Text - Rhodes University

There are characters, but their presence is felt rather than seen, just as the relationships
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between them are implied rather than stated. All we see of the speaker is her feet.
The comic is claustrophobic. No environment is created, and there are no details that
would help to contextualise the events. Sorfa works in a similar manner in order to
communicate facts and actions clearly; the aim in my comic is entirely different, namely
to express abstract qualities such as emotion as literally as I can. There is no depth in the
drawing. Where perspective is possible it is cancelled out by cropping, chopping, or
decoration. Yet despite this even state, the page is never at rest. The execution is
nervous. It is not a comic but a borderline comic.
The first comic of mine to resemble a conventional comic is the last story in
Kersjnibikniik, a one-pager called Eddie Jumped [fig 19]. Like Odlid, my first comic, it
is a completed story, with a beginning, middle, and end. Although the text is important,
in terms of page layout the pictures dominate. The text is relegated to conventional text
boxes.
Instead of the previous commonsense, logical layout, where frames were laid out like
short sentences, the reader is directed to the crux of the action. A splash panel encloses
the whole narrative. Placing of text boxes, particularly the last one ["though he nearly
slipped"], dictate the changes in tone.
Again an oblique view is presented; the focus is on the boy, yet the true drama is the fate
of the girl. The smiley face (a recognised symbol for LSD) and the photograph 'pinned'
onto the page contextualise the event, but it's causes remain mysterious. The story is
about a relationship, or rather a single critical moment in a relationship. The length of
the jump, the timing of it, and the entrails, are exaggerated, as the comic is
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