This paper aims at providing a provisional classification of different types of multimodal metaphors belonging to the verbopictorial variety found in comics, based on the relation between written and visual language, as two modes of human communication commonly combined in everyday life. Starting from the theoretical background on multimodal metaphors and comics studies, and using a corpus comprising comics and graphic novels published by both mainstream and independent American houses, the authors propose the following three types of relations which occur in multimodal metaphors in this medium: (1) image-dominant metaphors, (2) text-dominant metaphors, and (3) complementary metaphors.

Drawing on the work of Forceville (2005, 2006, 2011), who employed linguistic tools in analysing comics, the paper deals with pictorial runes as a specific type of visual information found in comic books. As Kennedy (1982) proposes, pictorial runes are graphic devices used in pictures to modify the literal depictions of objects, intended to convey certain aspects of those objects that are otherwise difficult to depict literally. In comics, they are usually employed to imply various emotions, such as anger, fear, pain, or surprise, and indicate speed or the direction of a moving object, among other things. Using the research model presented by Forceville (2011), the paper aims at identifying and categorising pictorial runes in a popular Italian comic book series Gea, in an attempt to corroborate the above method and add to the list of already inventoried runes. Furthermore, the new runes found in this comic book series show evidence of being indexical, rather than symbolic, signs. The paper also briefly outlines the distribution of runes across the entire series.

In Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels (2006), Scott McCloud proposes that the use of specific drawing techniques will enable viewers to reliably deduce different degrees of intensity of the six basic emotions from facial expressions in comics. Furthermore, he suggests that an accomplished comics artist can combine the components of facial expressions conveying the basic emotions to produce complex expressions, many of which are supposedly distinct and recognizable enough to be named. This article presents an empirical investigation and assessment of the validity of these claims, based on the results obtained from three questionnaires. Each of the questionnaires deals with one of the aspects of McCloud’s proposal: face expression intensity, labelling and compositionality. The data show that the tasks at hand were much more difficult than would have been expected on the basis of McCloud’s proposal, with the intensity matching task being the most successful of the three.

The aim of our paper is to present the ways in which cognitive linguistics has contributed to various developments in the domain of comics studies. After providing introductory remarks, the paper describes the main views found within the works of authors considered to be the precursors of contemporary comics studies, Will Eisner and Scott McCloud, with the intention of providing the basics that will facilitate the reader's understanding of the present issues. The main section of the paper contains the basic tenets of cognitive semantics, including the ideas traced in the works of the authors who have observed various types of comics from the cognitivist viewpoint. This section of the paper presents the research conducted thus far by a number of scientists who have engaged in drawing parallels between cognitivist theories and comics studies, including work on visual and multimodal metaphor and metonymy and the visual language of comics. This is followed by concluding remarks that end the paper.

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