Comic Art Considerations (from an Art Historian)
Isabel Baldrich has a Ph.D in art history from the University of Iowa. Her dissertation “Caribbean Stain: Erasure and Creoleness in Parisian Art” examined ethnic omissions in selected eighteenth to nineteenth century French paintings. Her research addressed ethnicity as integral to our understanding of French colonialism and the concept of race. Comics sparked her love for art and art history at an early age, so she continues to be a champion of sequential art and graphic storytelling.
Sequential art in comic books and graphic novels add their own element of visual storytelling to the reading experience. But how often do readers truly pause and reflect on the art within our favorite stories?
Isabel Baldrich, an art history professor with a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, talked with Pages and Panels about the beauty of both good and bad art, as well as suggestions for readers to consider when viewing sequential art and finding deeper meanings within each frame.
Seth A. Romo: Before we get into your expertise, can you share your comic book journey?
Isabel Baldrich, PhD: I got into comics through manga in my middle school and high school days. It started with Inuyasha by Rumiko Takahashi and this got me into other properties like Pokémon, Sailor Moon, and Cardcaptor Sakura. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I wanted to become a comic book artist, but I discovered art history and liked that more.
What made you shift from wanting to create art to wanting to study it?
In my undergraduate program, students had to take art history courses and I enjoyed looking and analyzing art as well as the process of sketches. No art is created in a vacuum so I always love it when you can look at the history and the context of art. When you look at art, there is depth, historical and socioeconomic contexts. I became keen on visual analysis.
What is one of the first things you look for when it comes to comic book art?
I know people say, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” but in comics, covers can be important. I tend to go in blind when I go to a comic book shop and look for comics that convey strong emotions–negative or positive. The world of comic book art is so diverse, and I love that, but if there’s something new I’ve never seen before, or a twist on a particular art style, I am more than happy to give it a shot.
What’s something that comic book readers miss when considering the visuals in the story?
For starters, I like when there are easter eggs in the background. Sometimes, it’s the inclusion of an impressionist painting or certain intentional architecture, like cathedrals. I find it interesting when artists go beyond the overarching plot and there are clues within the images that provide foreshadowing.
Interesting. Can you elaborate on foreshadowing?
Artists will sometimes tell a story in the background beyond the characters and the speech bubbles. For example, in murder mysteries. In the Faithless trilogy, artist Maria Llovet included paintings and architectures that enhanced the narrative. I think readers need to look at the art in comics longer beyond the speech bubbles and soak in how the visuals also tell the story.
When it comes to color and composition, what has particularly stood out to you?
In terms of color palettes, colors have this amazing ability to invoke emotion from the reader. Which brings me back to comic book covers. I love covers because the whole point is to grab your attention. What comes to mind is the cover for Batman: Death in the Family. (The cover with Batman holding Jason Todd?) Yes, it’s a sad cover because the dark colors, high contrast and shadows establish the mood. There's even a term for that because it comes from the Renaissance going into the next [art] movement, which is Baroque, which is chiaroscuro. There is a theatricality of what you’re looking at. You know, it invokes emotion, like sadness–or, in this case, tragedy that has fallen on the Bat family.
When it comes to modern comic book art, do you find there is still room for interpretation? Or do you find there is a directness in the visuals?
There’s always room regardless if the artist intended for interpretation or not. Once art is in the hands of the public, the artist can only do so much. This is not to say the viewer should completely dismiss whatever the artist is saying.
Compared to traditional art, is sequential art viewed the same way in galleries?
I’m not sure if the word is ‘boom,’ but I have seen more interest in sequential art in academic institutions. Prior to 2020, the British Museum had a huge exhibition on manga and Japanese comics. And the creator of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Hirohiko Araki, has worked with Gucci and exhibited at the Louvre in Paris twice. Maybe Europe is ahead of this in comparison to the United States, but to give credit where credit is due, when it comes to local artists, contemporary artists or even, let's say, graffiti artists or muralists because comics to some extent has entered the cultural zeitgeist.
If you had to give a quick rundown on doing a visual analysis of comic book panels, what would you recommend?
First, you have to look at the details. Composition, background, colors, and line. Start with the figures if they’re in the scene and then look at the landscape. It’s okay to start with what catches your eye, though. Consider each element and consider what colors are being used and how they create visuals on a two-dimensional surface. For western comics, we read them left-to-right, so begin in the top left corner, depending on how speech bubbles are positioned. Next, I would consider what elements are acting like leading lines to help guide you as a reader to continue onto the next panel.
In the history of comic books, there has been some…bad art. What can people take away from those instances?
I would like to say as a disclaimer there’s no such thing as good versus bad art. Art is art. In terms of “bad art in comics,” if it gets people talking, bad publicity is still publicity. There’s still those who will buy bad art for the sake of irony. The advantage of “bad art” is that it has an edge over mediocre art that refuses to rock the boat. Bad art can be avant-garde and push boundaries. A prominent example would be the impressionists. They were seen as “bad art” for a long time and now we love impressionists. I always tell my students that do not have an art history background to consider what they think makes art good or bad. I know people sometimes see modern contemporary art and see a blank canvas and think, “I can do that, that’s not art.” But here’s the thing, that artist may have been the first person to create that piece and challenge the boundary of what is considered art. There’s a thought process that goes into art.
We’ve covered a lot. Is there something you like to mention when it comes to comic book art as an Art Historian?
In the 19th century, there was a movement called pointalism. It was small little dots in different colors that didn’t look like much up close, but as the viewer stepped back and looked at the whole canvas, the picture came to life. I always tell my students that this is the precursor to comics because comics worked the same way–especially in the Golden Era of comics. Look at the dots up close and they don't mean anything, but if you back away, you get the pages and panels.
This interview was written by Seth Adrian Romo with assistance by Samuel Mason White. All quotes were edited for clarity.