There's also "Centipede man" from the New 52 series "Dial H" comic. He uses the "Deluca effect" as a kind of superpower. He moves in a kind of rapid speed where his after images super-impose in themselves making them look like segments like a centipede. It's a very cool and unique effect and kind of power you could only pull off in a comic. Definitely check out some of those images.
@@VcarGekko Which is a shame, the idea of looking at non-standard, surreal universes and what superheroes would look like in them is basically an idea with infinite potential
@@cicolasnage5684 I honestly haven't seen anyone crapping on it, so that's good to know. Why are so many people crying about comics today? They're not all that bad. I've been reading comics since the 80s and they have always had a social awarenes. Idk. Excellent name though, Cicolas, lol.
@@pauldigscomics7810 Trolls and gatekeepers are the new craze… hahaha… I think people are just finding out they are Flash Thompsons - they are cheering for Spider-Man but bullying Peter Parker. They are finding out they are not the good guys in real life, and they are blaming people for pointing that out… hahaha…
I've noticed that Frank Frazetta used a similar effect many times, to show multiple characters that seem to be performing one action in time-lapse. By doing this, he gives one painting a dynamic sense of comics-style action, by showing a group moving forward. A few examples of this are "Leaping Lizards", "Moon Maiden" (where the robots are moving from right to left), and "Wolfpack", where the wolves are doing it. Once you see that trick, you'll notice that he uses it even in groups of two attackers fairly often. It's a great trick.
my favorite example of a polyptic has to be Multiversity: Pax Americana, where Morrison and Quitely show 3 sets of people in 3 different timelines moving across the same space, investigating what happened with the previous set of characters.
This was a particularly interesting episode. I love deep dives into subjects that can go by relatively unnoticed, and seeing all the connections and history. Also, I caught the Oliver Tree reference at 2:20, lol. I never would have if my girlfriend hadn't played the song in her car before.
The action in those Nightwing channels looks great. I always liked the really dynamic artists using this effect. When I was small, I would follow the action, physically trying to recreate the heroes movements.
I love Scott McCloud! I have two of his books and he taught me a lot about comics! I love nerdy episodes that dive into the techniques of comics. Great work as usual. 😁
Elena Casagrande on the most recent run of Black Widow with Kelly Thompson does an incredible job using motion in almost every issue of the run. Loved the action in that run.
I always feel like I’m listen to a top college professor who is sharing his knowledge on many aspects of comics.. this was an amazing episode.. thx you
I wanted to add Geof Darrow's Shaolin Cowboy Shemp Buffet from 2013. The story is a prolonged fight with a horde of zombies.Darrow's art up's the ante in the middle as the Cowboy is killing the zombies with two chainsaws attached to ends of a staff. The panels are segmented in narrow horizontal strips and then expands on other pages into full two pages. The amount of detail and fluidity of the action is inspiring to see as anyone who is familiar with Darrow knows there are no shortcuts in his work and the amount of detail is just staggering. Great episode Chris!
Episodes like this are a reminder of why this is the best show about the artform of comics anywhere on the internet. Thank you for discovering Gianni De Luca for me!
Thanks! This was fascinating. I remember there was some pretty dynamic movement-focused art in an early Nightwing book when he first went to Bludhaven as well. Nowhere near as ambitious as this though!
I would say one is the "explosive manga speed" where a character is seen, then there is like a air cloud explosion emanating from the character, then there is usually a panel that doesn't show anything but the intervening space or like a ghosty image if the character, then there is a panel where they suddenly appear, usually attacking someone who blocks it just in time. This feels like a remix or varient of the techniques described
I think the DeLuca Effect isa perfect name. It honors a great artist and pays due respect. If I had to find a more neutral name it would probably a term like "confluent visual storytelling" but I like the DeLuca Effect more. And mad respect to Redondo. I'm still breathless. Fantastic work! I will watch outfor that guy.
I love these analyses of comics inner workings, I find them very enriching . I think the first time I noticed this "De Lucca" effect was on Spider-Man comics, even as early in Steve Ditko 's run, but also with later artists like Gil Kane or Ross Andru, even later an artist that was very good with it was Steve Skroce ( I think he worked doing storyboards on The Matrix also). It's great not only to convey speed but also to capture a wider breath of the full motion instead of just zoom lines, so you can see how much of an skillful acrobat is or how much the physics affect the characters when they are in a fight or a fall or something like that. One effect that I've seen on manga that's similar but not quite the same is for example in a fight scene to emphasize the might of a punch or a kick, the artist draws the attacker normally but the other character who is being hit in "blurred" barely, by having it's lines repeated but drawn a bit apart, so it presents the exact moment when the hit just landed and the guy is about to be squashed by a tremendous force. I thought that was an interesting variation
As a low-rent comic creator, I greatly appreciate when you explain why I do some of the stuff I do, cuz I really don’t know why I’m doing it half the time. Simply wonderful!
Excellent episode, drawing from such a wide range. Glad to be made aware of Deluca. Joe Sacco recently did a continuous image as story called The Great War. Many traditional Japanese and Chinese scroll paintings are narrative, and play out as reader/viewer unfurls sections, operating in similar fashions (space, time) as some of your examples. It seems space, environment and architecture are key to the forumula.
