The uniqueness of comics among all other art forms can be explained from several distinct angles. This is a multimedia format that combines visuals with textual content in limited space, yet it is so simple and reductive that it doesn’t overwhelm the reader or push him to use too much of his mental energy. There are many artistic styles used in comics ranging from simple line art to dreamy manga animations, but they rarely if ever aim to achieve photorealism. This is exactly why artwork in comics provides a great blueprint that can be successfully transplanted to the digital world and used to design popular games.
We will take an inquisitive look at the features of comic book visuals that have most significantly affected how online games evolved into the global force they are today. The influence isn’t always direct or linear, but that only makes the comparison more interesting and thought-provoking.
Visual Communication as the Primary Channel
Yes, both comics and online games have some verbal content but it doesn’t play as important role as in literature, theatre, or film. Most of the communication is conducted visually, creating a flow that presents the story and drives it forward. Visuals are also used to create a mood, while the drawing or animation style reflect the artistic goals of the author. Taken together, all these elements are sufficient to deliver a narrative punch that can be quite effective and nuanced. This approach may not be ideal for conveying complex messages or exploring serious topics, although the best graphic novels challenge this assumption and rival the ‘mainstream’ art forms in terms of expressivity and depth. Comic books can be very immersive without requiring too much information processing, and this makes them attractive to a certain type of a consumer who prefers visual cues to long passages of text. Obviously, the same applies to video games where the player has to learn practical insights in order to play but doesn’t have the patience to read long explanations.
Simplified Images that Are Easy to Process
Some comics look beautiful, but they rarely feature the level of detail or the intricate composition that characterise some of the other visual media. This is partly a legacy of the technical limitations of the printed format that was the sole outlet for comics for a long time, and partly a conscious choice of the artists. The characters are usually depicted in ways that allow for instant recognition, while most of the objects and locations are shown only with basic outlines. Comics are made to be consumed quickly without paying full attention, as they were long perceived to be ‘easy entertainment’ aimed primarily at children and young adults. While the scope of the intended audiences broadened over time, the main principles of visualisation remained in force and developed in ways that allowed for expression of ideas big and small without overburdening the viewer. Some games economise with images in order to be playable on weaker devices, so comics-style representations present a great solution that doesn’t require high-res graphics.
Exaggerated Effects that Draw Attention
Since the readers were not expected to spend a lot of time analysing each image, comic book authors had to devise methods for fixing their attention to key elements. This lead to adoption of a coda for describing certain actions – a falling person is shown with feet in the air, a flash of realisation is indicated by a light bulb above the character’s head, an explosion always sends a large cloud of smoke into the air… These exaggerations made it easy to communicate without words and to contain a lot of information in a tiny rectangle. You don’t have to look too far to find examples of such treatment in modern online games, as Canadians playing slots can expect a lot of whams, bangs, and blasts when they are playing video slots like these on their phones. Since games can also include sound to accompany key images, the effect is amplified beyond its original range and made even more dramatic and impossible to ignore.
The Use of Color for Symbolic Purposes
The earliest comics were made exclusively in black and white, which greatly constrained their narrative power. With full color publications becoming common in the 20th century, comic books gained more space to explore and fill with meaning. Thus, the color scheme became a central aspect of the aesthetic and gave rise to a more subtle storytelling technique. This opened whole new levels for artistic expression and set the foundation that contemporary game designers can build upon. Today, colorful visuals are the standard as they help the content be noticed in a crowd, which is extremely important in the online environment where so many items are competing for the viewer’s time. Color is also used extensively for branding purposes, with each game having its trademark look that the players instantly associate with it. Much like comic books, online games must use all resources economically and strategic reliance on colour is one of the simplest methods to evoke strong emotions in a single image.