The Mechanics of the “Gag Strip”

The “gag strip,” a short comic strip common in newspapers, is sometimes viewed as a simplistic form of humor. Yet gag strips are considerably more complex than they’re often given credit for, due in part to comics’ unique representations of space & time. 1/12 #ComicsStudies

Many gag strips employ slapstick, defined as “a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy” (Wikipedia). Comic strips use juxtaposition to generate slapstick and amplify punchlines. 2/12

There are many ways of creating humorous juxtapositions in comic strips. Sometimes, strips employ dramatic changes in tone or states of being, as in this “Peanuts” strip where Charlie Brown’s happiness—and dryness!—are dramatically subverted from one panel to the next. 3/12

Dramatic changes in tone can be combined with dramatic changes in the physical position of characters or objects. In this “Peanuts” strip, Charlie Brown moves dramatically from a forward slant, approaching the ball, to a backwards slant as misses the ball & falls. 4/12

We don’t see the moment where Charlie Brown hits the ground. Instead, we see the lead up to the kick, then Charlie’s body in mid-air, then the aftermath of the fall, wherein Charlie’s physical and emotional betrayal is exaggerated by spinning eyes, stars, and spirals. 6/12

We have to imagine Charlie’s fall, filling in the gap using our own experience & imagination. Thus, we’re accomplices to his pain. But the excess lets us both identify with the pain & laugh at/through it; the strip evokes a real fall without realistically resembling it. 7/12

In “The Visual Language of Comics,” Neil Cohn further explains how pacing enhances punchlines. Cohn breaks down the classic gag strip into 5 types of panels—initial, establisher, prolongation, peak & release. These can be arranged in different orders for different effects. 8/12

The establisher panel is the set-up or context of the scene; the initial panel is the instigation of action; a prolongation panel creates suspense; a peak can heighten the action *or* conclude it; and a release applies to strips that end with a reflective moment/punchline. 9/12

Longer strips use these types multiple times, but the principles maintain. In this “Calvin & Hobbes” strip, the most significant prolongation panel (the second-last one) enhances the punchline by encouraging us to pause & share the characters’ contemplative realization. 10/12

Gag strips are so effectively paced and distilled they can be arranged in different ways—vertically, horizontally, or in squares. This is partly form following function; strips have to be adaptable to survive on cramped pages that rarely care about artistic integrity. 11/12

All of which is to say: the simplicity of gag strips isn’t simple. Achieving such seeming simplicity is a complex art, developed and fine-tuned by countless artists who taught each other how to make comics while simultaneously teaching the public how to read them. 12/12