Morning Chris, What a fascinating and thought provoking subject! When I began reading comics, I've always noticed how some artists use multiple variations of a character to show speed and movement, specially in Spider-Man and The Flash. In my comic The Teenage Gene-Spliced Cyber Bunnies, (hopefully you got the copies) my artwork is.. how can I say, "all-over-the-place" at times, with multiple/ duplicate characters. I call my technique "free-style", like: (rapping, snowboarding, swimming, dancing, motocross, etc.) you guy remember bmx "freestyle' bikes?! lol! I like to think this technique makes/ allows the reader to spend more time looking at the artwork/story, enjoying the extra time reading the comic. The adventure lasts longer. The tapestry reference, was great, thanks for doing such an extensive amount of research. We really appreciate your channel and hard work!
The puff of smoke or little cloud of dust has also indicated movewn. Often in absence of the character only indicated with a previous panel with a build up of preparation.
You are getting really good at this, Chris. You had my complete attention. The crafting of these deep dive episodes coming across to me as an art in itself.
My father confessed to me once that he didn’t read comics because of he couldn’t understand that sequence of the panels on most pages … this type of motion can be confusing to a small group of people but it is really a clever way to show motion
One word from a fan from Poland. I love your work. I love topics and the way you present our beloved medium - comics. Here in Poland onwdays we have no problem with reading Marvel or DC but as a 44yo man and a great fan of comics I must say there was a time ('70-'80) that almost all of us was obliviuos to superhero comics. But we got fantastic domestic comics like: "Cpt. Żbik" "Kajko i Kokosz", "Tytus, Romek i A'tomek" I invite you to reserach on this topic and even makeing a program about it.
A friend from Poland sent me the original Witcher comics and even translated them for me. But I misplaced them. If I ever find it, I plan to do an episode.
@@ComicTropes In Poland the most famous user of Gianni de Lucca effect was Tadeusz Baranowski in his surrealistic comic books "Antresolka Profesorka Nerwosolka" (Title is untranslatable to english I suppose :-) ) and almost in every other of his works. Bogusław Polch used it from time to time in his SF epic series "Funky Koval" ( "Funky" is considered in Poland as the best polish SF comic, true classic).
I agree that "Understanding Comics" is an awesome eye opener. I remember how mind blown I was, being presented with clear examples right there on the page, along with consistent and plausible explanations. That particular book might not be the end of all debates surrounding comics, but it is a best possible start for a discussion of the topic.
A newer trend really exemplified by Daniel Warren Johnson and James Harren is to bring the motion lines into the figure itself. Instead of a clean line for a character, that line is shaking and vibrating to show that it's in motion and full of energy. Great episode! I love thinking about this stuff.
I just had to explain this to my four years old who couldn't understand why there were suddenly 4 spidermen in his strip. While explaining it I realized how you can get so used to a technique that you don't even see it anymore. Thank you so much for this incredible explanation, really loved it as I loved your run on Romita Jr and other great artists. Love your humble tone too, clear views and moderation. Refreshing, enlightening even for old comics fans like me. Kudos ! By the way, I find the parallel with movies very interesting, and you can even see how, after comics took inspiration from movies, later on movies got inspired by comics (Ang Lee's Hulk, of course, but I'm thinking Old Boy, with the escape scene, of which I was reminded by the episode of the kid's saving in Daredevil S01 on Netflix). Those two art forms seem to feed each other :)
Cerebus did it in the Fall and the River section using a tour guide’s word balloons across multiple panels in one long panning shot for most of that first issue. Catching readers up on in-world events, like TV news is used in other comics as justified exposition.
Hm, I feel like there's something of a shared lineage with cubism here? Cubists had the idea to depict a single subject from multiple PERSPECTIVES at once, and here we are depicting a subject or subjects in a consistent scene at multiple TIMES at once? It's essentially a form of animation. It draws a series of key-frames for a sequence of motions, and instead of using persistence of vision, it relies on the intuitive human understanding of how motion and movement works and connects to make us essentially see motion where no motion exists... so maybe that's a place to draw a name from? "Static animation"? "Keyframe flow"?
This was an AMAZING video! A must-watch for any comic book fan. I'd love to see a @ComicTropes follow up to take a look at how different comic artists use motion and poses in their depictions of fights. Some artists really show power, speed , savagery and big impacts in comic fights -- off the top of my head, guys like the Buscema's, Ron Frenz, Ron Lim, Perez, Ditko, the Romita's, Kirby, etc. Great use of motion in fight scenes have always been a draw for me.
Scott McDaniel did this in some of his Nightwing comics, that was the first place I saw this method used and McDaniels style gave it a lot of excitement! Thanks for the heads-up on this Nightwing issue.
