Superheroes and Other Media

by Bob Gunn

Comics are a medium unlike any other as they merge visuals with the written word to tell a story. The closest form they have is film and television, but even then, they differ. Comic books are the masters of detail and controlling a reader’s movement. You can put in huge amounts of detail when necessary into a panel to convey information and a reader can look at this for as long as they like and take in as much as they desire. This doesn’t work in a novel, as it would have to be a long paragraph that would be boring to read and is tough to go over the details again and again. A movie can freeze on a screen but it can’t linger too long though. With a comic, however, you can take as much time with each panel as you think it needs and…