RESOURCES

Comics Glossary

The following words and definitions
are used in the comics industry.

Artist: The person who draws a comic, usually starting with pencil. Some comics creators are both artists and writers who work with little division of labor. Others work in teams.

Author or Writer: The person who writes the storyline and script.

Balloon: Balloon or bubble-shaped drawing used to contain characters’ dialogue or thoughts.

Blue Pencils: Light blue pencils used to sketch out a drawing and guide the inking process. They don’t show when copies are made.

Caption: Text that provides information to the reader.

Cartoon: A one-panel, self-contained drawing, often a caricature.

Colorist: The person who adds color to the drawings created by the artist and inker. Color is applied either by hand or by using software.

Comics: A sequence of images telling a story, including comic strips, comic books, and graphic novels.

Comic Book: Comics in magazine form, usually consisting of twenty or more pages.

(The) Comic Code of Authority: A body created to self-censor the comics industry and authorize or certify all comics sold in the United States.

Comic Strip: A comic in short form, usually one to five panels, which appears in newspapers, magazines, and online. Comic strips also may be bound together in books.

Editorial Comic or Cartoon: One-panel cartoon or short comic, usually giving political or social commentary.

Imanata: A symbol used in place of words (#!$%*).

Graphic Novel: A comic in book format usually based on an expanded storyline and high–quality artwork.

Gutter: The blank space between panels that readers fill using their imaginations.

Hero: A character who is distinguished by courage, ability, or intelligence and is admired for brave deeds and noble qualities.

India Ink: The blackest ink made. It is used with brushes and crow’s quill pens to ink comics.

Inker: The person who goes over the artist’s pencil lines with ink to make them stand out.

Letterer: The artist who places the words and “sound effects” in comics so that they complement the image and are easy to read.

Manga: Japanese art style roughly meaning “pleasing images.” In the U.S. it’s used to refer to Japanese comics generally or to a specific artistic style based on manga.

Misenscène: A scene or image placed at the beginning of a comic to establish a sense of place and engage the audience in the story’s setting and mood.

Motivation behind the Mask: The reason a character acts a certain way. This is important to a character’s personality. For example, Batman fights crime because, when he was a little boy, his parents were murdered by a mugger.

Narratory Block: Small rectangles or squares where a narrator or character from the story shares special information to the reader.

Open Panels: Panels where one or more of the sides are left open to create a dramatic effect.

Onomatopoeia: A word or grouping of words that imitate a sound, such as BAM and POW.

Pages: Parts of the script where the writer describes what should be on each page.

Panels: Rectangles or squares where the action and scenes in the script are drawn.

Penciler: The person who creates drawings in pencil for the thumbnail sketches of a page.

Pointillism: Painting technique using small distinct points/dots of primary colors. It creates the impression of seeing secondary and intermediate colors.

Premise: The concept that serves as the motivation for a story or series. For example, Star Trek’s premise is “to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

Script: All written directions for how the comic book will be put together, including dialogue and narrative pieces.

Sequential Art: A series of drawings or other images arranged to tell a story.

Sidekick: A close companion who assists a partner, who is usually the hero.

Splash Page: A panel that usually takes up the whole page and is used to help introduce stories or give special attention to action or events.

Storyboard: A visual plan for a story.

Superhero: All the qualities of a basic hero plus extraordinary powers and abilities, such as the ability to fly, enhanced senses, or special powers.

Thought Balloons: Balloon– or bubble-shaped drawings that contain characters’ thoughts.

Thumbnails: Loose quick sketches that are drawn to help plan the penciled page.

Villain: An “evil” character that may also have extraordinary powers making him, or her, a dreadful adversary.

Word Balloons: Balloon– or bubble-shaped drawings that contain characters’ words or dialogue.

(The) X Factor: Imagination, the magic the reader brings to a story that makes it memorable.