LUCY : If you use your imagination you can see lots of things in the cloud formations… What do you think you see, Linus?
LINUS : Well, those clouds up there look to me like the map of British Honduras in the Caribbean… that cloud up there looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, the famous painter and sculptor… and that group of clouds over there gives me the impression of the stoning of Stephen… I can see the Apostle Paul standing there to one side.
LUCY : Uh huh… that’s very good. What do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown?
CHARLIE BROWN : Well, I was going to say I saw a ducky and a horsie, but I changed my mind.
I’m not clear on the when or why, but in comic books the thought bubble seems to be mostly out of favor. I recall one artist saying that it was too weird to “read the minds” of the characters.
Similarly, text narration and explanatory notes have vanished from most comic books. The only reason I’ve heard advanced is the notion that we should be able to infer all that from the drawings, from the art itself. Plus, it supposedly speeds the story along to better hold the reader’s attention.
The unintended consequence, it seems to me, is that now we are presented with the characters speaking thoughts and even “footnoting” the narrative out loud as it were.
To me, these are more jarring than the techniques they were meant to fix.
Or am I reading this all wrong? Can anyone clarify this stuff?
Argythree over 4 years ago
Oh, yes, I see the difference…
harkherp over 4 years ago
She needs to add a Mary Worth floating head!
some idiot from R'lyeh Premium Member over 4 years ago
I see a bush, maybe with berries or leaves.
Possibly even part of a character’s hair.
Deleted Account2623 over 4 years ago
I just realized that I haven’t drawn a thought bubble in ages
jimmjonzz Premium Member over 4 years ago
LUCY : If you use your imagination you can see lots of things in the cloud formations… What do you think you see, Linus?
LINUS : Well, those clouds up there look to me like the map of British Honduras in the Caribbean… that cloud up there looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, the famous painter and sculptor… and that group of clouds over there gives me the impression of the stoning of Stephen… I can see the Apostle Paul standing there to one side.
LUCY : Uh huh… that’s very good. What do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown?
CHARLIE BROWN : Well, I was going to say I saw a ducky and a horsie, but I changed my mind.
jimmjonzz Premium Member over 4 years ago
I’m not clear on the when or why, but in comic books the thought bubble seems to be mostly out of favor. I recall one artist saying that it was too weird to “read the minds” of the characters.
Similarly, text narration and explanatory notes have vanished from most comic books. The only reason I’ve heard advanced is the notion that we should be able to infer all that from the drawings, from the art itself. Plus, it supposedly speeds the story along to better hold the reader’s attention.
The unintended consequence, it seems to me, is that now we are presented with the characters speaking thoughts and even “footnoting” the narrative out loud as it were.
To me, these are more jarring than the techniques they were meant to fix.
Or am I reading this all wrong? Can anyone clarify this stuff?
asrialfeeple over 4 years ago
That’s a very subtle difference.
DCBakerEsq over 4 years ago
I rarely have thought balloons. But, then again, I rarely have thoughts.
GetFezzy over 4 years ago
It’s like going to the Famous School for Cartoonists, but for free!