Note to Self - Word Balloons: A Study
(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
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
Ghostopolis by Doug TenNapel
Saga by Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples
Superman: Red Son by Mark Millar, Dave Johnson
Format: Online (Webcomic via Webtoon)
Marionetta by MĆriam Bonastre Tur
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
andulkaphoto
snowghoul
baratheonpilled
areudirty
vaporwave
