Chapter 4, Time Frames Summary and Analysis

Scott opens this chapter with an example of a single frame in which the unusual passage of time in comics is accurately represented. Although the reader's eyes view the panel as a snapshot of a single moment in time, the conversation depicted in the word balloons makes it clear that the events occur over several moments. Scott explains that people have been well-trained by photography and "representational art" to see any single continuous image as a single instant in time, but time in comics is actually more like a rope. Each inch of the rope represents a second. Scott winds the rope through the image to demonstrate the analogy on page ninety-six.

Sound in comics consists of two elements: word balloons, and sound effects. According to Scott, "Both types add to the duration of a panel, partially...