CTID: EXPLANATION BOXES

Finland, an afternoon in October, 5.42 pm. Kati. ”Welcome back to the Comic Things I Dislike series.” //
This is the newest episode of the series! ”Today my topic are explanation boxes.” //
This is an explanation box! ”By them I mean those small panels in which it is explained what is happening in the comic.” //
Now Kati will talk about explanation boxes. ”Explanation boxes are often good and useful. You can, for example, tell the location or time period of the comic in them.” //
Here Kati talks more. ”But too much is too much. For example, if the exact time isn’t important, just leave it out.” //
Here’s the next panel. ”Many old newspaper comics have plenty of explanation boxes because of how they were published. Because every strip ends with a cliffhanger! Reading it as a book is pretty terrible…” This is an example of a newspaper comic! //
Oh no, no Kati stumbled! ”And just don’t use the explanation box to explain what is in the picture or what is happening in it. That’s the picture’s job! Using an explanation box like this gives the feeling that the artist doesn’t trust themselves, their comic or the reader.” That is a rock. //
This is the last panel where Kati is laying on the ground. ”Even this comic would be better without the explanation boxes.”