WHAT IS A SILENT COMIC OR WITHOUT DIALOGUE? - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

The silent cartoon or without dialogue is a series of comic strips or cartoon drawings that tells a story without including any type of explicit dialogue, establishing communication through the gestures and actions carried out by the characters that are involved in the plot.

Comics or comics are constituted as a series of consecutive drawings that have the purpose of telling a story. The comic strip has been considered a product of the cultural industry that, in addition to its entertainment function, has had an impact on pedagogy, showing itself as an easy learning tool for infants due to its high content of images.

Silent Cartoon Illustration

Silent comics have become one of the particular genres in the world of comics. Generally, the language in the comics is manifested in the corporal expression of the characters drawn, as well as in the actions they carry out and the environment in which they develop.

To all this are added the dialogues, which are usually plotted in the form of clouds at the top. In the case of silent comics, these dialog clouds do not exist, so all the elements described above are reinforced.

In order to convey their messages and knowledge, the silent comics have to convey with great precision the impressions of the characters, as well as to be more detailed in the actions they carry out.

If not, the goal of conveying a message that becomes a story may be diminished.

The Royal Spanish Academy defines comic strips as “Series of drawings that constitute a comic, fantastic, adventure story, etc., with or without text, and that can be a simple strip in the press, one or more pages, or a book ”, So within its definition is the meaning of silent cartoon.

History of silent comics

Silence in comic strips has existed since its inception, but it is generally presented in fragments. That is, certain scenes from comic books have been shown without any dialogue. Their authors have historically preferred to leave sublime scenes such as endings or deaths without dialogue.

One of the first forays into the great American comics was GI Joe's 21st comic: American Real Hero. Later, Amazing Spider-Man had a foray into the world of silent comics, in its 39th edition. Later, Ultimate Spider-Man 133 set the tone in the consolidation of this genre.

More recently, the silent comics have taken their position in moments of deep pain. This is the case of the edition that was published after the terrorist attacks of September 11 in New York, entitled A moment of silence.

The silent cartoon has now become a versatile tool, which has established itself in the cultural comics industry.

characteristics

Silent comics have any number of differences from one another, but they all share very important elements.

No dialogue

What makes them silent comics is that there is no type of dialogue that involves the characters in question.

Some silent comics include actions that express sounds, which can be onomatopoeia or simply noises that express something that happened previously.

Defined Actions

Lacking explicit dialogue, the actions of the characters must be clearer and more defined. Sometimes, silent comics require a greater number of illustrations, or also that the illustrations are much more specific showing the actions that are carried out and the environment in which the plot takes place.

The performances of the characters should be the line of the whole story. This means that thoughts, to be reflected, must be transformed into actions.

The silent comics have a more direct behavior, aimed at what is done and not what is thought.

Short duration

Although there are some completely silent comics, the presentation of this type of comics is more frequent in fractions of large comics, known worldwide.

In addition, due to the precise limitation of the absence of dialogue, silent comics tend to be much shorter in duration than traditional comics. Although some are above average, they are generally stories with a beginning, middle, and end that occur in just a few comic strips.

Universal gender

By not having dialogues, the silent comics do not belong to a region or country, which links them to a certain language. For this reason, it is considered the most universal genre within comic strips, because everything is captured through illustrations.

Simple stories

The simplicity of the stories told in silent comics does not detract from depth. Precisely, since they are actions that do not require dialogue, they become universal, encompassing the entire human species, transcending the basics and delving into feelings and the power of actions and emotions.

Intentionality

The author of the silent comic strip usually has an intentionality in mind when it comes to his story.

However, as there are no dialogues, interpretations do not wait, so any silent comic is susceptible to being interpreted in different ways.

Examples

Amazing Spider Man # 39

In this story, Peter and Mary ended their marriage. Mary establishes a romantic relationship with another actor, but keeps thinking about Peter.

This one, continued doing all his actions as Spider-Man while maintaining spite for his beloved.

Ultimate Spider-Man # 133

After Marvel killed most of its characters from the Ultimate saga, Spider-Man was in doubt.

In this edition there is speculation about his death, because he finally ends up finding the mask that Peter Parker used as Spider-Man.

Fuan No Tane

It is a Japanese story narrated by Masaaki Nayakama in which minimalist horror stories are captured, in manga form.

The incursion of silent comics in the world of terror is striking, more specifically in Japanese comics.

I. Joe # 21

This story, narrated by Larry Hama, was a purpose fulfilled for him. One of his wishes was to be able to tell a story without dialogue.

In this story, Snake Eyes infiltrated Cobra Castle to rescue Joe Scarlett, which was a resounding success.

A Moment of Silence

Written by Kevin Smith, Joe Quesada, Bill Jemas and Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Igor Kordey, John Romita Jr., Mark Bagley and Chuck Austen, it tells four non-dialogue stories about the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2011 in the city of New York, USA.

References

1. Creative Bloq Staff. (October 3, 2013). Silent comics need no words to shine. Creative Bloq. Recovered from creativebloq.com.
2. (2011). Comics without dialogue: How do you feel about them? (blog post). Comic Vine. Recovered from comicvine.gamespot.com.
3. Jackson, G. and Whitbrook J. (March 8, 2015). 10 Examples of Comics Art So Good, They Don't Need Words to Tell a Story. Recovered from io9.gizmodo.com.
4. Johnson, M. (August 25, 2012). What do “silent” comics teach us about the medium? Pencil Panel Page. Recovered from pencilpanelpage.wordpress.com.
5. Klie, D. (August 26, 2013). The silent cartoon: CHHHT! Log of a mortal. Recovered from bitacoradeunmortal.blogspot.com.
6. Ryerson University. (November 29, 2013). Decoding the world of silent comics. News and Events, Ryerson University. Recovered from ryerson.ca.
7. Sneddon, L. (January 20, 2015). The Silent and the Sequential: Wordless Comics. Recovered from comicbookgrrrl.com.