Batman - DC Comics
Batman is a fictional superhero that appears in the Batman DC comic that is based in the DC fictional universe. Batman as a character was created by an artist called Bob Kane and a writer called Bill Finger. Batman first appeared in detective comics in 1939, soon after Batman was first introduced as a character he quickly gained his own comic book title called 'Batman' this was a comic all about Batman and the world he lives in showing the ability and special powers he has among other characters in the comic world. To this day, Batman is one of the most well known DC comic characters rivaling other well known comic characters such as Superman and Wonder Woman. |
Wonder Woman- DC Comics Wonder Woman is a fictional superhero who appears across american comic books by DC comics. Wonder Woman as a character first appeared in the All Stars comic in 1941 she then grew and became one of the most well known female superhero's published across DC comic books. The character was created by an American writer and psychologist called William Moulton Marston alongside artists Harry G Peter and Olive Byrne. The character's appearance was inspired by the William Moulton Marston's wife Elizabeth. Wonder Woman is now a well known character in popular cultures and her character has been adapted for other uses in media such as films etc. |
Spider Man - Marvel
Spider Man is a fictional superhero that appears in American comic books published by Marvel as the creator. Spider Man was created by writer and editor Stan Lee alongside writer and editor Steve Ditko. Spider Man as a character first appeared in a comic anthology called Amazing Fantasy issue 5, Spider Man is now one of the most iconic superheros and is well known all over the Marvel world. Commercially, Spider Man is one of the most popular and successful superhero's , as Spider Man is one of Marvels mascots and flagship characters he appears on all forms of media such as films and live action television series. |
Hulk - Marvel
Hulk is a fictional superhero that appears in American comic books that are published by Marvel Comics. Hulk as a character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby of which the character first then appeared in the debut issue of the Incredible Hulk in May 1962. The Hulk has become a very popular superhero within the popular cultures, he has appeared on a lot of merchandise for Marvel fans such as clothing and other Marvel related collectable items. Hulk has now been adapted to live action television series, animations, games and films. |
The chosen comic book I am going to be analysing is Supergirl which is a seven series superhero comic published by DC Comics. It features Supergirl who is seen as the main character, the comic book is centred around her, she is part of the Superman family. Most titles of this comic feature Superman's cousin Kara Zor-El who was created as a female counterpart to Superman.
First of all, the title page of the comic series tends to feature Supergirl herself. Her pose on the front page shows her powers as a superhero, for example one of her many powers is 'super strength' this is conducted through the way she is standing on the front cover and the way the artist has portrayed this character through artistic technique. One technique the artist has used is body definition to her character, she has the physique and features of a strong woman this includes muscly arms, legs and six pack to imply the look of a strong woman. In many ways the way the character has been drawn in terms of muscle is similar to superman they artists have just shown it on a female body. |
In terms of text the comic uses short conversation sentences, some words are a in bold font to grab the readers attention this is where the character raises their voice and wants the reader to realise the type of emotion their feeling for example it says 'stay CALM' calm being the word in capitals and bold because the character is shouting it to suggest a level of seriousness to the conversation.
The text is fairly simplistic for the target audience, the comic is definitely written for its target audience because it uses simple words that anyone 15+ would understand. The colour of font changes from character to character and from panel to panel I think this makes the comic more aesthetically pleasing to a reader as having all one colour font could be seen as boring to a reader. As it is a comic, sound effects are shown as words these words tend to be in a word art format which really enhances the comic book feel. Also sound effects will be shown in capital letters which almost creates a sound with the word as most sound effects tend to be loud this helps the reader identify the sound effect and apply it to the picture which helps tell the story. |
The visual narrative of Supergirl is a vital part of the comic as it helps readers connect with what their reading, they can see the locations, characters and their expressions and also visual aspects such as colouring really help a reader understand the story.
On the right we can see a snippet of the comic, here the background is very dark and smokey which gives off the idea that there is some sort of conflict arising. Because comics do not have much narrative the story has to be told more or less through visual narrative, this comic has really effective visual narrative as the reader can instantly tell what's going on in the story just by looking at the picture. Another way that visual narrative is shown is by the facial expressions of the characters in the panels at the bottom, we can tell that the allies are in shock about the superheros appearance and powers as they are looking in a worried state where as the superheros have a very stern and superior look about them and that's all done through artistic techniques and excellent visual narrative. |
Supergirl uses mainly speech bubbles to show conversation and what the characters are saying when they're in shot but when for example Surpergirl is talking about something the comic will show the situation she is talking about and use blue text boxes of her explaining what's happening in the picture, we know its her speaking as there a supergirl symbol in the top corner of the first blue text box. This is a really effective yet different way of making the comic more alive as the character can see what supergirl is talking about without having to imagine it.
Meaning is created and shown through the images in the comic, what is being explained by Supergirl is being shown exactly how she's explaining it. Meaning is also shown in conversation panels, the comic sometimes shows us close up shots of the characters so the reader can really get a feel for what the character is feeling by their facial expression. |
Supergirl suggests meaning in the comic by the way she conducts herself, the way she is standing makes her look superior, powerful and in charge which are features of her character. With the gold background and interpretation of a golden statue in the background creates meaning through semiotics, this enhances this picture and really shows the reader how powerful Supergirl actually is. Another way meaning is shown in this picture is by the angle Supergirl is at, the artist has drawn it so the reader is looking up to her which suggests she's in authority.
The target audience for Supergirl is young females preferably 15+ purely because of the language used. The reason why Supergirl appeals to this age is because its very rare that Superheros are seen as women it's always usually males that get the role of Superheros so Supergirl gives females the opportunity to feel more empowered and also make comics appeal more for a female audience as stereo typically superhero comics are branded for males to read and there isn't much on the market for girls who might have an interest in comics but importantly of all a comic which stars a female superhero. |