GRAPHIC NARRATIVE EVALUATION

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE:
The spark within Born of Blood presents itself early on. When we see the young
Esther Williamson chained to a table, we instantaneously know that something is
amiss and a dangerous chain of events has been put into motion. This is
effective as it does not explicitly show what is occurring, but instead allows us to
ponder the potential reasons for ourselves, as well as raising a number of
questions-primarily, why does she not
look afraid? I drew influence from
Wytches in how I wanted the horror
themes to be blatant, but the specifics
of the situation to be revealed over a
slightly longer period. In the future, I
would incorporate more of these points
to
act
as
explanatory
catalysts;
segments which explore the mentality of
the characters and their reasoning for
partaking in the activities that they do.
Knowing that attention spans vary from
person to person, I tried to make a
single, prolonged escalation point over the duration of the Cult scene. By
spreading the text out over a number of panels, I was able to gradually escalate
the tension in a controlled manner. This also meant
that I was not overloading the reader with too much
information at a time and could start a normal
sentence in one box, and end it abnormally in
another, i.e. the story goes in the opposite direction
as to how we would expect it to. Inspiration was
taken from Harrow County in how the story turns
unexpectedly dark. Unlike with this example, mine
achieves this by starting in a negative place before it
reverts to a positive, family environment. This shows
how the plot can contrast with itself and need not
exist in only one
location or time
frame. Likewise,
I
paid
great
attention to The
Walking Dead and how the opening boxes
show Rick Grimes emerging from a coma.
Moreover, we know that something is amiss,
but cannot pinpoint what it is exactly.
Was I to do this again, I would split the opening scenes into smaller sections
which would present themselves at various points throughout the series. This
would cause the story ark to be more enigmatic and allow the audience to mull
over possibilities before being given a definitive response. This would be as in
Nailbiter where Edward Warrens past and reasoning for his homicidal tendencies

are investigated through flashbacks. Consequently, we are kept guessing, and

kept wanting more.
The denouement for the opening section seems to be reached before the end,
where it would typically be seen, in the sense that we learn the purpose of the
sacrifice before reaching the conclusion. This does not equate to a fail, however,
as it still leaves room for expansion and for the characters to detail why they are
involving themselves in such practices. To a degree, I wish I had not divulged in
this information so early on, but at the end of the first section. This would have
kept the audience guessing and intrigued as to why this slaughter was going
ahead. Furthermore, I believe that this would have made the climatic point all
the more shocking; if we found the true meaning of this process as her guts were
being removed, I believe it would be more impactful and be received as more of
a blow. Whilst we do receive answers in the prologue, so to speak, the story ark
which plays out in the present does not have such resolution. To a point, this is
positive as it ensures that the readers continue to read future issues to discover
the facts behind what is being shown. This statement was reinforced by a peer
who stated that they wished to know what happened next.
IMAGE CONSTRUCTION:
I chose to draw my images, using pencils to colour and a fine liner to outline. In
terms of the style, I deemed it appropriate to defer from my usual cartoonish
illustrations to a rougher, sharper form which could reflect the content and its
seriousness/severity. I wanted to achieve
a scratchy aesthetic that was haunting
and realistic, but also mysterious and as
if anything could be lurking in the
shadows. As such, I (tried!) to replicate
and merge the styles present in Rumble
and The Walking Dead. In my next
attempts, I will spend longer sketching,
designing and refining my work so as it
is
as good as it can be; in turn, this would
heighten its reception as the harder the
lines, and the more it corresponds with
the genre, the more it will resonate with
the audience and attain the desired
response.
When outlining in the future, I will
attempt to hint at the outline, as seen in the examples. To compensate for this, I
will explore the use of shadows and fibres to give more of a three dimensional
feel. This is shown well in The Walking Dead art, and is something I will closely
examine to make my graphic narrative all the more believable. Essentially, I will
distance myself from rigorously lining everything in black to give the illusion of
this being an extension of reality.
To better convey the confusion and uncertainty, I used large backwards/forwards
pencil strokes. This gives a rough texture and the illusion of pace and movement;
it tells us that nothing remains still or calm in this world and everything is
continually progressing and escalating. Coupled with this is the use of colour; for
the opening section I used dark tones to reflect the subject matter and lighter