Awesome video Chris. I was NOT expecting the Bayeux Tapestry to pop up! Awesome deep cut into what we'd call sequential art through history. You're awesome! Also on a side note, I want to personally thank you for a post you put on you Instagram account the other day of you getting a mani-pedi. For the last year or so I've been painting my nails as a guy (usually black but sometimes black+white or all blue). I get a lot of enjoyment out of it and it helps me express something about myself. However, I've definitely caused distress by doing so in some of my family members. I'm 26, but it still feels bad when your parents are so against something you feel so strongly about and let you know it over and over again.. So, I was happy to see you do something similar as someone I look up to. I know it might seem silly but it really meant a lot to me. Thanks Chris.
Yours is one of the best channels for analysis and discussions about comics, the artists, and writers throughout the genre's history. Sending out much love and respect from northern Canada.🥃
There's a brazillian comic called "CWB", by José de Aguar, that pushes the moebius strip thing to the limit (being a story that can be read on both orientations).
Great breakdown Chris, as a comic creator I appreciate this very much. Nightwing has been fantastic! Also Understanding comics is one of my favorite books of all time, it really made me fall in love with comics
This was awesome, Chris. Thank you! Ps: I've received those scam comments in three different channels, all about different topics (comics, martial arts, gaming). Its quite obvious its fake though, I hope not too many are falling for it.
So I get to teach a cartooning class at my school as a special. I played this video for my kids because it's great! They loved it! Thank you for the great info! I love this channel!
I had a reply just like the scam you described on Freakin' Reviews. I didn't react to it because it seemed odd to me. Thanks for the warning and now I know it's a scam. Also thanks for another wonderful episode. I don't often respond but I always give a thumbs up.
Another way you might portray movement with, is abstraction of the surroundings. The fast moving object is clearly visible in all its details but the surroundings are abstracts or colored beyond the lines and stuff. In The Metabarons there's a panel of a spaceship flying to another dimension or something which Gimenez depicted as if the ship had torn space apart where it had gone past, behind the spaceship where drawn simple shapes with few colors, a bit in a cubist style or like something Piet Mondriaan would've drawn. It's in one of the later comics in the series, either Aghorra or No-name iirc.
Love it! It's the thing about comics that draws us all in - the ability to convey motion through a static image. Honestly, when I started reading comics again as an adult (New 52), I was impressed by Eddy Barrows' use of the De Luca Effect and dynamic figure drawing on Nightwing at the time. It's a standard I hold new comics to.
That Moebius strip spread in Promethea was wild! Every time I reread the series, it always takes me a few extra minutes to get the right reading flow on those pages.
I'm not sure if it has been mentioned before in the comments, but Dan Slott & Mike Allred achieved a similar effect via an infinity loop narrative flow in Silver Surfer #11. Midway, the action that has occured in an upper flow above future events pictured below switches to engage the reader by turning the comic book upside down to read events that happen chronologically, yet we have already seen before. (If that makes sense.) Great issue, by the way. Thanks for the information in this video & a good look at one of the most intriguing techniques in comic book motion/time depiction!
What a wonderful topic for a video, really allowing for a brief but broad look at comics history. And bonus points for Bayeux tapestry tie-in! Those scammers have tried with me several times, both on your channel and others, and I keep reporting them. TH-cam really should make more of and effort getting to grips with them.
Really interesting, especially as an amateur writer/illustrator. And I must say that, as a fellow Italian, I feel quite ashamed that I was not familiar at all with De Luca until now.
So this Nightwing issue is like a side-scrolling video game (I remember Contra and Double Dragon best). This is definitely something comics do best: multiple images guiding the eye through the narrative (or multiple narratives).
Great episode, Chris. You keep rising the bar on what thoughtful commentary about our beloved medium can aspire to be. Another great example of polyptytch is in The Legacy of Luther Strode, there's a really cool fighting sequence between Luther and the Gunslinger that goes through a flight of stairs. Regarding other ways of showing motion, I'm sure you read about subjective motion, greatly popular in manga, as it is described in Understanding Comics too.
I remember the first time I saw a whole comic in one very long image: it was a jpg of a wordless Shintaro Kago comic - and was of course utterly surreal and horrifying. The technique in that case wasn't used to communicate motion, however.
Another great insightful video. Love your Gene Colan and Infantino visuals, much admired artists of my youth. Appreciated your history lesson, including De Luca. And, always enjoy any reference to McCloud's seminal opus. Imagine conveying motion in a 2-D medium... sequential art is magical! Thank you for reminding us of the process.
Chris has had many great episodes on Comic Tropes, but this one is absolutely brilliant. Thank you for the hard work and the time you put into researching and crafting each episode. You make every second meaningful.
I really like the way Francis Manapul would play with the page layout during his time on the New 52 The Flash. He would play with the panels' shape and position and he would have The Flash moving outside the panels to emphasize his speed. It is a different technique than what was discussed in this video, but it is an example of moving outside the boundary of the traditional comic layout to give a new sense of movement.
One thing I've noticed that's kinda cool is how radial panel layouts as opposed to left to right panel layouts can be used imply rapid acceleration All Star Superman did this a few times
One kind of motion I am fond of is what I ad-hoc call 'stochastic panels', where the time frame between panels decreases (usually, or increases I think I've seen once, to let things 'run their course'); the increase effect might be panels that go from someone running towards a door, then to them reaching towards the door, then to their hand almost touching the door latch, then the door-latch moving just a tiny bit... the sort of thing where, if say there's a bomb about to go off, it makes you live in the moment, the race against time. Only seen it a few times I noticed, but I think lighter versions of this are common, where a panel clearly shows a tiny increment of time in a moment of tension.
