From digital display to printed page: An exploration of the use of digital comic adaptations and hybridizations in print comic formats

Abstract

This article identifies some of the adaptations and hybridizations that have come about through the digital mediation of the form of comics. It then presents the results of a practice-based inquiry into the integration of these digital adaptations and hybridizations into existing print comic formats. A reflective design process is employed during the creation of three prototype print comic narratives. These prototypes include print-based approaches to the infinite canvas, panel delivery and hypercomic formats. The inquiry aims to contrast different approaches to spatiality and the design unit of the page in digital and print comics. In doing so it provides an examination of the creative tensions that exist between the fixed, physical configurations of print and the more mutable nature of digital media.