“The Longest Waiting Game” by Leah Henry, October 2018

For my comic I developed a simple story about a character, that represents me, getting into college at WSU. My project fits McCloud’s definition of comics in the sense that I have created a storyline made up of different visuals that are placed in a specific order. The illustrations that I produced were intentionally arranged in a sequence that could be easily understood by my viewers. One element from Understanding Comics that influenced my choices while working on this project was the concept of closure. I like the idea that readers can interpret messages in comics that aren’t necessarily included through an artist’s style. For example, I wanted to use some sort of transition between panels, so I decided to have a thought bubble connect two of the frames. In addition, the last panel of my comic portrays a message without any words, and instead uses illustrations and size of the panel to convey my idea.

At first, I decided that I wanted to have my comic printed because I know how the viewers experience differs from digital comics. Then, once I began working on my project, I found that the format of my comic seemed like it would work better digitally. With printed comics an artist is able to use each page in a way that a digital version cannot. On the other hand, digital comics can potentially be more interactive for its audience. My hope is that viewers will be able to easily follow the storyline and realize that I am referring to my own experience. Also, I hope that my audience is able to relate to my story and the message behind it in one way or another. The significance of my comic was to present the idea that good things come to those who wait. Overall, I struggled a bit when learning how to use Illustrator, but I am now eager to improve my skills and understand everything this software has to offer.