Laika: Through Time and Space

In Understanding Comics, McCloud discusses the differences between the uses of black and white versus color. He states that most graphic artists use black and white, where meaning is dominant over form. In contrast, in the use of colors, forms take on more significance and the “world becomes a playground of shapes and space” (192). This is exactly what occurs in Laika; in order to combat McCloud’s concept of color flattening in the contents of each panel, Abadzis manipulates shape and space (and color) to add depth to his art. What results is a graphic novel that not only beautifully utilizes the additional element of color, but takes advantage of shape and space to create movement, through time and distance. Since we’ll be discussing the use of color in class, I’ll focus more on how the option of color drives (or encourages) Abadzis to also focus on shape and space.

Abadzis utilizes a combination of techniques in order to convey the mood of each scene to his readers First of all, there are numerous examples that show how Abadzis manipulates the size, shape and position of his panels to demonstrate the passing of time and space, which is extensively discussed in chapters three and four of Understanding Comics. Second, with specific panel to panel transitions, especially that of moment-to-moment transitions, Abadzis further controls how readers view time and space.

For example, on page 40, Abadzis uses moment-to-moment transitions and overlaps square panels in a downward motion to show how Laika is not just being thrown, but thrown downwards. Readers can follow the direction of Laika’s fall until he reaches the water and know that it was quite some distance to the water. On the same page, the overlapping of rectangular panels in the third row (using aspect-to-aspect) allows readers to momentarily see what Laika sees as he sinks before taking it back to third person. In this way, Abadzis can use color to show the dark night and cold water while still emphasizing the meaning of what is portrayed. Other examples where Abadzis shows distance using moment-to-moment transitions can be seen on pages 24 and 88 where the square panels are increasingly shrinking to show Korolev and Laika moving farther and farther away from the reader, which gives off a cinematic touch. An example that shows the passing of time can be seen on page 130-31. Here, Abadzis breaks out of his array of panel shapes and sizes to utilize horizontally long panels to show the passage of time. Korolev is recounting his past to show the significance of Laika. The length of the panels and the positions of Korolev and Laika demonstrate that Korolev is talking about the past and something that occurred years ago. The first two panels on 130 also allows readers to recall the distance Korolev had to travel to reach his destination. Another example can be seen on pages 82-83. In contrast, vertically long panels on page 132 emphasize distance and height; the distance from Korolev to the moon and the height and physical differences between man and dog. Moreover, the lack of border around a scene/subject also indicates time and distance, and Abadzis does this multiple times with Laika on pages 36, 38, and 41.

Finally, with the addition of color, he can further reinforce the emotion(s) of his characters and/or the atmosphere of the scene to effectively get his message across. On page 66, the similar shrinking of the panels reminiscent of pages 24 and 88 are shown. However, the changes in color from the normal brown in the first two panels to solid black with white outlines and just black indicate the door of the truck being shut but also the freezing of time (with the third panel) and the passage of time (with the last panel). Abadzis uses black to signify time throughout his novel. Similarly, the uniform shape, size and position of the panels on page 106 help reinforce the subject-to-subject transition because the rectangular panels frame its subjects nicely and the uniformity allows readers to focus on the interaction between them, which is illustrated through the gradual intensity of the background color to show increasing anger.

Reading McCloud’s Understanding Comics really allowed me to fully appreciate Laika and the many methods Abadzis uses to make color an advantage for his novel. His manipulation of the panels, frames, gutter and deliberate coloring allowed him to create depth and dimension in a manner that wouldn’t have been possible (or as effective) if he had just used a simple, uniform x-panel system with color. His approach to this graphic art form brought forth a movement and smooth transition that allowed me to move through the novel without getting weighed down or overwhelmed by the colors, text and content of his story. Also, I think that his approach is especially important because time and space is essential to the telling of his story. To me, it shows a mastery of his craft and tells me that Abadzis spent an unimaginable amount of time making sure every detail was in place.