Visual Essay

VisualEssay

Visual Essay Rationale

Finding a topic and a specific thread to focus on was the first difficult challenge in this assignment as it would dictate which images and types that I would be using to convey my visual argument. In my case, I considered representing how comics have become the way they have today by visually showing the various forms they have taken from medieval manuscripts to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the 21^st Century. When I tried researching the various ways fictional characters have been conveyed visually, I soon found myself overwhelmed with the number of images that I would have to include had I pursued this thread completely. I was more passionate about the modern action comics since I was naturally more knowledgeable about the current superhero comics, so I changed my thread to show the evolution of the previously comedic centralized comics to the domination of the current superhero action ones.

Having decided now to focus on the evolution of superhero comics in the 20^th Century to the present day, the next hardest task was figuring out what specific images to include. Even within the superhero comic book industry there were a countless number of comic book series and characters from I could choose from. I had considered showing the contrast between the Marvel and DC comics, but when I put the images from both franchises together, I quickly realized the difference would not be noticeable to an audience member who was not as knowledgeable about the different universes in superhero comics. First, I needed to establish context like I would for any essay, especially if it is written. I chose a cluster of images that showed how comedic themed comics were prevalent in the early 1900s including a poster of  “The Yellow Kid” and Charlie Chapin, who both were considered the central comedic figures. I then transitioned to the action comics by showing the rise of Nazi Germany and World War II. The purpose of including these images is to show the transition from comedic comics to action and more violent based ones. Without this slide to explain the historical context, the 1^st and 3^rd set of pictures would seem as a large jump in logical reasoning that would confuse the reader. I included the Gladiator and Superman covers as they were considered the first successful action comics in the US. From there, I introduced the Captain America #1 cover and focused on the growth of the Captain America Comics for the next slides.

I choose to show the evolution of Captain America by contrasting how the covers of the comic books have changed to include better art. I also incorporated a fade in transition for each new image to show the covers have slowly changed into the modern ones. I also made use of repetition to emphasize how pivotal the first Captain America Comic was in what it grew into. I showed, with fade in transitions, the change from comics to the first animated tv show in the 90s, to the second improved animated show in ’09, to the current live action representation of Captain America in the Marvel’s The Avengers movie. I also made the contrast between the various forms Captain America has taken to highlight the evolutionary change of the character visually. To support my essay with solid evidence, I included graphs that clearly showed the growth of the comic book industry and how it affected the success of Marvel Studios by showing the comic book sales by year, and the box office growth of the Marvel Movies. This data helps to give validation to my argument, and I concluded the essay with the use of a chart of future movies, the 10 year Marvel anniversary logo, and a growth symbol to convey that even today, the Superhero comic industry is still growing.

The readings from class have played a large role in the effectiveness of the argument being conveyed. Throughout the entire presentation, I attempted to convey how stories have been told and how these methods of story telling have changed or altered over the course of the 20^th century. In the first slide  I show that these comedic stories have been told in written colorless comics. Then I progress to how they’ve changed to color comics in the form of booklets that were printed for Captain America. Finally, I conclude with the modern representation of Captain America in the digital movies. Similarly to how the Digital/Electronic Revolution changed writing as discussed in the “A Better Pencil” reading, the introduction of TV Shows and Movies that show the characters moving in 3 dimensions on a movie screen shows how technology has changed the way action entertainment affects the audience. I include the graphs and statistics on the movies to visually show that the screen representation of Captain America and other Superheroes has grown and continues to grow.

My choice of images exemplifies the concepts discussed in “Toward a theory of of Visual Argument”. One of the key questions asked in this reading is Can an image, or series of images, make an argument? The 8^th slide in my presentation visually shows the evolution of the comics to tv shows to movies, all of which are mediums for conveying writing. It is visibly clear from the animations and arrows that each image led to the next chronologically. The titles on the posters themselves would not make sense alone and the pictures alone would leave the reader confused about why I choose to present them in that order, but together with the images, they inform the reader how the representation of the superheroes has changed. Immediate visual context is also applicable in my presentation in that the third slide portrays photos from World War 2, not for the purpose of showing war, but for the purpose of explaining the reason for change in comedic comics to action comics. If this was left out, the reader would be confused with the logical jump from comedic comics to action comics. Also the graphs conveying the box office totals from other Marvel Movies compares Captain America, my main focus, to the other Marvel Related Films to give a cultural context of how the superhero comics have grown financially in their movie representations. Without them, the reader would not be able to see how the Superhero comics have affected the growth of the movie industry, thus providing crucial cultural context.