From Comic to Hypercomic

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter (peer-reviewed)

Abstract

The medium of comics is undergoing a period of transition as the predominant
mode of creation, distribution and consumption shifts from print to digital display. Digital comic pioneers have explored many of the new possibilities offered by the inherent interactivity and multimodality of the medium. It is from out of this period of experimentation and innovation that the hybrid medium of hypercomics has emerged. A hypercomic combines the juxtaposition-based visual language of a comic with the multicursal narrative structure of a hyperfiction. It is a form that foregrounds the importance of reader interaction, with the choices made by the reader influencing elements such as the sequence events are encountered in a story, the outcome of events or the point of view through which events are seen. This chapter traces the emergence of the hypercomic medium from its conceptual roots in the work of Ted Nelson. It considers the paper-based and videogame precursors that have influenced the form’s development and led to its eventual blossoming as an offshoot of the nascent webcomic scene. The chapter also serves to contextualise my own work as a hypercomics practitioner and to examine some of the off-shoots from the medium into physical, gallery-based art installations.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationCultural Excavation and Formal Expression in the Graphic Novel
EditorsJonathan C. Evans, Thomas Giddens
Place of PublicationOxford
PublisherInter-Disciplinary Press
Pages291-302
ISBN (Electronic)978-1-84888-199-0
Publication statusPublished - 2013

Keywords

  • comics
  • hypercomics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'From Comic to Hypercomic'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this