Week 2- Cartoonist's Track: Wordless Comic

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Something I learned while making this wordless comic is that, even more so than in a comic with words, you should use every storytelling device possible to tell your story. For example, in this comic I wanted to show a flashback. So, instead of using a caption that said "Vietnam, 1972" or something, I made that panel in the shape of a thought balloon. This shows that it's the character's memory. However, if I hadn't shown the photograph in the panel before, it could have also been interpreted as a fantasy. I used the dark room and the open window to indicate that the main character is having trouble sleeping. The heavy shading in the first panel also sets a dour tone, which prepares you for what's coming. Those are just a couple of things that I thought about when doing this. Having had a tool taken away (in this case words), I had to use every other tool I could to carry 
the weight of the story. I couldn't imagine doing this for an entire graphic novel.

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