I have started the process of reflecting on some aspects related to my thinking about comics. Here is an initial basic formula I have put together…in developing an overall appreciation of the thinking of the philosophical aspects of comics.

In comics, this static, visual form…there exists the opportunity to study its contributing elements…in order to examine its design and better understand its propensity for visual communication. Comics are usually constructed from the juxtaposition of words and images in a series of panels on pages…although, alternatively they can be arranged for display on digital spaces i.e. screens. (Art and Photo-©2019 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)

As we are dealing with the expression and visual communication of arrangements of words and images in a flat space…we enter the domain of the graphical and into the domain of aesthetics… and this becomes an appropriate area of philosophy to study. (Art and Photo-©2019 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)

The thinking of comics as a hybrid form of aesthetics…of a combination of writing and of drawing…of this plus that, not one or the other. This may become problematic. In some instances a comic can consist solely of words…and at other times just drawings, but usually the form is constructed from the combination of both these elements. In this sense it may be perceived as a dual or hybrid form of expression and visual communication. This juxtaposition of the disparate forms of writing and drawing…can be perceived as something of a misfit or, as it is sometimes labelled, a ‘mongrel’ form. (Art and Photo-©2019 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)

And things start to get messy around this point…of breaking the aesthetic aspects down into the contrasting elements of writing and drawing…and raising the notion that in comics construction the writing can be “drawn” in an expressive manner…and not necessarily remain in a typed or scripted form. Similarly the drawing can be “written”…in the sense that it can be “scripted” in freehand with a pen and ink…in the same manner as a cursive writing or drawing style, etcetera. (Art and Photo-©2019 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)

For this initial blog post about the matter…I would simply conclude that comics can be perceived as works of visual communication…constructed from a combination of the elements of words and images and…philosophically speaking, can be studied in terms of its aesthetic aspects. More to follow in my next blog post about this subject. (Art and Photo-©2019 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)

_{(All text, photos and graphic art-©2019 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics).}