Intermedialität in Comics. Neil Gaimans The Sandman

22. Comics and Graphic Novels

“…One of the advantages of an intermedial approach is that it does not restrict its focus to the semiotic analysis of comics' verbal-visual sign system, but compels us to ask "how th[e] material side of the sign / semiotic system is involved in the production of narrative meaning" (Rippl and Etter 2013, 193;Hoppeler, Etter, and Rippl 2009;Rippl 2004). They are a form of media combination because they integrate images and words into one storytelling apparatus; they thrive on exchanges with other media (film, radio, television, literature, painting); and they practice intermedial referencing, evoking (and provoking) literary styles, imitating (and influencing) cinematic techniques, or suggesting sound.…”

“…Comics narration generally unfolds through a series of still images that capture individual moments distilled from a fluid -yet never fully rendered -narrative: a series of "pregnant moments" (Lessing 1984, 23) chosen by the creator(s) and translated into an ongoing succession of events through a reading process that entails establishing "causal connections" (Carrier 2000, 14) through a process of "closure" (McCloud 1993, 63-73). Wolf 2002;Hoppeler, Etter, and Rippl 2009;Rippl and Etter 2013). Wolf 2002;Hoppeler, Etter, and Rippl 2009;Rippl and Etter 2013).…”