(Kist) Graphic Novels

 

This blog entry will be comparing the two graphic novels:

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer

and

Naruto Volume 1

 

Text and Dialogue

Narration

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
Pinocchio is our narrator, allowing for first person. It only feel like true narration in the beginning, before he moves into action with other characters.	This novel does not have narration, as it relies on character dialogue to promote understanding.

Balloons

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
All dialogue is contained in a word balloon, with an indicator toward the speaker. The shape or size only depends on the speech length.	While some of the text is contained in balloons, there is a lot that is not. It usually is in white (negative) space, but it is typically inserted where space allows.

Captions

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
It would seem that the first page could be considered a caption, but it feels more that Pinocchio is saying that rather than the author. It feels like an introduction to his later lines.	The “Once upon a time” opening would be a caption by the author, but I don’t believe there are others. As previously stated, text here is between characters.

Emanata

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
Emanata are present in this text, but they are more to demonstrate motion than shock or surprise.	Emanata are almost overwhelming in this text, as they are all over the place. They demonstrate a range of emotions and motion.

Labels/ Signs

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
The only real labels we get here are those on the grave markers and for the fallen toymaker sign.	Labels or signs are not used in this text.

Lettering

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
In this text, the letters are all in capitals and in precise, easy to read text. Some letters/ words are bold for emphasis. It is not a block font, but it is a clear, handwritten font.	All of the letters in dialogue are capitalized. The font ranges from a structured, easy to read handwriting, to more exaggerated efforts. Some fonts are tall and squished laterally while others are tall and bold.

Sound Effects

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
There are some sound effects used in this text, but they are easy to overlook. The reader sees them, but they don’t jump out at you.	This text uses big and bold uses of sound effects. They, at times, overpower the dialogue and/or action. In some cases, the sound effects are the action being focused upon.

 

Visual Features

Characters

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer

Naruto Volume 1

The characters here are very distinct. Pinocchio has the curled hair with strong lateral cheeks and short stature, not to mention the nose. The vampires are tall with wiry hair and black cloaks. The fairy is shown with wrinkled skin, short stature and a cowl on her shoulders. Master cherry has a distinct beard and glasses.

While some would argue that manga characters are very similar in appearance, the small details set them apart. Naruto has blonde hair, the goggles or hitai-ate, three small lines on each cheek and the vest with black stripes. Sakura has long hair with strands out front, the hitai-ate is used to hold her hair back, and she wears a black dress. Sasuke has black spiked hair with a black jacket up around his neck and the hitai-ate slightly obscured by his hair.

Objects

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
The main object used in this novel is Pinocchio’s nose, which he rips off to slay the vampires with. Objects without importance were left out for a more simplistic design.	This text focuses on a variety of objects, ranging from the hitai-ate to paint and erasers, to ninja tools and weapons. This text, like Pinocchio, uses its objects in important scenes.

Icons

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
I would say that the only icons in this text were the signs that had been transferred into wood.	I don’t believe that there are any icons which stand out in this text, except for the symbol on the hitai-ate.

Scenery

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
Except for strong action scenes, I would say that this text uses minimal scenery. In most cases, there are hints (such as cobblestone) which allude to a location. It allows for the reader to fill in most of the information without cluttering the page.	This text uses a much more complicated idea of scenery. Especially in the wooded scenes, there is a lot of “background noise” going on behind the characters. It usually isn’t clear except for long shots.

Depicted Action

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
The actions in this text are very, very clear. It is obvious who is doing what, where and when. The emanata help to show motion more than anything else does.	This text can get slightly confusing at times with all of the action. Granted, it’s about ninjas (in training, at least), so motion was perhaps intended to be deceiving. In some scenes, it is impossible to tell who is doing what, where, or why.

 

General Layout and Design

Borders

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
Panels that are on white gutters have thin black borders. Those on black gutters have no particular outline, although it is perceived through negative space to be there. There are some without borders, although those are perceived through other visual effects.	Most panels have black rectangular borders. Those that don’t are splashed across and/or take up more room on the page.

Gutters

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
Most pages have white gutters, but pages with a lot of dark panels seem to have black gutters. In rare instances, the gutters are taken up entirely by panels.	For the most part, the gutters are white. However, a lot of the gutters in this text are polluted with splashing, be it characters or text.

Panels

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
Most of the panels here are rectangular, but they don’t really have a “uniform size.” It truly varies—even on the same page.	This text relies more on a uniform size of panel. Some panels are combinations of one or more small units, but it rarely goes to an odd size.

Open Panel

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
Open panels are more common in this text than in Naruto. They occur on a regular basis, as both a point for emphasis and a visual POP from the page.	These only seem to happen in this text when the panel takes up one-third or more of the page.

Splash

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
Splash panels are very common in this text, but double splashes happen rarely.	This text has more double-splashes than Pinocchio, and they are typically high-motion, large-text scenes.

 

Angles and Frames

Bleed

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
Bleed panels are common in this text when the splash panels are larger.	Bleed panels here are usually used to indicate a lot of motion.

