One of the things that really struck me in Frank Miller's epic was the use of thoughts in character development. Although it is a little tough to follow at first, the use of different color texts really goes a long way in understanding what the characters are doing and why. I thought it was interesting to see the internal monologues used across a wide variety of characters, ranging from Batman himself to more minor characters like Commissioner Gordon. It allows enough "screen time" to each character and prevents many of the characters from becoming one dimensional.
Perhaps the best use of this style of writing comes with the Joker's thoughts. Miller's Joker is meant to be significantly darker and he is able to accomplish this by going inside the mind of psychopath. On page 140 as the Joker is handing out cotton candy at the county fair, he thinks back to all of the people he's killed and how he doesn't even keep count while also commenting that he loves that Batman does. If used as speech, this sort of characterization would feel forced and unnatural, but by keeping the Joker's monologue internal, as readers it feels as if we are inside of his deranged thought process.
Jacob,
ReplyDeleteI too felt that the internal monologues of the many different characters helped create more of a dynamic story. Unlike Superman, for example, we understand the motivations for all characters, both good and bad. The reader can understand the Joker's actions even though we shouldn't root for him. Although he is the bad guy, he is not one dimensional like the villains we have seen in other superhero comics.
Now, looking at "Watchmen" we can see that this tactic of internal monologue across characters is used in a similar way as it is used in "The Dark Knight". Each segment in "Watchmen" focuses on a different character, pulling us deeper into a larger story/history of their world. I wonder if "Watchmen" grabbed this tactic from "The Dark Knight."