44815


I'm a big fan of web comics, and have a question about a drawing or story-
telling technique that I've seen. It seems effective, but I'm not quite sure
what it's effective **_for_**.

Here's an example, from the most excellent [Questionable
Content](http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3667) by Jeph Jacques.
First, a frame in his usual style:

![Jeph Jacques usual style, January 30,
2018](https://i.stack.imgur.com/XrCq2m.png)

He's usually quite consistent, but once in a long while there's a frame where
he uses a much simpler drawing style:

![Jeph Jacques simplified style, January 30,
2018](https://i.stack.imgur.com/bOUt5m.png)

Another example, from [this
strip](http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3663); compare...

![Couple, usual drawing style](https://i.stack.imgur.com/sFQbkm.png)

... to...

![Couple, simplified drawing style](https://i.stack.imgur.com/XrNqym.png)

It's an interesting and entertaining motif, but I'm not clear on just what
he's communicating with it, and why it feels effective. Is it an ironic aside?
Or is it a pause in the action to let the characters (and reader) consider?

And, what is the history of this? Did Jeph make this up, or have previous
cartoonists used it as well?

Any ideas?


CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-31T00:02:24.573
44496
2018-02-22T08:41:24.447
2018-02-22T08:41:24.447
2516
37956
question
tropes
Story-telling technique where the drawing style briefly gets much simpler?


## Breaking the fourth wall

**The fourth wall** is a name for the convention that in a play/movie/comic
book, the audience can see the characters, but the characters are unaware of
the audience and the world outside.

A way of **breaking the fourth wall** is for a character to look straight into
the spectator's eyes, showing that she is aware that she is inside a fictional
story being watched by an audience. It involves the audience in the story and
is often, but not always, used as a comic effect. It's used countless times in
movies (Oliver Hardy, Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers etc.) and in comics in
particular (too many to mention).

The first example enhances the effect of breaking the wall by simplifying the
drawings. This makes it even more obvious that the illusion is broken - the
character is aware that she is in a story. In that moment she sees her life
simplified - as in a comic (which it is, but she's not supposed to know).

If the character speaks briefly to the audience (like in your first example),
it can be called an **aside**. This little comment is normally not heard by
the other characters.

[Wikipedia on _Fourth wall_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_wall)

[Wikipedia on _Aside_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aside)


CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-31T20:14:56.770
44497
2018-01-31T20:14:56.770
2020-06-17T09:17:53.303
-1
44496
answer


It's called an [Art
Shift](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ArtShift), traditionally
used in western media for homages, parodies, or flashbacks; _e.g._ [Tracer
Bullet](http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1991/02/26) or when Calvin and
Susie [play house](http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1989/7/9) in
_Calvin and Hobbes_. These art shifts usually last for one or more scenes,
often for the duration of a specific subplot. The Japanese use art shifts in a
very different way-- single-shot/panel shifts are quite common in anime and
manga, and are used for comedic emphasis. _Kimi ni Todoke_ , for example, uses
this [quite frequently](https://i.stack.imgur.com/LN0KF.jpg) ( _Kimi ni
Todoke_ vol. 10 / ch. 42 spoilers). It is often used in conjunction with other
anime/manga tropes ([Cross Popping
Veins](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CrossPoppingVeins), [Dull
Eyes of
Unhappiness](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DullEyesOfUnhappiness),
[Giving Up the
Ghost](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GivingUpTheGhost),
[Nosebleed](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoseBleed), [Snot
Bubble](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SnotBubble), [Sweat
Drop](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SweatDrop), [Visible
Sigh](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VisibleSigh), [Kewpie Doll
Surprise](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KewpieDollSurprise),
etc.) to convey emotion humorously, or on a [specific
character](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NonStandardCharacterDesign)
to show that they're acting in a way that's different from the rest of the
world. It can also be used on a group of characters to show a sudden (and
usually temporary) shift in tone. Shifting into a
[chibi](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SuperDeformed) art style
usually implies a comedic or
[moe](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Moe) tone.

As to your specific examples, the art shift creates an emphasis on joke-- in
the first example, how Faye is forced to
[subvert](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SubvertedTrope) her usual
[threats of
violence](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IneffectualDeathThreats),
and in the second example, how Faye [completely misssed the
point](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ComicallyMissingThePoint).


CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-22T08:38:38.027
44815
2018-02-22T08:38:38.027
26389
44496
answer