In animation software the fading of previous characters would be referred to as 'onion skins'. Another form of motion that springs to mind is alternate panel shapes and breaking the panel.
As well as movement, there's also pacing of scenes, which can be down to the writer as much as the artist. I'd class Alan Moore as a master of pacing in scripts. For two examples, take the scene in Watchmen where Rorschach deduces the secret compartment in Edward Blake's closet and the scene in Miracleman between Bates and the nurse. Both examples of the action being clearly shown and paced in a way that tells the story effectively, informs the reader as to what's happening (wordlessly, in the case of the Watchmen scene) and also engages the reader in the detective work in one case and amplifies the suspense and horror in the other. A classic Golden Age DC example of movement using multiples is Mort Meskin's Johnny Quick, where he used sequential images of the super-speedster in one panel to show him often doing a range of activities or fighting multiple opponents at high velocity. Meskin's technique was very distinctive at the time and different from the way e.g. the Flash's speed was shown.
Hey! I have been watching your channel for awhile now and enjoying it and did have a comment about motion in comics, or at least motion in art. When they were looking at art in places like the Lascaux Cave (20k years old) there would be art with multiple heads.. or four legs at the front and back of an animal. When viewed with a sputtering torch and live flame, (simulated for us) the drawings would gain a motion effect. So the multiple heads, and the multiple legs, were a very early form of showing motion. 20k year old comics, done in charcoal, on rocks.
there's a board game called "Micro macro crime city". It's similar to those "where's waldo" books, the game comes with a big illustration of the city and you are suppose to solve some mysteries. It uses the "deluca effect", because if you look closely you can find different instances of the same characters acros the city, so imagine where's waldo but you not only try to find him, you try to track him acros the city to answer stuff like where he went, what he did and why he did it.
I really do love your channel. Your personality is just so wonderful to watch and listen to, and you never cease to have interesting things to say about comics. Thank you for all you do.
Very interesting subject, the single-take issue, as it were. I'll have to pick up this run. Watching this I was reminded of a tangential subject, that time Marvel did a whole month of comics with no spoken dialogue. Some titles were more successful than others, as I remember, but it was an interesting experiment. Perhaps comparing those issues and the way different artists handled the assignment might be a good subject for the future.
What an interesting video!! I couldn’t stop watching. Thank you so much for this! I’ve been reading and loving comics for about 10 years now but there’s still so much to learn. Thanks! Already liked and subscribed of course. Lotta love from Germany.
There's also "Centipede man" from the New 52 series "Dial H" comic. He uses the "Deluca effect" as a kind of superpower. He moves in a kind of rapid speed where his after images super-impose in themselves making them look like segments like a centipede. It's a very cool and unique effect and kind of power you could only pull off in a comic. Definitely check out some of those images.
I second this. It's a very cool power from a very interesting series
My god I thought I was the only person who even remembered that series!
@@samwill7259 Trust me, you aren't. thought I'm not surprised at the feeling. DC seemed to just have ditched anything about that run when it finished.
@@VcarGekko Which is a shame, the idea of looking at non-standard, surreal universes and what superheroes would look like in them is basically an idea with infinite potential
@@samwill7259 I second this, even though I did like Morrison's take on the multiverse.
I loved that issue of Nightwing. I liked it so much I posted it on my IG. Tom Taylor's run has been great fun.
It really has been a great book, I get tired of certain TH-cam comic reviewers crapping on it and calling it woke.
@@cicolasnage5684 I honestly haven't seen anyone crapping on it, so that's good to know. Why are so many people crying about comics today? They're not all that bad. I've been reading comics since the 80s and they have always had a social awarenes. Idk. Excellent name though, Cicolas, lol.
@@pauldigscomics7810 Trolls and gatekeepers are the new craze… hahaha… I think people are just finding out they are Flash Thompsons - they are cheering for Spider-Man but bullying Peter Parker. They are finding out they are not the good guys in real life, and they are blaming people for pointing that out… hahaha…
@@brianng8350 Lol, well said!!
@@pauldigscomics7810 It’s mainly the people complaining about how “woke” comics are now as if the X-Men haven’t existed the last 60+ years
I've noticed that Frank Frazetta used a similar effect many times, to show multiple characters that seem to be performing one action in time-lapse. By doing this, he gives one painting a dynamic sense of comics-style action, by showing a group moving forward. A few examples of this are "Leaping Lizards", "Moon Maiden" (where the robots are moving from right to left), and "Wolfpack", where the wolves are doing it. Once you see that trick, you'll notice that he uses it even in groups of two attackers fairly often. It's a great trick.
Winsor McCay deserves his own episode. There is quite a lot about him.
The way Bruno Redondo shows the passage of time and movement in comics is absolutely beautiful
my favorite example of a polyptic has to be Multiversity: Pax Americana, where Morrison and Quitely show 3 sets of people in 3 different timelines moving across the same space, investigating what happened with the previous set of characters.