Close-Up

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
I would say that there are very, very few close-up shots in this text. Those that made it in are of glaring eyes, showing strong emotion.	There is an occasional close-up in this text when trying to emphasize emotion on a character’s face.

Head Shot

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
Head shots are very popular in this text, especially in groups.	Head shots are common in this text as well, but they are more spread out among the other shots.

Head-Shoulder Shot

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
This is a common shot, but I would not say that this is the most popular shot used in this novel.	In this text, the head-shoulder shot seems supreme over many others. This is perhaps because of its ability to showcase emotion while still including background.

Full-Figure Shot

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
The majority of scenes with other characters are full-figure shots, which show interaction and relationships between characters.	While this shot pops up here and there, it is not very popular for this text.

Longshot

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
In Pinocchio, this seems to be present when a strong focus on one character is needed.	This shot is not very common in this book except instances where distance or prominence (importance, perhaps) is paramount.

Extreme Longshot

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
This doesn’t happen in this novel. The action is more immediate—closer, to the reader.	There are a couple of forest scenes in which a lot of motion is occurring and it could only be seen by an extreme longshot.

Reverse

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
Reverse shots are not really seen in this text. For the most part, Pinocchio is either facing other characters or walking toward the reader.	The reverse shot is much more common in this text. I would assume that, as a ninja in training, one should always be looking behind one’s back for unseen enemies.

 

Rhetorical Techniques

Exaggeration

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
There aren’t a whole lot of overly exaggerated shots in this novel. It’s pretty straightforward.	Exaggeration is the name of the game with this novel. Unlike Pinocchio, it exaggerates everything, including sound effects (to obnoxious ends, I have to say).

 

Empathy/ Identification

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
This character was more easily identifiable to me. We all battle our demons with our own special skills. At some point in our lives, revenge and bloodlust can overcome anything else, but it is the seeming “humanity” in a non-human form which truly brings me closer to Pinocchio.	This book is much harder to relate to. In one sense, the characters seem like teens and that is all right. However, when you consider all of the circumstances, ninja training and fighting for your life aren’t things one does often. Take into consideration the very heavy cultural influence, and it makes it even more difficult to relate—for me, at least.

 

Mood/ Tone

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
This text has a very solemn tone to it. It seems like Pinocchio feels that he has to hunt the vampires and strike them down, or he will lose everything they didn’t take in the first place. I don’t really feel many instances here where moods other than solemn, grief, rage, or self-loathing come into play.	This text takes on a much lighter tone, with characters who joke and dialogue that isn’t quite so serious. While I felt that there were serious moments, I was never fully pulled into those. Humor always brought me out and into the next scene.

 

Simplicity/ Complexity

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
This novel is more simple compared to Naruto, in all aspects. The dialogue was more clean and in easy to understand diction.	Naruto presents a challenge in both its complexity of storyline and the sheer amount of “stuff” contained on the pages.

 

Irony/ Satire

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
While I found it ironic that an animated piece of wood is using his magical talent to extinguish reanimated life, this book just didn’t strike me as satirical.	Naruto was definitely satirical in many ways to me. Not only was the author commenting on the believed invincibility of adolescents/ teens, but there was a major spin on the ninja culture. Some sacred tenets were seen as sacred, but most were satirical references at best.

 

Realism

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
Strangely enough, this book seemed more real to me. Perhaps it was the emphasis on humanity and its loss that brings me to this conclusion, but I believed it more.	Naruto didn’t strike me as a real text. It was something that I could see as a cartoon, but nothing to be taken seriously. For me, it was entertainment only.

 

Order/ Disorder

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
Pinocchio had a very clear order of action and consequence throughout the text, and this allowed for a smooth understanding.	Naruto, at times, became difficult to follow. Some panels didn’t give explanation to actions occurring while others seemed put there merely to create chaos.

Relationships

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
The relationships here are strong, especially between Pinocchio, the fairy and Master Cherry. There is a familial sense that promotes grief when Master Cherry is murdered.	This text desires to play with relationships and what is real versus illusion. Naruto “loves” Sakura, who “loves” Sasuke. All of these are illusionary relationships as they only exist in the minds of the love-originators. Naruto is without family and we don’t get into the family lives of the others much.

Point of View

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
Pinocchio begins out very distinctly in first person. It seems that it transitions over to third, but it could still be considered first. The speaker/ narrator is Pinocchio, who the story follows.	Naruto is in third person as the action happens around him and does not explicitly follow him. At times, whole scenes do not involve him.

Juxtaposition

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer	Naruto Volume 1
I was very interested in this graphic novel and very much enjoyed it. The storyline was simple, yet it wasn’t boring. I felt a connection to the main characters and even a little grief at the loss of Master Cherry. There is something about a sad wood puppet that draws me in, I guess.	I honestly didn’t get interested in this text until the very end. By that point, I wanted to know a little more about the characters. Unlike Pinocchio, I had no issues putting this down and walking away from it. For me, it just wasn’t exciting, despite the frantic fight scenes.
I did find something interesting in this text. There is a name spelled two different ways. Canpanella (when Master Cherry first tells Pinocchio that they took her) and Canpenella (when Master Cherry feeds Pinocchio, saying that they will need their strength to find her)