Friday, May 26 • – 8
The first film recording by Auguste and Louis Lumière, La Sortie de l’Usine Lumière à Lyon (Workers Leaving The Lumière Factory in Lyon) and the first modern comic book by Richard F. Outcault, The Yellow Kid, both appeared in 1895. The fact that film and comics emerged almost simultaneously in history, their similarities in being pop culture phenomena of the 20th century and their shared affinity for depicting movement have led to theoretical and philosophical considerations that treat comics as ontologically similar to cinematic art. Consequently, numerous studies and philosophical analyses have approached comic book art by drawing parallels with the aesthetic, visual, and technical aspects of film.
Nevertheless, in this contribution, we aim to demonstrate that utilizing film as a model for understanding the media ontology of comic book art presents certain problems. We will emphasize the fundamental structural and ontological distinctions between comics and cinematic storytelling, examining their diverse formats, varied depictions of motion/duration, and the different role played by the concept of closure as an aesthetic and cognitive feature of comic art.
Boshko Karadjov, PhD, is a philosopher, essayist, cultural theorist and researcher in the field of graphic literature and intermedia arts. He is the author of four books—most recently Aesthetics of Comics—as well as over 50 scientific articles.