ones later in the narrative. In hindsight, I wish I had continued with the moody
theme as this would have reiterated the horror tendencies and helped with
continuity. Furthermore, it would have shown that even in the most positive of
situations, i.e. moving home, there can be an omnipresent darkness which will
dominate everything. I would also use ink and brushes as opposed to pencil as
this would create a mythical and intriguing appearance whilst providing me with
greater control over blending. Like with professional products, I would also
experiment with introducing some of the colours in Photoshop. This would help
broaden my technical skills and allow me to see whether or not it was more
effective to continue to hand-draw every detail.
I avoided using captions as I did not want the reader
to fall into the trap of being told what to see; I
wanted them to look at the images and make their
own inferences and interpretations. City of Dust
couples this lack of overt direction with beautiful
artwork to create a truly immersive experience that
enables us to be inserted into the scenarios. It is
examples like this which bring home the notion that
a single image is worth a thousand words;
sometimes it is better to remain silent and allow the
viewer to forge their own theories.
As a whole, I am not overly impressed with what I
achieved in terms of the illustrations and colouring. I
have learnt that I need to make careful, considered
choices about the colours, proportions and content
of the pictures in each panel and not make split
second decisions and alterations. To rectify this
mistake in the future, I will make several test sheets
which contain any potential variations that I may use.
PRODUCTION PROCESSES:
A primary area for improvement would that of the typography. I would conduct
additional research into the different styles and consider having alternative fonts
for the pro and antagonists. This would show their differing character traits and
how their motivations are the antithesis of one another. This could be useful
when introducing new characters so that we are able to gain an inclination as to
who they are and what they want. As well as this, we can begin to understand
whether their actions are for the greater good, or for personal fulfilment and so
on.
As mentioned previously, I would change the method with which I coloured in my
work as a peer noted how it was a bit plain at points. Comments like this will
not suffice as it means the desired impact is not being received; I wanted to
create a bloody onslaught with paranormal overtures that shocked and unsettled
the reader, instead the result was slightly lacklustre due, in part, to the minimal
use of bold and attractive tones. I do not want block, acrylic colours reminiscent
of Pop Art and artists such as Roy Lichtenstein and Keith Haring, but mystical and
dusty tones like H.R Giger. I do, however, feel as though I was able to capture
motion and give the impression that nothing is as it seems, particularly on the
cover. Again, I believe that more care could have been taken over the colouring
and the density of the shades.

Furthermore, I feel that more time should have

been spent carefully
drawing the images
so that they were as
good as possible
and not of such an
elementary
level.
This would heighten
the reception as the
audience would be
able
to
better
immerse
themselves in the
plot as more realism
in the illustrations
would equate to more overall believability.
Additionally, I feel let down with myself for
knowing that not all of the images have been
drawn to the best of my ability. It is this that I
fear gives the illusion of the aesthetic being tacky and cheap and alarmingly
unprofessional, something that I wanted to avoid above all else.
It is the issue of time that caused the most problems for me. I underestimated
how long it would take to correctly produce my narrative to a good standard and
incorporate each of the elements that I wanted to. First and foremost, I
discovered that not all drawings go to plan and can even be achieved at skill
level like mine. As such, I had to redesign the content of several panels so that
they would not be left looking inferior or blank. Similarly, I did not consider the
additional time that would be required to insert my text and speech bubbles.
Inevitably, this proved troublesome as when I thought I was finished, I had not; in
some cases, I had not even left enough space to include the writing that I wanted
to, meaning some passages has to be omitted.
Moreover, I was forced to remove several pages as I had not correctly judged
how long it would take to create them. This was a significant blow as a great deal
of important content had to be left out or postponed until the next issue,
resulting in a poor overall conclusion, and poor storytelling in the latter section of
the narrative. Had I the opportunity to do this again, I would have made the sole
focus the Cult and their actions, before ending on a close up of Gracie looking
shocked and as if the malicious, demonic spirit has just possessed her. This
would have enabled me to further explore their twisted ideologies, and deliver a
harder-hitting and more horrific storyline. Ultimately, by focussing on a smaller
section, I would have been able to execute it better because I would not have
had the pressure of completing so much else besides.
FURTHER CONTEXT:
To a degree, the concept of religion is dealt with in how the opening section
chronicles those who have an extreme dislike of God and Christianity by
practicing Satanism. There is an obvious risk of upsetting and unsettling a
number of people by detailing such heinous acts, although I do not feel as
though I did this in a distasteful or excessively controversial manner. On deciding
to read the comic, the audience will be aware that there is a potentially
distressing subject matter and will be able to judge for themselves whether or

not they wish to proceed with their reading. There is no textual reference to race
and no character mentions this at any point.
On the other hand, some groups may criticise the lack of ethnic diversity as the
people whose faces we see are all white. When considering the context of the
story, this does not pose such an issue; the Cult scene is occurring in 1816 so
people of colour would not be likely to present themselves in situations such as
these. Likewise, the McAllister family is designed to have the appearance of an
AllAmerican family, although they are hiding their own sinister secrets. As the tale
progresses, I will include more characters of varying skin colour and faiths to
demonstrate the variation which is within society.
It is inferred, through their aesthetic, that the Grand Master is a female. This
breaks the stereotype that women cannot be in positions of power, or carry out
viscous acts; she is, in fact, the instigator of the sacrifice and a murderous
individual. This contradicts our potential preconceptions that women are caring,
loving people with mothering instincts; it shows that they can have other
agendas. On the other hand, Gracie and Zekes mother seems to be more
submissive
and
as
though
she
understands her place, so to speak.
Whilst she is not in an abusive
relationship, she is most definitely in an
overbearing one. This has a positive
effect; it does not say all members of a
gender are one way or another but
instead as being able to accomplish
anything regardless of who they are. In
Neonomicon, Merril Brears is shown as
being a strong FBI Agent and a vulnerable
victim of a horrendous monster. Unlike
with my piece, this power and lack of is
shown over the same character whereas
mine is over two.
In the future, I would consider adopting this technique so as to show the
transformation of the character and the hidden depths that they possess. It could
be used to display the fact that some people can endure so much more than they
believe and are capable of committing insurmountable acts.
I also tried to avoid representing the cast in
an overly sexual manner, like with female
superheroes. I wanted the characters to
seem realistic and relatable so that the
reader could visualise this happening to
them. I examined Wraith to see how people
of all ages and genders can be represented
and given equal roles without being 21 with
a desirable physique. It is this which is
important when telling a story; not all of
those involved will be as attractive as others
and they should not be downgraded to being
villainous, based merely on their looks.