The concept of comics and their characters are perfected through the combination use of images and words.
One of my favorite comics of all time is a series known by every otaku. Naruto.
Naruto is a Japanese comic, a.k.a. manga, written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. Jam packed with adventure and action, it hit the market in 1999 and was later in 2002 made into an anime due to its high popularity. The manga was later adopted into the U.S market; and in 2005, the anime version of the manga was aired.
The manga tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a ninja orphaned at birth and shunned by his village due to the kyuubi, a nine-tailed fox demon that had attacked the village, sealed within him. Through his use of words and images, Kishimoto tells the travels of Naruto and the travesties that he overcomes to become Hokage, the leader and strongest ninja in the village, who is recognized by all.
In Naruto, one of Kishimoto’s uses of words and images was reflected in his design of characters; which involved a five step process: concept and rough sketch, drafting, inking, shading, and coloring. Sasuke Uchiha, Kishimoto’s favorite character, and the one he finds most difficult to illustrate, is the best friend of Naruto. However, unlike Naruto who is known as a loud-mouth, Sasuke is reserved, quiet, a genius, at ease, and mature. Kishimoto conveys Sasuke’s character by providing him with short dialogues and one answer responses; he also portrays him with dark empty eyes, long dark hair, and smug expressions. Thus, by combining the wording and images that Kishimoto accommodates to Sasuke, one can easily convey the type of personality that Sasuke holds. In Naruto, Kishimoto uses character design and dialogue to relate certain readers to certain characters.
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| Naruto. From left to right: Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke. Image taken from narutoisland.fourmotion.com |
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