Comics and The Narrative and Story

In Comics, The Juxtaposition of Paneled Images and Comics in Sequence, or "Sequential Art" is The Story. The Juxtaposition of Panels on a Page is The Narrative. It doesn't have to make sense or go anywhere. If you ask me, the arrangement of panels in and of itself qualifies each page as a narrative. As soon as you have more than one panel, that panel ceases to be a stand alone illustration or freeze frame and becomes a part of something bigger: A Narrative; A Story.

-JM

After-thought:

I didn't think of myself specifically as a "cartoonist" in the traditional sense, in the beginning, such as the Bill Watterson, Charles M. Schulz, Aaron McGruder, or Jim Davis variety. What with three or four panel horizontally based mini-narratives. To be honest, at the beginning of my career I sort of looked down upon that mode of expression, dismissing it as childish and over simple. It wasn't until I learned the truth about cartooning that I embraced it. That comics and cartoonists aren't JUST newspaper strips. But even when they are the use of "cartoonish artwork" can be used to encompass so much more than that...

To cite some examples:

Walt Disney was a cartoonist. Jean Giraud was a cartoonist. Katsuhiro Otomo is a cartoonist. Bill Watterson is a cartoonist. Jhonen Vasquez is a cartoonist. Dr. Seuss is a cartoonist. Osamu Tezuka and every single manga and doujin artist in Japan is and was a cartoonist. Jamie Hewlett, Evan Dorkin, Paul Pope, Alex Toth, Shigeru Miyamoto, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Alejandro Jodorowski, Juanjo Garnido, Dave Sim, Enki Bilal, Bruce Timm, Burne Hogarth, Todd McFarlane, Jim Mahfood, Scott McCloud, Jeff Smith, Ted Naifeh, Craig Thompson, and Frank Miller are cartoonists. Cartooning doesn't have to be relegated to funny one gag a day in three panel newspaper syndicate strips. Cartooning has grown to include manga, bande dessinee, graphic novels, and indie comic books. The only noticeable exclusion in my opinion might be Super Hero Comic Books, as that is the posterchild of the Comic Book and Traditional Graphic Novel Medium. Cartoons can be dramatic, cinematic, experimental, literary, adult, mature, topical, hypercomplex, archetypal, and deep, or any combination or alchemy thereof. It all depends on what the creator and auteur wants to do with it.

It wasn't until later in life that I learned quite a few of the more skill cartoonists not only know how to draw well, but incredibly detailed and layered as well, with what is clearly a mastery of concepts like anatomy, perspective, light and shade, and fabric and costume design, and general design. It's NEVER been just about childish simplicity and talking animals ONLY. That last definition to me feels like a stereotype of the whole medium: A newspaper strip about simple little talking animals ripped off from Disney. I hate that stereotype.

Just because you draw comic BOOKS (especially black and white indie comic books, and/or manga, like a Ted Naifeh or a Jhonen Vasquez) does not mean you're disqualified AS a cartoonist. It's all about the mentality and discipline you approach your schedule and work with...

Cartoonists:

• Release comics to the public both consistently and often, even if its just for a limited time on a limited budget. Be it the internet, self-published books, or newspaper strips. Makes no difference. On a certain level there is a commonality.

• Spend every day drawing. The Daily Discipline. Hitting the sketchpad or drawing and writing desk every day of your life. It makes no difference whether your Bill Watterson or Dave Sim. They draw every day, for much of the day, without compromising, and often alone. 

• Drawing in a style that's dynamic and make us think of Cartoons and Animation, or as is the case in Japan: Anime.

• Drawing the same characters, situations and stories over and over again, continually, for YEARS, sometimes DECADES if not half a CENTURY. (Stan Lee and Charles M. Schulz' Peanuts and Charlie Brown comic strip comes to mind)