YAAAY TALKING ABOUT NIGHTWING 87!!! That comic got me into nightwing and since then it’s become my all time favorite current comic series
This was a particularly interesting episode. I love deep dives into subjects that can go by relatively unnoticed, and seeing all the connections and history. Also, I caught the Oliver Tree reference at 2:20, lol. I never would have if my girlfriend hadn't played the song in her car before.
Thanks for noticing my silly reference.
@@ComicTropes Sure thing! And thanks for noticing my comment. It’s nice to hear from the real Chris and not the scammer one 😉
haha I noticed the funny pronunciation but didn't understand why. I know Oliver Tree by haircut, but can't say I've heard the music
Wow! That Gianni De Luca artwork is lovely.
That Nightwing comic is brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I can easily see it winning an Eisner award!
The action in those Nightwing channels looks great. I always liked the really dynamic artists using this effect. When I was small, I would follow the action, physically trying to recreate the heroes movements.
I love Scott McCloud! I have two of his books and he taught me a lot about comics!
I love nerdy episodes that dive into the techniques of comics. Great work as usual. 😁
Elena Casagrande on the most recent run of Black Widow with Kelly Thompson does an incredible job using motion in almost every issue of the run. Loved the action in that run.
Such a great run. Thompson and Casagrande are a dream team!
I always feel like I’m listen to a top college professor who is sharing his knowledge on many aspects of comics.. this was an amazing episode.. thx you
I wanted to add Geof Darrow's Shaolin Cowboy Shemp Buffet from 2013. The story is a prolonged fight with a horde of zombies.Darrow's art up's the ante in the middle as the Cowboy is killing the zombies with two chainsaws attached to ends of a staff. The panels are segmented in narrow horizontal strips and then expands on other pages into full two pages. The amount of detail and fluidity of the action is inspiring to see as anyone who is familiar with Darrow knows there are no shortcuts in his work and the amount of detail is just staggering. Great episode Chris!
Episodes like this are a reminder of why this is the best show about the artform of comics anywhere on the internet. Thank you for discovering Gianni De Luca for me!
This was great! I got to see Scott McCloud speak at Princeton University years ago.
Thanks! This was fascinating. I remember there was some pretty dynamic movement-focused art in an early Nightwing book when he first went to Bludhaven as well. Nowhere near as ambitious as this though!
Winsor McCay's pioneering Nemo art - incredibly enduring. I'm always transfixed by it.
I would say one is the "explosive manga speed" where a character is seen, then there is like a air cloud explosion emanating from the character, then there is usually a panel that doesn't show anything but the intervening space or like a ghosty image if the character, then there is a panel where they suddenly appear, usually attacking someone who blocks it just in time. This feels like a remix or varient of the techniques described
Love a nerdy craft deep-dive. Great work as always, Chris!
I know you've probably got too many comments to see mine but you're honestly one of the main reasons I'm super into comics. Thank you!
You are seen.
Appreciate the continuing education. Love the depth of creativity that writers and artists can explore in this media. Good job, Chris.
I think the DeLuca Effect isa perfect name. It honors a great artist and pays due respect. If I had to find a more neutral name it would probably a term like "confluent visual storytelling" but I like the DeLuca Effect more. And mad respect to Redondo. I'm still breathless. Fantastic work! I will watch outfor that guy.
I love these analyses of comics inner workings, I find them very enriching . I think the first time I noticed this "De Lucca" effect was on Spider-Man comics, even as early in Steve Ditko 's run, but also with later artists like Gil Kane or Ross Andru, even later an artist that was very good with it was Steve Skroce ( I think he worked doing storyboards on The Matrix also). It's great not only to convey speed but also to capture a wider breath of the full motion instead of just zoom lines, so you can see how much of an skillful acrobat is or how much the physics affect the characters when they are in a fight or a fall or something like that.
One effect that I've seen on manga that's similar but not quite the same is for example in a fight scene to emphasize the might of a punch or a kick, the artist draws the attacker normally but the other character who is being hit in "blurred" barely, by having it's lines repeated but drawn a bit apart, so it presents the exact moment when the hit just landed and the guy is about to be squashed by a tremendous force. I thought that was an interesting variation
In painting, it’s called continuous narration. Fascinating, but hard to pull off well. Great episode!
I'm normally really enjoy your videos but this one is probably the most interesting one that you have done.
Absolutely my fave Art effect in comics and literally the only mention of De Luca the artist anywhere on YT. Thanks, Chris!
More nerdy deep dive-in! Thanks, Chris!
As a low-rent comic creator, I greatly appreciate when you explain why I do some of the stuff I do, cuz I really don’t know why I’m doing it half the time. Simply wonderful!
I feel like you could always name it after the cinematic version of storytelling that the Nightwing comic felt like to me, a “onetake”
Excellent episode, drawing from such a wide range. Glad to be made aware of Deluca. Joe Sacco recently did a continuous image as story called The Great War. Many traditional Japanese and Chinese scroll paintings are narrative, and play out as reader/viewer unfurls sections, operating in similar fashions (space, time) as some of your examples. It seems space, environment and architecture are key to the forumula.
