form of mass culture is an important ingredient of the daily newspapers (1973). Author Fielding Dawson noted that the comic strip has "for a century commented on the way we see and view ourselves as it has fulfilled its daily appointed task of amusement and distraction" (Phelps,

2001, p. xi).

Reading the comics is an American habit. In a survey conducted in 2000, Scarborough Research reported that 55 percent of the adult U.S. population were weekday readers of newspapers, while 65 percent were Sunday readers. Newspapers reach more people than television: the daily newspaper reaches a higher percentage of U.S. adults than the average half hour of prime time network and cable television combined. The Newspaper Association of America reports daily U.S. newspaper circulation at over 55 million with an average of 2.2 readers per copy. Sunday circulation stands at nearly 60 million with an average of 2.4 readers per copy. Of those who read the daily paper, 59 percent, or 32.4 million, regularly read the comics (Scarborough Research from www.naa.org). For comparison, "ER," the highest rated TV program the week of April 15-21, 2002, reached approximately 16.7 million homes (Nielsen

Media Research).

With the lack of sound and motion, comic strips do not have the psychological impact of television. However, "numerous studies have demonstrated that comics do play an important role in the lives of the people who read them as sources of diversion, escapism, and

Sequential Art5

information about life" (Berger, 1973, P. 6). In providing "information about life," the comics, like other mass media products, hold a mirror to the foibles of American society. This reflection

role is important in understanding the popularity of the comic strip, and in examining it critically.

As Berger noted:

Relevance is everything to contemporary mass culture criticism. For something to be popular, it must deal with themes that are meaningful to large numbers of people. That is why conventions in the various popular art forms are important. If we accept the hypothesis that our popular arts mirror our cultures, that somehow they are tied to our concerns and based upon widespread assumptions, then the study of our popular culture becomes an important means of understanding our society. To the extent that some of our comic strips appeal to the mythical lowest common denominator, so much the better for social scientists who want to know something about the mythical common man who is a big part of this "lowest common denominator" (1973, p. 6). The reason to examine sequential art is the same one given by those who study other art and literature forms: to promote understanding that sharpens perception and awareness, leading to a deeper appreciation and further application of the medium. To accomplish that goal, an understanding of the roots of the art form is necessary. Thus this paper traces the development of the comics from its first appearance in American newspapers into the form recognized today as sequential art. It identifies four visual elements that serve narrative and rhetorical functions and considers their use in the Sunday Calvin and Hobbes comic strips of Bill Watterson.

Methodology

In order to explain the development and foundations of this medium, the history of comics, the process of iconic representation, and design techniques used to create sequential art

Sequential Art6

were investigated. Numerous books on art, comics, sequential art, cartoonists, rhetoric and media theory, journal articles, online sources, and collections of comic strips were consulted in order to enlighten readers on the complexities of this underutilized communication medium. The focus of this study is how sequential art techniques are employed in the Sunday comics, to communicate narratively and rhetorically. The Sunday, rather than daily, strip was selected for examination because the longer format permits a richer variety of construction techniques. The Sunday strips chosen are from five collections of Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes, a very popular strip that ran from 1985 through 1995. This choice was made for several reasons. First, its popularity made it an important part of American culture. When Watterson retired from cartooning at the end of 1995, Calvin and Hobbes was appearing in over 2,400 newspapers. Book collections of the strips have become bestsellers, even several years after the strip ceased publication. Second, the strip is a finite rather than ongoing body of work. Since Calvin and Hobbes will not be changing into something else, it is a practical choice for analysis. A third reason is that the strip won critical acclaim as well as the popular vote. In 1986, creator Bill Watterson won the prestigious Reuben Award for "Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year" from the National Cartoonists Society, the youngest person ever to do so. He won the award again in 1988, and was nominated for the honor in 1992. The final and most important reason is the opportunity for comparative analysis offered by the Calvin and Hobbes Sunday strips. During the latter part of his cartooning career, Watterson was able to escape from the confines of the traditional Sunday strip format and explore new ways of presenting his narrative visually (Watterson, 1996). This allows a comparison of "before" and "after" strip formats that showcases specific design devices. Before discussing the elements of design and turning to the

Sequential Art

7 analysis, let us first consider the American foundations of comics and cartooning that ultimately resulted in Calvin and Hobbes.

The Comic Strip in America

The first U.S. comics appeared in papers in New York in the late 1800s. Toward the end of that century, when newspapers were alone as the great mass medium, metropolitan papers competed hotly for readers. To increase circulation, Joseph Pulitzer decided to publish a Sunday edition of his World, with extravagant supplements for practically every demographic. The first regular Sunday comic section was published by Pulitzer in 1889. The Sunday World was so successful, other papers followed suit and published similar editions. When the World installed a new four-color rotary press in 1894, the Sunday comics began appearing in color. The tradition continues in the 21st century. Among the artists on the Sunday World staff was Richard F. Outcault, whose drawings provided commentary on the slums of the city. One character stood out: a child with a bald head, enormous ears, and an Oriental face that stared straight out at the audience. He wore a long nightshirt on which Outcault would print a comment on the scene happening in the drawing. On January 5, 1896, printers testing a new yellow ink colored the kid's shirt, and soon after the Yellow Kid and Hogan's Alley were regular fixtures in the Sunday World (Berger, 1973; Harvey,

1994; Waugh, 1947).

The Yellow Kid rose quickly from guttersnipe to star. He became the first merchandised comic character, appearing on buttons, ladies' fans and other souvenir objects (Harvey, 1994). His popularity was a distinct threat to the success of William Randolph Hearst's Morning Journal, and Hearst coveted the Yellow Kid. The publisher persuaded Outcault to move to his o

Sequential Art8

newspaper, but Pulitzer hired another cartoonist to draw Hogan's Alley, with the Yellow Kid, for the Sunday World. At one time, both papers ran versions of the Yellow Kid. The circulation war between the two papers was fierce. Luring the reader away from the opposition was more important than providing the reader with accurate information. To attract readers and build circulation, "journalism became a shrieking, gaudy, sensation-mongering enterprise, distorting facts to provide howling newsboys with whatever hawked best" (Harvey,

1994, p. 6). The Yellow Kid became the symbol for the circulation wars. People began calling

the two papers "the Yellow Kid journals" or "yellow journals," and the sensational style of journalism they practiced was called "yellow journalism" (Berger, 1973; Harvey, 1994; Waugh,

1947). This connection to the unsavory side of the journalism business was unfortunate for the

young medium of comics: That the first character of American comics should have his chromatic signature appropriated by a journalistic movement was ample testimony to the power and popularity of the comics. But because that movement was wholly commercial, embodying reprehensible ethics and sensational appeals to baser emotions, the new art form was associated with only the lower orders of rational endeavor a circumstance that cast a shadow for a long time over any claims made for artistic merit and intellectual content in the funnies (Harvey, 1994, p. 6). The bottom line: comics sold papers. In the intensely competitive newspaper business at the turn of the nineteenth century until about the 1950s, "the funnies were an active ingredient in a newspaper's circulation-building strategy" (Harvey, 1993, p. 7). As the news began to come from newswire services and stories in the papers became more and more similar, the features I 0

Sequential Art

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