In my master’s thesis, I explored the semiotics of comics and the differences across various countries. But what is this discipline about?
Semiotics of comics
The development of this field has European roots. In Italy, the magazine Linus, founded in 1965 by Elio Vittorini, Oreste del Buono, and Umberto Eco, initiated semiotic studies of comics. Eco, one of the first scholars to discuss comics, defined them as “a literary product where repetition has meaning, enriching the story.”
In Apocalittici e integrati, Eco considers comics an autonomous form of communication, applying semiotic tools to comic strips for the first time. He highlights the codes and communication strategies, analyzing the relationship between words and images. Comics are seen as a medium capable of generating original meanings through their linguistic and syntactic structures.
Eco also discusses the semantics of cartoons, where terms gain new meanings within their code. Comics develop a metalanguage; for example, the balloon (speech bubble) names its code and is not a conventional sign. The variable contours indicate how to interpret the linguistic terms it contains. The signifiers in comics include both linguistic and iconographic elements.
Various fields of semiotics are examined: structural semiotics, based on Greimas’ method, considers the text as a system of relationships (word-image relationship in comics). Interpretative semiotics, with Eco, investigates the interpretation process. Figurative semiotics focuses on image representation, and plastic semiotics on the sense effects produced by visual elements.
History of comics
The origins of comics can be traced back to ancient Egypt and Rome, with satirical panels and the Trajan’s Column. In the Middle Ages, the Biblia Pauperum depicted Jesus’ life. The Renaissance saw the rise of satirical caricatures, exemplified by William Hogarth’s works.
In France, comic strips developed in feuilletons, with Asterix by Goscinny and Uderzo satirizing political and social figures. In Italy, comics emerged in the 1930s but were suppressed during the Fascist regime. The first Italian comics appeared in Corriere dei Piccoli (1908) with characters like Mr. Bonaventura by Sergio Tofano, and Mickey Mouse debuted in 1932. Post-war, comics were seen as lowbrow products until the 1960s when they gained cultural legitimacy through semiotic studies in Linus.
In the United States, key works included Flash Gordon (1934) and Superman (1933). Colton Waugh’s 1947 book, The Comics, was the first sociological study of American comics. Comics in the US reflected societal and political changes, with characters like Mickey Mouse embodying the middle-class ideal during the 1930s and 1940s, and later, Donald Duck representing protest against injustice. Peanuts by Charles M. Schultz portrayed characters like Charlie Brown, symbolizing the struggle against societal pressures. Comics were used to promote nuclear energy in the mid-20th century, with industry-sponsored comics like Adventures inside the atom (1948) educating children about nuclear power. However, the rise of the anti-nuclear movement in the late 1970s saw the creation of comics opposing nuclear energy.
Language of Comics
Comics uniquely integrate linguistic and visual data into a sequential narrative. In the US, they are seen as sequential art. Will Eisner defined comics as an art form combining drawings, images, and words to tell a story. Scott McCloud described them as a sequence of images intended to convey information and provoke a reaction.
Comics represent time through space, with depicted time (what we see) and narrative time (the story). The reading time, influenced by the verbal text in balloons, highlights the story’s importance and mirrors the character’s subjective experience. Captions can slow down the reading time by reiterating the depicted action, creating a sense of timelessness.
Advercomics
Comics are still viewed primarily as youth entertainment but also adapt to modern communication needs, especially online. Advercomics use the language of comics for promotional communication, combining words and images to convey complex messages accessibly. They engage audiences by connecting emotions to brand values and product benefits, enhancing message retention and sharing through social networks.
Ilaria Di Gregorio 