Sound Effects in Comics

I have had some thoughts about including sound in the comic, especially in the scene where the monster merges. Some of my thoughts were to apply the text in a form where it looks it it is part of the environment in a similar to this panel from the Flash and of Will Esiner's work.

The Flash #1 features a title where the inside of the text features panels of the Flash fighting.The layout of the panels are placed in a circular composition all looking like slices. The gutters all direct towards the Flash in the centre which helps with the overall composition. The colours of the panels behind the Flash are coloured blue which helps make it look further way whereas the panels in the form of the Flash feature warm colours benefiting the depth and perspective of the picture.

I also discovered a blog by Zainab Akhtar that discusses the ways that sound effects are implemented into the comic illustration. He talks about an artist called Frankie Quietly who has deployed sound effects in the illustrations. Akhtar (2015) states that integrated SFX in comics often harmonies with its environment and its context whereas traditional SFX that stands out has more visual impact when elements such as shapes, colour and composition are considered. He also discusses about James Stokoe ,the artist who illustrated Godzilla:The Half-Century War (2013). Within the comic there, minimum sound effects. In one page where Godzilla roars, the sound effect is represented by a distorted, sharp and large illustration with a warm colour scheme. The mixture of these elements help provide an insight of how it would be heard if audible. It also connects with the idea of how the original Gozilla roar was produced through the use of a violin and a rubber glove (Rolfe 2008).

Here is a test I did where I took page 14 and applied sound effects to it.

Page 14

The text produced a curved which helps lead onto the protagonist and it also adds to the impact the splashing water. The chosen text font was "Super Weird". I think it would look better if the text was white like the foam of the waves, making it appear more integrated in the image. 

References

• Rolfe, J. 2008. Godzillathon #1 Godzilla (1954). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avc4AS3AvcA [Accessed 1 Apr. 2016].
• Stokoe, J. 2013. Godzilla:The Half- Century War. San Diego, Calif.: IDW.
• Akhtar, Z. 2015. Snapshot thoughts on comics sfx: Quitely does it. [Blog] Comics and Cola. Available at: http://www.comicsandcola.com/2015/06/snapshot-thoughts-on-comics-sfx-quitely.html [Accessed 1 Apr. 2016].
• Manapul, F. 2011 Flash #1. [image] Available at: http://comicsalliance.com/files/2011/09/flash01.jpg [Accessed 1 Apr. 2016].
• Manapul, F. 2011. Flash #1. [image] Available at: http://comicsalliance.com/files/2011/09/flash04.jpg [Accessed 1 Apr. 2016].