Transitioning Traditions In Western & Eastern Comics

Welcome, everyone! It is my absolute pleasure to introduce to you the conclusion to our first ever two-part article release. To start off, I would strongly recommend you first read our previous article Types of Panel To Panel Transitioning, where it will talk about the different types of transitioning in comic books. You will also need to have an understanding of the various terms used in this article. This is because we will be talking about the difference in the panel to panel transitioning between Western and Eastern comic books. I will be starting with western comics because they are a little simpler in design, and that helps to set an easy basis for this article.

When I refer to Western comics, I am addressing the traditional comic book and graphic novels. I recommend you read our article on Differentiating Comic Book Mediums. I would like to clarify that the values presented below are representative of an average proportion. Consider them as guidelines for common practice instead of rules.

Western comics traditionally use a more direct style of transitioning to tell their stories. They focus a large portion of their panels on action-to-action transitions. They also use a majority of their remaining transitions to be subject-to-subject and scene-to-scene. Take a look at the graph provided, Western Comics’ Use Of Panel To Panel Transitioning. This graph is an excellent representation of what we see in most western comic books today.

By now you should have already read our first article, Differentiating Comic Book Mediums. If so, you’ve probably figured out that we are talking about manga. Yes, we mentioned that manga has been referred to as graphic novels, but for the sake of keeping definitions straightforward, we will stay consistent with Unknown Comics’ definitions.

Manga is a nearly entirely different universe structurally speaking, especially when we talk about the kinds of transitioning we see being used. Manga uses the entire spectrum (Eastern Comics’ Use Of Panel To Panel Transitioning). This doesn’t change the mediums clarity or their storytelling abilities, but why is it different?

Manga makes use of the first and fifth type of panel to panel transitioning. Movement-to-movement and aspect-to-aspect. The first one is not as baffling as the fifth, where by definition, nothing happens! A page or pages, at the very least two sequential panels, do nothing but set the scene for either the location, the general concept or mood. The fifth type of panel to panel transitioning is rarely ever seen in Western comics.

Manga has been using aspect-to-aspect panel transitions as a staple practice. Scott McCloud mentions a possible reason for why. Western cultures are less likely to wander with their literary styles. This general practice could have bled into comic book writing standards. While in Eastern literary styles they had, in McClouds’ words, “emphasized being there over getting there”. I believe we have this tradition to thank for bringing to us this fantastic and incredibly artistic style of presenting comic books!

Another possible explanation for these differences between the West and the East is the length of the different mediums. Remember, traditional comic books range from approximately 22-32 pages in length. Manga in comparison is, usually, a serialized story sometimes spanning over thousands of pages. People love to collect manga. I personally haven’t had pleasure myself, but look forward to it. A lot can happen in a single issue. It could afford to depict their pages as a slow cinematic experience or for setting the desired mood.

In the last century or so, there has been a wave of what many sociologists refer to as globalization. There have been influxes of Western culture airing all the way to the East, and the East has driven their cultures back! These practices are starting to appear across all mediums. It also doesn’t hurt to know that you can have other tricks up your sleeve.

Give these techniques a shot. How does your work graph out? Which tradition do you prefer? Do you write comics with a Western literary tradition or Eastern? Or are you completely different? Now you have something to think about when you begin working on your own comics or while you are reading.