#ghostopolis

"A Nightmare!"

Ghostopolis

(No spoilers, don't worry)

14 total comics to compare against, across genres with half as traditionally printed comics and half from webcomics. While not an exhaustive list, should be enough to start to give some idea about preferences.

Text Type: Either fully capitalized (EXAMPLE) or with mixed case (Example)

All Caps versus Mixed Case

Mixed Case vs. ALL CAPS for all comics

Mixed Case vs. ALL CAPS for Traditional Printed Comics AND for all webcomics (same results)

A slight preference for the traditional method of writing out word balloons with text in all caps

Spacing Between Text and Outer Balloons

Min Spacing versus Regular Spacing versus Max Spacing

Spacing between text and outer balloon for all comics

Traditional comics are basically evenly split between a normal spacing (about the width of a letter) and min spacing (which leaves essentially no room between the text and the balloon)

Traditional comics slightly tend toward a minimizing the spacing between the text and the balloon

Spacing between text and outer balloons for webcomics

Webcomics are split between between a normal spacing (about the width of a letter) and extra spacing (which can sometimes double or triple the distance between the text and the balloon). Webcomics slightly tend towards adding additional space between the text and the word balloon

Word Balloons Within or Outside the Panels

Within Panel versus Outside Panel

Whether word balloon (typically) lie entirely within or can exist outside the strict space of the panel

This is perhaps the most obvious difference between webcomics and traditional comics. All traditional comics in this set only have word balloons that lie within the panel, while all the webcomics typically have there word balloons lie outside their panels

Conclusion

As reductive as it sounds, the overall conclusion is that any combination of word balloon choices are well represented in both traditional and webcomics. The only noticeable difference is that webcomics tend to take greater advantage of the negative space between panels by moving their word ballons out of the panel borders

Resources (and Comic Recommendations)

Format: Print (Traditional)

Fables by by Bill Willingham, Lan Medina, Steve Leialoha, Craig Hamilton, Sherilyn van Valkenburgh

Nimona by ND Stevenson

Bone by Jeff Smith

Ghostopolis by Doug TenNapel

Saga by Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples

Tintin by Hergé

Superman: Red Son by Mark Millar, Dave Johnson

Format: Online (Webcomic via Webtoon)

Marionetta by Míriam Bonastre Tur

Suitor Armor by Purpah

Castle Swimmer by Wendy Lian Martin

Cursed Princess Club by LambCat

Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe

Space Boy by Stephen McCranie

The Dragon Tutor by Mar_Mai