One of the problems in
comics is pacing. Unlike other media the writer has little direct
control over the pacing but has to rely on the artist to change up
the pacing. While there are numerous ways for the writer to tell the
artist that pacing needs to be adjusted, the problem is that the
conventions of the medium work against the writer, creating some
artificial handicaps for the writer. By exploring these conventions
we can make adjustments in the pacing, and thus making it easier to
add suspense and urgency to the comic.
First off, one of the
biggest problems is that the pages are usually the same length. In a
movie or novel you can create suspense or urgency by reducing the
length of scenes; by reducing the length of scenes a little bit over
time the incremental reduction of the scenes can create an overall
sense of urgency; you effectively quicken the pace of the audience's
beats by quickening the scenes, and that creates a real nice sense of
suspense. Because scenes are limited to half-pages or full-pages this
is hard to simulate in comics; you just can't shorten scenes by a
short amount each time to create suspense. Thus this neat trick is
pretty much off the table for comics.
However, compare the
difference in the length of cuts between a dramatic scene and an
action scene in a movie; the more dramatic the scene the longer the
cuts while the shorter cuts create a faster scene, making it perfect
for action scenes. In comics this can be simulated by splitting the
panels in two and simplifying the artwork to speed things up while
larger panels of more complex artwork will slow things down. Even
adding small Easter eggs and other details in the outlying areas,
such as graffiti and sign names, can help slow things down.
You can also use word
balloons to slow things down as well, but you want to try to avoid
using this as much as possible. While it can be a great way to
express character, it just comes off as cheap; even if the audience
can't tell the specific trick it can come off as cheap on an
instinctive level. The same applies to captions; it works but it
comes off as just as sneaky. Nonetheless, if you need to slow things
it is something worth doing as long as you don't do it a lot.
You can also split pages to
help create urgency as well. The idea is to split the page vertically
following different stories stories on each side. By creating
parallels between the two actions, you then effective double the
stakes by creating the illusion of a double or nothing situation;
both actions must succeed or fail. Because of the raised stakes you
can create some increased suspense. However, try to avoid raising the
stakes through any other means; this way works because you naturally
expect friends and allies to suffer equally while other means just
come off as somewhat cheap.
Thus, while you need to be
more subtle as well as work with the artist to adjust the pace and
thus create suspense or urgency, it can be done. This can be a great
tool to use but needs to used as subtly as possible in order to be
effective; keep that in mind and you should be able to have some fun
with the story's pacing.
