Webcomics / Johnny Bullet Comic

Johnny Bullet #21 Comic

By Hervé St-Louis
April 19, 2015 - 00:54

           

           

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     Written by : Hervé St-Louis
     Pencilled by : Hervé St-Louis
     Inked by : Hervé St-Louis

This week, at the Faculty of Information, we’re having PhD research Days. This year will be the first one where I’ll be able to present my research to the entire faculty in a presentation. The only thing on my mind for the rest of the week will be this presentation. It’s the ultimate peer review. The professors, students and the public respond to each student’s presentation. I realize that my faculty is very strong. Through osmosis and private discussions, I’ve picked up a lot of things from them.

I’ve picked the new font for Johnny Bullet, based on multiple votes from readers throughout the Web. I would have liked a bit more feedback but I’ve had just enough to determine which font was favoured by most readers. Fonts are such a personal thing and they can change the identity of a comic. In hindsight, I realize that the font I’m using now doesn’t capture the alleged retro look that many people told me they perceive in Johnny Bullet. Some people have told me that my “retro” look actually puts them off from reading Johnny Bullet. That might explain my ongoing struggles at Tapastic where many readers tell me that I don’t use current storytelling techniques.

If you read a comic written by Bran Bendis or Geoff Johns and all of their imitators, you will soon realize that the pace of their story is determined by the dialogues and the narration captions. Johns is less wordy than Bendis, yet his work continues to dominate the comics he writes. I would argue that he has a better pacing and balance than Bendis, who forces his artists t break up their panels into multiple pieces so that he can interject witty comments. The visual storytelling no longer leads the flow of the story. The dialogues determine if the story is slow or fast. Readers ignore background details and to read the characters. They focus on the characters’ lips. I’d argue that Mark Waid still writes like writers from a generation ago but his work, like Grant Morrison still feels fresh and current.

In Johnny Bullet, a lot of storytelling is packed in every page. It’s easy to miss visual cues when as a reader you’re used to being led by dialogues. Given my “retro” look, I can understand why some readers feel that my work belongs in the 1950s! It doesn’t. I would argue that it looks “retro” only at the surface level. There is a good mix of current storytelling techniques that don’t rely on dialogues. It’s probably easier to pick up when reading several strips at once. Hence, the Web comic format with weekly updates may be difficult to introduce readers to storytelling techniques that require them to read more than the words!

Have a great week!

Hervé

Last Updated: November 10, 2023 - 14:53
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