Morning Chris,
What a fascinating and thought provoking subject! When I began reading comics, I've always noticed how some artists use multiple variations of a character to show speed and movement, specially in Spider-Man and The Flash. In my comic The Teenage Gene-Spliced Cyber Bunnies, (hopefully you got the copies) my artwork is.. how can I say, "all-over-the-place" at times, with multiple/ duplicate characters. I call my technique "free-style", like: (rapping, snowboarding, swimming, dancing, motocross, etc.) you guy remember bmx "freestyle' bikes?! lol!
I like to think this technique makes/ allows the reader to spend more time looking at the artwork/story, enjoying the extra time reading the comic. The adventure lasts longer. The tapestry reference, was great, thanks for doing such an extensive amount of research. We really appreciate your channel and hard work!
Redondo is definitely a huge part of what makes me love this current nightwing run
The puff of smoke or little cloud of dust has also indicated movewn. Often in absence of the character only indicated with a previous panel with a build up of preparation.
You are getting really good at this, Chris. You had my complete attention. The crafting of these deep dive episodes coming across to me as an art in itself.
My father confessed to me once that he didn’t read comics because of he couldn’t understand that sequence of the panels on most pages … this type of motion can be confusing to a small group of people but it is really a clever way to show motion
One word from a fan from Poland. I love your work. I love topics and the way you present our beloved medium - comics. Here in Poland onwdays we have no problem with reading Marvel or DC but as a 44yo man and a great fan of comics I must say there was a time ('70-'80) that almost all of us was obliviuos to superhero comics. But we got fantastic domestic comics like: "Cpt. Żbik" "Kajko i Kokosz", "Tytus, Romek i A'tomek" I invite you to reserach on this topic and even makeing a program about it.
A friend from Poland sent me the original Witcher comics and even translated them for me. But I misplaced them. If I ever find it, I plan to do an episode.
@@ComicTropes In Poland the most famous user of Gianni de Lucca effect was Tadeusz Baranowski in his surrealistic comic books "Antresolka Profesorka Nerwosolka" (Title is untranslatable to english I suppose :-) ) and almost in every other of his works. Bogusław Polch used it from time to time in his SF epic series "Funky Koval" ( "Funky" is considered in Poland as the best polish SF comic, true classic).
@@wojciechbem8661 Omg Fuky Koval is so awesome and so well drawn. @ComicTropes - please please check out Funky Koval series
I agree that "Understanding Comics" is an awesome eye opener. I remember how mind blown I was, being presented with clear examples right there on the page, along with consistent and plausible explanations. That particular book might not be the end of all debates surrounding comics, but it is a best possible start for a discussion of the topic.
I bought the first trade of the Tom Taylor run on Nightwing and now cannot wait for the next one to come out.
A newer trend really exemplified by Daniel Warren Johnson and James Harren is to bring the motion lines into the figure itself. Instead of a clean line for a character, that line is shaking and vibrating to show that it's in motion and full of energy. Great episode! I love thinking about this stuff.
I just had to explain this to my four years old who couldn't understand why there were suddenly 4 spidermen in his strip. While explaining it I realized how you can get so used to a technique that you don't even see it anymore. Thank you so much for this incredible explanation, really loved it as I loved your run on Romita Jr and other great artists. Love your humble tone too, clear views and moderation. Refreshing, enlightening even for old comics fans like me. Kudos !
By the way, I find the parallel with movies very interesting, and you can even see how, after comics took inspiration from movies, later on movies got inspired by comics (Ang Lee's Hulk, of course, but I'm thinking Old Boy, with the escape scene, of which I was reminded by the episode of the kid's saving in Daredevil S01 on Netflix). Those two art forms seem to feed each other :)
Cerebus did it in the Fall and the River section using a tour guide’s word balloons across multiple panels in one long panning shot for most of that first issue. Catching readers up on in-world events, like TV news is used in other comics as justified exposition.
Hm, I feel like there's something of a shared lineage with cubism here? Cubists had the idea to depict a single subject from multiple PERSPECTIVES at once, and here we are depicting a subject or subjects in a consistent scene at multiple TIMES at once?
It's essentially a form of animation. It draws a series of key-frames for a sequence of motions, and instead of using persistence of vision, it relies on the intuitive human understanding of how motion and movement works and connects to make us essentially see motion where no motion exists... so maybe that's a place to draw a name from? "Static animation"? "Keyframe flow"?
This was an AMAZING video! A must-watch for any comic book fan. I'd love to see a @ComicTropes follow up to take a look at how different comic artists use motion and poses in their depictions of fights. Some artists really show power, speed , savagery and big impacts in comic fights -- off the top of my head, guys like the Buscema's, Ron Frenz, Ron Lim, Perez, Ditko, the Romita's, Kirby, etc. Great use of motion in fight scenes have always been a draw for me.
Your channel is nothing short of a college level dive into comics. Thank you. Amazing work.
Scott McDaniel did this in some of his Nightwing comics, that was the first place I saw this method used and McDaniels style gave it a lot of excitement! Thanks for the heads-up on this Nightwing issue.
