In hopes of breaking the tedium of reading and writing essays in the form of blog posts, I decided to choose the alternative option for this project and create my own comic. My comic is entitled “The Palovican Box of Love,” and it consists of seventeen panels. When working with the other students who opted for the alternative project, I quickly realized that my comic was much lengthier than theirs were. One was as short as three panels long, and the longest was no more than twelve. Rethinking the layout of my comic, and not wanting its length to be a disadvantage for me in its critique by my audience, I went back to my storyboard and looked to see if there were any panels I could edit or get rid of to compress my story and to possibly make it easier for the reader to understand. I was able to get rid of one panel completely and consolidate two others, but this resulted in the ironic addition of two new panels – panels 3 and 4. These two panels were added to visually illustrate where this family is headed and how greatly the image of this foreign country contrasts with the image of the “Big City” to which they have all grown accustomed.
Another aspect of “The Palovican Box of Love” that I incorporated in order to express the physical difference between the people of Palovica and the American family is the use of flowers. In this country I fabricated, flowers are found everywhere – on clothing and bedspreads, in picture frames, and in other decorations. Because of this, the viewer is easily able to distinguish the American teenager from his Palovican cousins, making it much easier to follow along with the story.
One characteristic I wanted my comic to have is relatability. I wanted my comic characters in the younger generation to be able to easily relate to the feelings and mindset of the people in my audience. In order to accomplish this task, I used simple and cartoon-like representations of people in my comic and dialogue and captioning that I have either used myself or heard before in conversations that have been within earshot range of me. In addition, I feel that the captions that have been placed on almost every panel contribute to this feeling of relatability. The audience is able to tune in to the inner thoughts of the American teen, who is the main character, and either agree or disagree with what he is saying. The use of captioning in this comic also works to further inform the reader. If he is not able to comprehend some aspect of the story, the unspoken comments of the teen help clarify.
I am pleased with the final layout of my comic and feel that all of the panels in “The Palovican Box of Love” are necessary and relevant to my story.
Links:
Statement of Purpose
Final Draft:
Panel 1, Panel 2
Panel 3, Panel 4
Panel 5, Panel 6
Panel 7, Panel 8
Panel 9, Panel 10
Panel 11, Panel 12
Panel 13, Panel 14
Panel 15, Panel 16
Panel 17, Panel 18
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