Advantages and Disadvantages of the Synthesis of Text and Images

As with all mediums of storytelling (e.g., written, oral, or digital) comics and graphic novels have numerous distinct advantages and disadvantages over its more established counterparts with regards to its story-telling technique.

A major advantage of comic books over novels is that the former is able to use a seamless blend between text and images to convey a story’s tone and emotion. For example, the art and writing style within Crime SuspensStories exemplified suspense and tension; the images within the panels are drawn with extensive details (especially with regards to the characters’ faces) and with a heavy shadow undertone, while the narration and the dialogue are often protracted. Because of these two qualities, the stories within the graphic novel become suspenseful and thrilling. Novels on the other hand have to rely solely on the rhetoric of the writer to portray the same mood.

However, the advantage of being able to use a synthesis of text and images is also a double-edge sword against comics and graphic novels. By utilizing both text and images, creators of comics and graphic novels have to rely on their audiences more. In other words, authors of comics and graphic novels have to hope that their audiences are familiar with all the allusions and references they make, in reference to both in the text and with images. Furthermore, readers of comic books may only focus on the text (i.e. the narration and dialogue) and gloss over the images. These readers may subsequently miss important images within the panels that has some greater importance regarding the story structure or the plot. Additionally, In short, because comics and graphic novels use both text and images, there are more factors that may be missed or misconstrued.