Reminds me of the tracking hall fight scene from "Oldboy."
You have a rockin’ mustache.
Also, I think Mike Allred did something similar to this Nightwing comic when he worked on Silver Surfer
Thanks!
Awesome video Chris. I was NOT expecting the Bayeux Tapestry to pop up! Awesome deep cut into what we'd call sequential art through history. You're awesome!
Also on a side note, I want to personally thank you for a post you put on you Instagram account the other day of you getting a mani-pedi. For the last year or so I've been painting my nails as a guy (usually black but sometimes black+white or all blue). I get a lot of enjoyment out of it and it helps me express something about myself. However, I've definitely caused distress by doing so in some of my family members. I'm 26, but it still feels bad when your parents are so against something you feel so strongly about and let you know it over and over again.. So, I was happy to see you do something similar as someone I look up to. I know it might seem silly but it really meant a lot to me. Thanks Chris.
This is such a cool topic,the art of storytelling is often underrated so its nice to go a little deeper in to how and why,technics,etc.
Yours is one of the best channels for analysis and discussions about comics, the artists, and writers throughout the genre's history. Sending out much love and respect from northern Canada.🥃
There's a brazillian comic called "CWB", by José de Aguar, that pushes the moebius strip thing to the limit (being a story that can be read on both orientations).
Great breakdown Chris, as a comic creator I appreciate this very much. Nightwing has been fantastic! Also Understanding comics is one of my favorite books of all time, it really made me fall in love with comics
This was awesome, Chris. Thank you!
Ps: I've received those scam comments in three different channels, all about different topics (comics, martial arts, gaming). Its quite obvious its fake though, I hope not too many are falling for it.
Love your videos, loyal watcher for about 3 years. Thanks!
it's inspiring me to try out the deluca effect later on in some of my own pieces.
So I get to teach a cartooning class at my school as a special. I played this video for my kids because it's great! They loved it! Thank you for the great info! I love this channel!
I had a reply just like the scam you described on Freakin' Reviews. I didn't react to it because it seemed odd to me. Thanks for the warning and now I know it's a scam. Also thanks for another wonderful episode. I don't often respond but I always give a thumbs up.
Another way you might portray movement with, is abstraction of the surroundings. The fast moving object is clearly visible in all its details but the surroundings are abstracts or colored beyond the lines and stuff. In The Metabarons there's a panel of a spaceship flying to another dimension or something which Gimenez depicted as if the ship had torn space apart where it had gone past, behind the spaceship where drawn simple shapes with few colors, a bit in a cubist style or like something Piet Mondriaan would've drawn. It's in one of the later comics in the series, either Aghorra or No-name iirc.
Love that you shouted out nerdync and comicpop. They are both good channels as well.
Love it! It's the thing about comics that draws us all in - the ability to convey motion through a static image. Honestly, when I started reading comics again as an adult (New 52), I was impressed by Eddy Barrows' use of the De Luca Effect and dynamic figure drawing on Nightwing at the time. It's a standard I hold new comics to.
I love this art style, it's gorgeous
Marcelo Costa also used this in Radiant Black issue ten, featuring Radiant Black and 001 walking through Existence.
That Moebius strip spread in Promethea was wild! Every time I reread the series, it always takes me a few extra minutes to get the right reading flow on those pages.
I'm not sure if it has been mentioned before in the comments, but Dan Slott & Mike Allred achieved a similar effect via an infinity loop narrative flow in Silver Surfer #11. Midway, the action that has occured in an upper flow above future events pictured below switches to engage the reader by turning the comic book upside down to read events that happen chronologically, yet we have already seen before. (If that makes sense.) Great issue, by the way. Thanks for the information in this video & a good look at one of the most intriguing techniques in comic book motion/time depiction!
What a wonderful topic for a video, really allowing for a brief but broad look at comics history. And bonus points for Bayeux tapestry tie-in!
Those scammers have tried with me several times, both on your channel and others, and I keep reporting them. TH-cam really should make more of and effort getting to grips with them.
Really interesting, especially as an amateur writer/illustrator.
And I must say that, as a fellow Italian, I feel quite ashamed that I was not familiar at all with De Luca until now.
So this Nightwing issue is like a side-scrolling video game (I remember Contra and Double Dragon best).
This is definitely something comics do best: multiple images guiding the eye through the narrative (or multiple narratives).
I thought of all those 8-bit side scrollers too.
Great episode, Chris. You keep rising the bar on what thoughtful commentary about our beloved medium can aspire to be. Another great example of polyptytch is in The Legacy of Luther Strode, there's a really cool fighting sequence between Luther and the Gunslinger that goes through a flight of stairs.
Regarding other ways of showing motion, I'm sure you read about subjective motion, greatly popular in manga, as it is described in Understanding Comics too.
I remember the first time I saw a whole comic in one very long image: it was a jpg of a wordless Shintaro Kago comic - and was of course utterly surreal and horrifying. The technique in that case wasn't used to communicate motion, however.
Another great insightful video. Love your Gene Colan and Infantino visuals, much admired artists of my youth. Appreciated your history lesson, including De Luca. And, always enjoy any reference to McCloud's seminal opus.
