Not enough thought in comics today

[Tex Hex]

Does anyone else miss thought bubbles? Hell, I know I do! Why dosnt 2K have them anymore?

Thoughful hex.

[Smiley]

Unfashionable. Script Nazi's are to blame (them and their "narrative drives", cuh!)

[Queen Firey-Bou]

Thought bubbles are great ! (Bou' wondered secretly about the nature of narrative drives)

[Devons Daddy]

i read this and think about it.

proving we all spend far to much time taking all this far to serouisly.

but you are correct.
perhaps it is becayuse we are not a young minds comic these days. we tend to draw our own conclusions and disccuss them here.where as many years ago.we where all young pups and needed a nudge in teh right direction.

[Tex Hex]

I like a push in the right direction. It means the story can be complex as hell and yet I never need think about it! Marvellous!

[Oddboy]

The current Sl?ine story has thought bubbles, o no wait - they're speech bubbles.  Sl?ine's just speaking his thoughts before he can action them.
Well, he is a barbarian...

[Queen Firey-Bou]

"verily i shall join the express baskets only shopping queue, thus my transit to the exit shalt be faster, unless they querie my 6 shampoo bottles, in which case i shall be delayed by putting one back, thus. "  (tm Wils fanfic)

[paulvonscott]

I seem to be of the fairly backward view that comics are supposed to be read, yes, you can tell stories just in pictures (I'm currently enjoyng a book of italian Dylan Dogs without the need to actually read them, but I'd much rather know what they were saying as well) but I happen to like words, I like something that doesn't take me a minute to skim through.  I like all of Alan Moore's big paragraphs of text.  And I like thought bubbles too.  Without them it's a shallower experience for me.  You don't need to have captions over everything and characters don't have to talk or even think anything, but it's more fun when they do.

Or have I just been reading too many Commando books?

[seeneester]

I thought the dialogue in Slaine's battle with Balor was some of the worst I've ever seen. I didn't see the need for Slaine to explain what he and Balor were doing to each other, as it was quite evident from the pictures.

If Pat felt there was a need to explain it, why didn't he do so with a narrative box? It was like a child had written it...Oh no my shield has been melted by Balor, leaving me with just the spikey part of it, but never mind, I'll just stab Balor in the eye with it...and then I'll stab him in the eye again with it etc, etc.

Pat Mills what has happened to the glorious scribe you used to be?

[Tex Hex]

What Pat is clearly suffering from is a disease whereby the brain fool the concious into thinking that pish is, in fact, very good. It happens to the best of us as we grow.

For more information on this hideous affliction vist the official website at :

Link: www.starwars.com

[El Spurioso]

I suspect the demise of the thought balloon has much to do with the burgeoning concept of 'Sophisticated' comics.  Whether it's true or not, I imagine many creators equate the humble thought-balloon with a historical 'naivity' of storytelling.  

We also probably have the effect of film culture to blame.  In a movie, character-thoughts being voice-overed on the action is considered rather inelegant (although, thinking about it, it's becoming fashionable again nowadays) and I guess comic-writers have picked-up on that vibe.  There's this overpowering urge to 'show, not tell', and certainly in movies (and possibly by extension in comics) perhaps the belief exists that thoughts and emotions should be demonstrable through actions and expressions, rather than blunty spelled-out in front of you.

Personally, I think the comic-book 'thought balloon' is a device with a fairly unique effect unachievable in other media (as well as solving problems like how to demonstrate, say, 'ambivalence' in a static image using only character expressions and poses), and should be exploited accordingly.  Eisner does some fantastic stuff with thought balloons - having a character saying one thing and thinking another all the way through their story.  It's a neat trick.

[Queen Firey-Bou]

This affliction is curious, it aflicts most teens at some point, & then certain men periodically, late forties onwards males are suseptable to it. & also in my experience in it common with writers, web designers, etc & such... Its a pure plague with hobby craftists let me tell ya ! the horror of cross stitch etc.

[Jared Katooie]

The thing is it's up to individual writers what style of story they want to tell and by association the type of dialogue or level of information the reader is going to see.There's something to be said for not disclosing information as well as disclosing it, but when all writers stick with the safe and familiar approach then the results are often disappointing.

I preferred the approach to Slaine whereby the caption boxes told the story of the events taking place instead of just having the character talk about it. See demon killer for evidence of this.

J Kat.

[Tex Hex]

Your mission is clear Si.

[Quirkafleeg]

"as well as solving problems like how to demonstrate, say, 'ambivalence' in a static image using only character expressions and poses"

Finished your thesis yet, Si? ;-)

They don't have to be, but thought baloons now seem to have become associated with a particularly old-fashioned juvenile type of story. You can do almost the same stuff with captions anyway.

Voice-overs in films tend to come from the tradition of literary adaption... all those noir detective stories adapted from first person novels and short stories. It's now become one of the traits of noir... so if you want to seem noirish you add a voice-over (Bad example, Blade Runner gak!)

Also if someone is adapting their a fave book and want in include some of their fave narration.

And good for narrative tricks ... American Beauty etc