What Is Understated In Richard Mcguire's Here
McCloud may have said it best, “... unlike other media, in comics the past is more than just memories for the audience and the future is more than just possibilities. Both the past and future are real and visible and all around us!” (McCloud, p.104) McGuire uses the medium of comics to his advantage. While the panels are understated in the opening of Here, McGuire creates a vigorous form of story through the layout of the page as the story progresses. He manipulates panel constructions, panel transitions, and sequential dynamism to achieve this. Here was published first in 1989 as a part of McGuire’s comic strip in RAW Magazine, it is the story of what happens in a corner of a room throughout time. Time is defined as the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future. In simple terms, it is ongoing events that have happened, are happening, and will continue to happen. Richard McGuire showcases those events through a circular timeline where the opening and closing of the comic mimic
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each other. The first panel, on the first page is an empty corner of a room. It mirrors the fiery earth in 500, 957, 406, 073 BC , on the last page and the panel preceding which contains the insert of the feet of a couple in 1986, stating “and that’s how we met.” These panels represent the beginning can be interpreted as the beginning of life. Another example are twin panels of the wives in both 1957 and 2027, telling their husbands it’s time. In 2027, the man saying, “You know that guy that used to live here” and the husband in 1957, “Yep, its a boy….” are connected through mention of the guy and the boy, both referring to William. In this way the comic can be read both backwards and forwards. McGuire uses sequential dynamism, the ability to direct the reader's eye from one panel to another, usually left-to-right, top-to-bottom or creating other paths. (Molotiu) The reader is on a path jumping from place to place, through the past and future.
The reader’s path doesn't have a particular order as some panels become a single panel story all their own. That’s why the panel from 2027, “You know that guy who used to live here” is captivating. It’s text and image are dependent on one another for meaning. The panel is and insert contained within the image of a man in a haphazard suit in 2029, along with the panel inserts of men in 1987 and 1850. The inserts are read so that the past reveals itself from 2027 to 1850, they are all guys who used to live in this location at one point. Not only is the past and future on the same page, but they are in the same panel. There are also the smaller moments in Here that are their own stories. Like the cat from 1999 or the Woman who says, “No matter how much I clean… the dirtier it gets.” In this way this comic is like a set of Russian dolls, with a comic within a comic, within a comic. Similar to how within time there are moments within moments, within moments.
Throughout the comic, McGuire uses scene-to-scene transitions, transporting readers across large distances of space and time.
The reader has to make connections and draw conclusions. On the second page, Billy’s family prompts him to say something, in the next a mouse “squeak” and then a small child in the year 1928 “grrr” with his toy dinosaur, followed by a panel of an actual dinosaur with an insert of Billy in 1986 laughing, and another of the same mouse from 1999 caught in a trap. Though there are large jumps in time, the dinosaur toy-to-actual dinosaur provide a visual connection, in addition to what is being said. The insert of Billy laughing is playful and connects to the young boy’s play. As for the panels that don’t appear to have a visual or textual connection, they’re useful in telling the story because they are like aspect-to-aspect images, adding to the mood of the overall comic, filling out and completing the life of the
space. Time is the ongoing events that have happened, are happening, and will continue to happen. McGuire showcases through his unique form of storytelling, both circular and dynamic structure. The overarching story of the life of the corner of the room’s transformation. The reader follows it as an empty plot of land to it’s construction and to it’s destruction, which are scattered throughout the comic. Billy and the boy from 2028’s lives play part in this transformation as they help to demonstrate the cycle of time. Here is a celebration of the comics medium. The past and future are ingrained into the page through panel construction and transitions, and sequential dynamism.
each other. The first panel, on the first page is an empty corner of a room. It mirrors the fiery earth in 500, 957, 406, 073 BC , on the last page and the panel preceding which contains the insert of the feet of a couple in 1986, stating “and that’s how we met.” These panels represent the beginning can be interpreted as the beginning of life. Another example are twin panels of the wives in both 1957 and 2027, telling their husbands it’s time. In 2027, the man saying, “You know that guy that used to live here” and the husband in 1957, “Yep, its a boy….” are connected through mention of the guy and the boy, both referring to William. In this way the comic can be read both backwards and forwards. McGuire uses sequential dynamism, the ability to direct the reader's eye from one panel to another, usually left-to-right, top-to-bottom or creating other paths. (Molotiu) The reader is on a path jumping from place to place, through the past and future.
The reader’s path doesn't have a particular order as some panels become a single panel story all their own. That’s why the panel from 2027, “You know that guy who used to live here” is captivating. It’s text and image are dependent on one another for meaning. The panel is and insert contained within the image of a man in a haphazard suit in 2029, along with the panel inserts of men in 1987 and 1850. The inserts are read so that the past reveals itself from 2027 to 1850, they are all guys who used to live in this location at one point. Not only is the past and future on the same page, but they are in the same panel. There are also the smaller moments in Here that are their own stories. Like the cat from 1999 or the Woman who says, “No matter how much I clean… the dirtier it gets.” In this way this comic is like a set of Russian dolls, with a comic within a comic, within a comic. Similar to how within time there are moments within moments, within moments.
Throughout the comic, McGuire uses scene-to-scene transitions, transporting readers across large distances of space and time.
The reader has to make connections and draw conclusions. On the second page, Billy’s family prompts him to say something, in the next a mouse “squeak” and then a small child in the year 1928 “grrr” with his toy dinosaur, followed by a panel of an actual dinosaur with an insert of Billy in 1986 laughing, and another of the same mouse from 1999 caught in a trap. Though there are large jumps in time, the dinosaur toy-to-actual dinosaur provide a visual connection, in addition to what is being said. The insert of Billy laughing is playful and connects to the young boy’s play. As for the panels that don’t appear to have a visual or textual connection, they’re useful in telling the story because they are like aspect-to-aspect images, adding to the mood of the overall comic, filling out and completing the life of the
space. Time is the ongoing events that have happened, are happening, and will continue to happen. McGuire showcases through his unique form of storytelling, both circular and dynamic structure. The overarching story of the life of the corner of the room’s transformation. The reader follows it as an empty plot of land to it’s construction and to it’s destruction, which are scattered throughout the comic. Billy and the boy from 2028’s lives play part in this transformation as they help to demonstrate the cycle of time. Here is a celebration of the comics medium. The past and future are ingrained into the page through panel construction and transitions, and sequential dynamism.