Imagine conveying motion in a 2-D medium... sequential art is magical!
Thank you for reminding us of the process.
Chris has had many great episodes on Comic Tropes, but this one is absolutely brilliant.
Thank you for the hard work and the time you put into researching and crafting each episode. You make every second meaningful.
I'm doing a comic book all by myself, and your videos have been an excellent resource of good references, and you´re a bad ass artist too. Thank you.
I really like the way Francis Manapul would play with the page layout during his time on the New 52 The Flash.
He would play with the panels' shape and position and he would have The Flash moving outside the panels to emphasize his speed.
It is a different technique than what was discussed in this video, but it is an example of moving outside the boundary of the traditional comic layout to give a new sense of movement.
Really interesting stuff, I love that I always learn something from your vids.
One thing I've noticed that's kinda cool is how radial panel layouts as opposed to left to right panel layouts can be used imply rapid acceleration
All Star Superman did this a few times
Great video. I'd never heard of De Luca so I just went and ordered every book I could find online. Thank you for all or your hard work!
How did I miss this episode? I'll have to check to see if there's any other treasures I can unearth. Another excellent episode Chris, great work!
One kind of motion I am fond of is what I ad-hoc call 'stochastic panels', where the time frame between panels decreases (usually, or increases I think I've seen once, to let things 'run their course'); the increase effect might be panels that go from someone running towards a door, then to them reaching towards the door, then to their hand almost touching the door latch, then the door-latch moving just a tiny bit... the sort of thing where, if say there's a bomb about to go off, it makes you live in the moment, the race against time. Only seen it a few times I noticed, but I think lighter versions of this are common, where a panel clearly shows a tiny increment of time in a moment of tension.
Really liked this one. Love learning about new artists in this way
Now that's an interesting topic. Also; I love Winsor Mckays work
In animation software the fading of previous characters would be referred to as 'onion skins'. Another form of motion that springs to mind is alternate panel shapes and breaking the panel.
As well as movement, there's also pacing of scenes, which can be down to the writer as much as the artist. I'd class Alan Moore as a master of pacing in scripts. For two examples, take the scene in Watchmen where Rorschach deduces the secret compartment in Edward Blake's closet and the scene in Miracleman between Bates and the nurse. Both examples of the action being clearly shown and paced in a way that tells the story effectively, informs the reader as to what's happening (wordlessly, in the case of the Watchmen scene) and also engages the reader in the detective work in one case and amplifies the suspense and horror in the other.
A classic Golden Age DC example of movement using multiples is Mort Meskin's Johnny Quick, where he used sequential images of the super-speedster in one panel to show him often doing a range of activities or fighting multiple opponents at high velocity. Meskin's technique was very distinctive at the time and different from the way e.g. the Flash's speed was shown.
I don't remember who said it, but I agree: "Alan Moore is a genius and we're lucky that he works in comics".
An awesomely edited episode
Hey! I have been watching your channel for awhile now and enjoying it and did have a comment about motion in comics, or at least motion in art. When they were looking at art in places like the Lascaux Cave (20k years old) there would be art with multiple heads.. or four legs at the front and back of an animal. When viewed with a sputtering torch and live flame, (simulated for us) the drawings would gain a motion effect. So the multiple heads, and the multiple legs, were a very early form of showing motion. 20k year old comics, done in charcoal, on rocks.
Scott McDaniel’s run on Nightwing deserves a mention here, his artwork was incredibly kinetic. Some issues were non-stop motion
Technical videos are some of the best! Also, watching this comic I could only think about that poor artist, omg xD
there's a board game called "Micro macro crime city". It's similar to those "where's waldo" books, the game comes with a big illustration of the city and you are suppose to solve some mysteries. It uses the "deluca effect", because if you look closely you can find different instances of the same characters acros the city, so imagine where's waldo but you not only try to find him, you try to track him acros the city to answer stuff like where he went, what he did and why he did it.
Lovely video! Please do more like this, talking about some aspect of comics, whenever you feel like it.
love these more technical installments of comic tropes! great work
This was an especially good episode! Thanks for showing us innovative ways of storytelling...
Loved the video Chris. Even though it was slightly technical, you broke it all down like a great teacher! Keep up the great work.
Really informative episode Chris! I love a nice deep dive!
Ah, De Luca. BRAVO! impeccable summary.
I really do love your channel. Your personality is just so wonderful to watch and listen to, and you never cease to have interesting things to say about comics. Thank you for all you do.
Very interesting subject, the single-take issue, as it were. I'll have to pick up this run. Watching this I was reminded of a tangential subject, that time Marvel did a whole month of comics with no spoken dialogue. Some titles were more successful than others, as I remember, but it was an interesting experiment. Perhaps comparing those issues and the way different artists handled the assignment might be a good subject for the future.
For budding comic book artists your videos are a box of gems😍 so much knowledge... Thank you so much
What an interesting video!! I couldn’t stop watching. Thank you so much for this!
I’ve been reading and loving comics for about 10 years now but there’s still so much to learn. Thanks! Already liked and subscribed of course.
Lotta love from Germany.