Lupton and Cole Phillips’ chapter on “Scale” from their Graphic Design: The New Basics ostensibly spells out the importance and pragmatism derived from the way certain objects are placed and how they appear in contrast to another according to size. The clarity and placement involved is relative, as well as the physical objective nature of the structure itself being subjectively rendered, and it all depends on how the author portrays the object. Whether they decided to pair it with an object or background of similar hue, or something on the opposite end of the spectrum, all plays into the end result of how large, small, or impactful the object appears.

A spread from “Teen Titans: The Future is Now” by Geoff Johns

In the example I have provided from Geoff Johns’ “Teen Titans: The Future is Now,” we see how scaling works to give the spread a punch (not to mention some actual punches from Starfire, et cetera). Scale is subjective in this example, because if you consider that these characters are all roughly similar sizes as humanoids, the characters who appear larger or smaller make those who are nearer to the center more pronounced, along with the role of color. In the comic, they are objectively showing that Superboy is pretty much the size of a tiger by having the two of them fight each other on the same plane. To go with that reasoning, Starfire is much larger than Wonder Woman, giving their objective sizes, as they are also on the same plane. Although it may seem chaotic, there is a flow that allows for the scaling to work, especially in regards to color. When you get closer to the edge of the pages, the gradient is dark, but the center is a rich, fiery color. With color and the use of foreshortening, there is a lot of depth to the artwork, along with the heavy contrasting lights and shadows. Captain Marvel, Raven, and Dark Raven, who are smaller in comparison to the rest, add movement with their subjective scaling, especially when compared to the size of Kid Flash’s head at the bottom of the page. It gives a lot of focus to those in the center, as these crime-fighters all seem to be suspended in space choke-holding and about to strike blows.