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How much do you know about comic books? What can comic books teach us about user experience design? Join us as we learn more about the comic book industry and what it can teach us about good (and bad) user experiences. We’ll look at how the comic book industry has changed over the years by deconstructing the evolution of the comic book cover, how the art of telling stories through juxtaposed images and words has changed over the years, as well as some of the user experience failures of the industry from the 90’s until now. Along the way, we’ll discuss some lessons learned from the comic book industry. In the end, you’ll walk away knowing some cool things about the comic book medium. Heck, you might just end up reading a few! ;)
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by Jeff Whitfield
The User Experience of Comic Books
I LOVE COMIC BOOKS!
My Collection80+ small comic boxes
5 shelf units Over 8900 comics and
trades $42,000 est. value
Alexander Whitfield
Inheritor of the Whitfield comic book collection
The User Experience of Comic Books
Everything I Learned About UX I Learned
From Comics
See What I Mean
How To Use Comics to Communicate Ideas
!by Kevin Cheng
Have you ever read a comic book and thought, “Wow! What
a great user experience!”?
What We’ll Talk About
What is a comic book?
Some UX lessons
Insight on my design philosophy
Learn more about the comic medium
What is a Comic Book?
Terry MooreWhen you put words and pictures together and allow them each to do what they do best, you get something that is more powerful than just words and pictures alone.* *paraphrased
Understanding Comics
by Scott McCloud
LESSON: !
Avoid Unnecessary Jargon
Comic Book
AJAX
Web 2.0
HTML5
Graceful Degradation
Progressive Enhancement
SaaS
Graphic NovelReal language terminology means better
communication as to what it is
A Contract with God
by Will Eisner 1978
!First use of the term
“graphic novel”
Marvel Graphic Novel
by Jim Starlin 1982
!Widespread use of the term “graphic novel”
How do you explain the longevity of the
comic book?
The Birth of the Superhero
The Golden Age
Early Comics1930’s
!Reprints of comic strips
SupermanBy Jerry Siegal and Joe
Shuster !
June 1938
BatmanBy Bob Kane
!May 1939
World War IIBoost in comic book sales
Captain America
By Joe Simon and Jack “the King” Kirby
!March 1941
Ingrained in Pop Culture
Stan “The Man” Lee and
Jack “The King” Kirby
The Marvel Age of Comics
The Silver Age
Fantastic Fourby Stan “The Man” Lee and
Jack “The King” Kirby !
November 1961
The Incredible Hulk
by Stan “The Man” Lee and Jack “The King” Kirby
!May 1962
Thorby Stan “The Man” Lee and
Jack “The King” Kirby !
August 1962
Spider-Manby Stan “The Man” Lee and
Steve Ditko !
August/September 1962
Iron Manby Stan “The Man” Lee and
Jack “The King” Kirby !
March 1963
The X-Menby Stan “The Man” Lee and
Jack “The King” Kirby !
September 1963
LESSON: !
Understand the Medium
Evolution of the Comic Book Cover
Overcrowded Newsstands
Amazing Spider-Man #1
By Stan “The Man” Lee and Steve Ditko
!March 1963
Added character avatar to corner!
Nearly 30 years later, they finally get it right!
LESSON: !
Adapt To Change
Evolution of Storytelling
Psychedelic 60’s Pop Art
Roy Lichtenstein Andy Warhol
More sophisticated audience
Old-School Rules
Creators limited to 30 years of drawing within simple
boxes !
* Ex. Amazing Spider-man #60
Jim SterankoComic Book Writer/Artist
!Famous for his work on
“Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.” in the 1960’s
!The “Jimi Hendrix
of Comics”
Strange Tales #166
March 1968 !
The “Maze” page
Nick Fury, Agent of
S.H.I.E.L.D #1June 1968
“Who is Scorpio?” !
Opening sequence with 3 silent pages
G.I. Joe #21March 1984
“Silent Interlude”
LESSON: !
Challenge Perceptions
Batman: The Dark Knight
Returnsby Frank Miller
with Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley
!March 1986
WHICH ONE WOULD YOU BUY?
Other Booksthat challenged people’s perceptions
on what the comic book medium can do.
Watchmenby Alan Moore and Dave
Gibbons !
1986—1987
The Sandmanby Neil Gaiman
!1989—1996
LESSON: !
Keep It Simple
Sin Cityby Frank Miller
!1991—1999
LESSON:
Content Strategy
The Comic Book Crossover Event
Crisis on Infinite Earths
by Marv Wolfman and George Perez 1985—1986
!Effort to fix
continuity issues
Secret Warsby Jim Shooter, Mike Zeck,
and Bob Layton 1984—1985
!Effected nearly every
Marvel character
52DC Comics
2006—2007 !
52 issues, published weekly for one year
!Aftermath of Infinite Crisis
Marvel has movies planned through 2028
LESSON:
Avoid Eye Candy
Failures of the Industry: The 1990’s
X-Men #1by Chris Claremont
and Jim Lee October 1991
!Best-selling comic book of all time!
!Sold over 8 million
copies
WAS IT THAT GOOD OF A COMIC?
OR….WAS IT JUST GOOD MARKETING?
OR….WAS IT JUST GOOD MARKETING?
Birth of the Speculator Market
Superman #75January 1993
!The Death of Superman
Superman #75Collector’s Edition
!Caused marketing frenzy
Over-saturated MarketEmphasis on the “next big thing”
!Too many special covers
!Too many issue #1’s
None of this focuses on what’s the most
important part of the comic book user
experience…
TELLING THE FRICKIN’ STORY!!
BIGGEST LESSON: !
Know Your Audience
Eric Stephenson Publisher, Image Comics
“The biggest problem with comic books is that even now, even after all the amazing progress we’ve made as an industry over the last 20 years, the vast majority of people have no idea whatsoever about how much the comics medium has to offer.”
- Eric Stephenson 2014 ComicsPRO Annual Membership Meeting
Question: !
How do you get people to buy comic books?
Answer: !
By introducing potential new readers to the world
of comic books.
FINAL LESSON: !
Expand Your Horizons
History !
Mausby Art Spiegelman
Humor !
Axe Copby Malachai Nicolle and
Ethan Nicolle
Fantasy !
Boneby Jeff Smith
Fantasy !
The Unwrittenby Mike Carey and Peter
Gross
Drama !
Strangers in Paradiseby Terry Moore
Crime !
Thief of Thievesby Robert Kirkman and Nick Spencer
Horror !
The Walking Dead
by Robert Kirkman
Science Fiction !
Alex + Adaby Jonathan Luna and
Sarah Vaughn
Summary
Avoid Unnecessary Jargon
Understand the Medium
Adapt To Change
Challenge Perceptions
Keep It Simple
Content Strategy
Avoid Eye Candy
Know Your Audience
Expand Your Horizons
Go read some comics! !
Share your experience with others!
