A Thought About Thought Bubbles
Posted in rants & nostalgia by Fin Fang Doom
The following is an interior page from Mighty Avengers #4, which may or may not be out by the time I post this thing:
Granted, I don’t read Mighty Avengers, so this may not be a good example of the their use in the title, but was the much bally-hooed return of thought bubbles just an excuse for Bendis to have his characters make snarky comments at each other after every line they say out loud?
In response to your question: Yes, that appears to be what they’re being used for.
I do think it’s worth noting that Claremont used thought balloons in a story in New Excalibur shortly before Mighty Avengers began. The purpose there was that one of the characters had a stroke, and Claremont wanted to contrast her clairty of thought with, how poorly she could express those thoughts verbally. Plus, it gives a sense of being trapped in your own body, which heightens tension.
I’d really prefer Bendis used them for something like that.
Here’s my thought-bubble response, “Ug, these suck.”
While Claremont’s usage does seem like a pretty effective use, I don’t really get why using thought bubbles to show a team’s personal insecurities and lack of trust in each other is not also a valid use. Unless this is just another case of “Bendis does this so I don’t like it,” in which case I do understand the problem.
I can’t read what the thought bubbles say, and I’m creeped out by the fact that I thought you posted this same thing, like, a week ago.
I think I’m losing my mind.
I think the tought bubble has some promise… The only problem is sometimes you loose the characters voices as you have them saying “Sure thing” and thinking “Screw you”.
I think it could be changed slighty and used less and it would be very effective.
I had no idea Bendis was writing MA (shows how out-of-the-loop I am) when I read that page. And my first thought was, “Man, what a crappy over-use of thought bubbles.”
While it’s ridiculous to criticize everything Bendis does just because it’s him, the guy is widely panned for a reason more than just fanboy backlash.
As wildy panned as he is, he sells 10 times more then critically acclaimed writers… he’s doing something right.
He does a lot of things right. Good action, management of teams, fun dialogue, intriguing plots, etc.
He just also happens to use the “gimmick” of witty repartee (always in his very specific voice) so much that it becomes distracting. Using thought bubbles to get that across is just a new use of an old trick.
As for his sales, I imagine some of that comes from writing books with a built-in fan base and some comes from people who buy his books just to rip on him. But I’m sure most of his readers buy his books because they’re pretty damn entertaining.
What this one-page excerpt does not reflect is that, in Mighty Avengers, he saves the thought bubbles for when it works; when they would disrupt or distract from heavy moments, they’re absent.
They were a little distracting to me at first, probably largely because this is the only book that uses them this way, but many creators experiment with a storytelling style, and just like with anyone else, you adapt to it and then you decide if it works or not.
First few issues, I wasn’t sold, but now it’s just part of the book for me.
Jim, I don’t think that in theory, how Bendis is using thought balloons is less valid than how Claremont did. It’s in the execution where I think Claremont did a better job.
I usually read Mighty Avengers in the store, and I chuckled at some of the thoughts in the balloons in the first issue. But as I’ve read through later issues, the balloons start to wear on me, because it feels like they either aren’t telling us anything of significance, or they keep telling us something to the point that it feels like I’m being beaten over the head with it, and I just get sick of it.
It’s odd, because I really enjoy Bendis’ work on Ultimate Spider-Man, but not so much on Mighty Avengers (or New Avengers for that matter).
“…when they would disrupt or distract from heavy moments, they’re absent.”
This page seems to me like it should be treated as a “heavy moment,” though. The Avengers are trying to deal with one of their oldest and deadliest enemies whose taken control of the director of SHIELD. I can’t see Hank Pym thinking anything other than “dear god, it’s happening again” in such a circumstance. I can’t beleive that Warbird would want Pym to kill himself. I also can’t believe she would be thinking in exposition to remind the reader that Pym created Ultron. That’s just weird.
The one thought bubble that I have no problem with is the one from the Wasp, which actually does add a bit to the story, although it might as well have been said out loud.
I don’t disagree that this is a somewhat heavy moment, but for me, it doesn’t “disrupt or distract” from said heavy moment because it reveals the underlying tension of the situation and the animosity between people who have to get along on the surface.
I guess maybe it can just be chalked up to one of those things that Bendis does that either bugs people or doesn’t.
Yeah, it is really distracting. I mean, what does Pym thinking “Thor-Lite” at Ares contribute to the story?
-M
I think I understand what he’s going for, it just doesn’t really work. We all have an inner dialog going non-stop, often saying the awful and rude things we’d never dare / want to say aloud. “Thor-lite” is a perfect example of this. The problem is it just doesn’t read the way it happens. I would suggest a lighter / hazy type maybe partially obscured by the spoken word, thereby reinforcing the subliminal nature of the words. For me it’s the artificial space between the word and thought balloons that reads stiff, not necessarily what is being said.