Plot and Panel: Comic Strips as a Storytelling Form

Stories come in many forms and through many mediums –

Television shows, movies, theater, graphic novels, short stories, novels, and poetry – yet how many consider comic strips to be a storytelling technique? I certainly did not until I recently ran across two masters of the art, Charles Schultz and Bill Watterson, who nearly perfected this type of storytelling in their daily classics.

Simplicity Meets Insight

Ernest Hemingway supposedly once told a story in six words; in a similar way, comic strips seek to tell a story in four panels through simple penmanship and frugal dialogue. The greatest comic strip artists succeed in weaving fragments of life that are humorous, poignant, and profound. Detailed story worlds and deep characters are built through well-placed lines and precise dialogue from panel to panel each day of the week. Through the pensive Charlie Brown and imaginative Calvin, both Schultz and Watterson achieve astounding brevity with their stories. Despite their simplistic pictures and economy of words, both artists choose themes such as fear, rebellion, conflict, adventure, mystery, wonder, and hope that resonate within the soul. Comic strips are essentially flash fiction at its finest.

Strength of Symbolism

Due to the pictorial nature and simplicity of comic strips, symbols can often be seamlessly woven in to the story. Calvin’s reckless wagon excursions, Snoopy’s doghouse, and Charlie Brown’s elusive football leave indelible prints on the minds of their readers. We could try to pin down what exactly Charlie Brown’s football means, but in the end, we too might find that football elusive. The symbolic value of these recurring concepts nonetheless remain.

Voluntary Verisimilitude

Comic strips also enjoy an advantage commonly associated with children’s stories and fairy tales which is: the abnormal and fantastic is more palatable to the reader. In Shultz’s Peanuts no parents appear. Instead, the children seem to live in a world with no adults, and yet, food, clothing, and shelter is provided. Likewise, in Calvin and Hobbes, Watterson sometimes teases his audience with the idea that the monster under Calvin’s bed really does exist. Perhaps it is the cartoonish style, or the story world itself, but comic strips aid the audience’s willingness to suspend disbelief.

Growth Through Variety

Whether you are a reader, writer, or artist there is something to be gained by introducing comic strips to your creative collection; particularly the works of masters like Schultz and Watterson. C.S. Lewis in his essay “On Three Ways of Writing for Children” likened a broad reading spectrum to a well-grown tree trunk with many rings – the addition of thoughtful comic strips to your reading experience could be another ring in your tree trunk.