History Main / SpeakingInPanels

SubTrope of SequentialArt (sequential pictures telling a story). Compare PictorialSpeechBubble (speech bubbles with nothing but pictures) and SeparateSceneStorytelling (reading or telling a story gets played out as though it was a scene in the show). It often overlaps with FlashBack.

SubTrope of SequentialArt, sequential pictures telling a story. Compare PictorialSpeechBubble, SeparateSceneStorytelling. It often overlaps with FlashBack.

[[AC:Webcomics]]

Compare PictorialSpeechBubble, SeparateSceneStorytelling. Subtrope of {{Flashback}}.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* There are some flashback scenes in early ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'' where a character's thought or sending (telepathy) bubbles occupy entire pages.
* Used in ''Tamara Drew''. We see a scene and then this device shows us Tamara is remembering and thinking over these events.
* ''Comicbook/TheCartoonHistoryOfTheUniverse'' uses this when showing Odysseus describing his voyages.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

* Happens in ''Webcomic/NeverMindTheGap'' when Gretel recounts her last encounter with Miwa.
* Occurs once in ''Webcomic/QuestionDuck'' on [[http://questionduck.smackjeeves.com/comics/1394051/278/ this page]].
* ''Webcomic/StupidFox'' uses this on [[http://stupidfox.net/27 page 27]].
* ''Webcomic/ThinkBeforeYouThink'' does this all the time, especially as a way of showing people's thoughts.
* All the time in ''Webcomic/TodayNothingHappened'', starting on [[http://www.todaynothinghappened.com/index.php?c=2 the second page]].
* ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'':
** Shows what a cat is dreaming in [[http://xkcd.com/729/ this]] strip.
** Is used for an ImagineSpot in "[[http://xkcd.com/429/ Fantasy]]".
** "[[http://xkcd.com/817/ Mutual]]" has an infinite loop of this.
* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Sarah has [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2012-06-20 a fantasy]] of what the MagiTek transformation watch Nanase's wearing might do to her.
[[/folder]]

* A ''ComicBook/{{Cerebus}}'' free giveaway had a story wherein young Cerebus convinces another young baker to try some booze. The farmhand quickly gets drunk and insults their foreman. The foreman hears it and shoves the boy in the oven. All done without a single letter.

* Used in ''Tamara Drew''. We see a scene and then this device shows us Tamara is remembering and thinking over these events

[[AC: Comic Books]]

[[AC: Webcomics]]

You want to introduce the action from someone's point of view, but [[WallOfText walls of text]] are often a good way to lose readers in the typographic flood. Rather, some authors choose to employ a method for showing the action as it's being told (or thought about), by enclosing the relevant comic panels inside the [[SpeechBubble speech or thought bubble]].

[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/XKCD http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kittydream_7745.png]]]]

* There are some flashback scenes in early ''ElfQuest'' where a character's thought or sending (telepathy) bubbles occupy entire pages.
* Used in Tamara Drew. We see a scene and then this device shows us Tamara is remembering and thinking over these events

* Occurs once in ''QuestionDuck'' on [[http://questionduck.smackjeeves.com/comics/1394051/278/ this page]].
* ''StupidFox'' uses this on [[http://stupidfox.net/27 page 27]].

* All the time in ''TodayNothingHappened'', starting on [[http://www.todaynothinghappened.com/index.php?c=2 the second page]].

SpeakingInPanels doesn't require that the entire narrative be laid out definitively, though that's certainly an option. Some authors may instead decide to show only specific key parts of the story and allow their readers' imaginations to take over between the panels.

* ''{{xkcd}}'':

Compare SeparateSceneStorytelling. Subtrope of {{Flashback}}.

!!Examples

* Used in Tamora Drew. We see a scene and then this device shows us Tamora is remembering and thinking over these events

** "[[http://xkcd.com/817/ Mutual]]" has an infinite loop of this.

You want to introduce the action from someone's point of view, but walls of text are often a good way to lose readers in the typographic flood. Rather, some authors choose to employ a method for showing the action as it's being told (or thought about), by enclosing the relevant comic panels inside the speech or thought bubble.

SpeakingInPanels doesn't require that the entire narrative be laid out definitively, though that's certainly an option. Some authors may instead decide to show only specific key parts of the story.

Distinct from the RebusBubble in that Speaking in Panels actually includes full comic panels that show a narrative, while Rebus Bubbles are more simply icons and/or equations to indicate a line of reasoning or thought process.

** "[[http://xkcd.com/817/ Mutual]]" has an infinite loop of this.
* ''Webcomic/ThinkBeforeYouThink'' does this all the time, especially as a way of showing people's thoughts.

** "[[http://xkcd.com/817/ Mutual]]" has an infinite loop of this.

* Happens in ''Webcomic/NeverMindTheGap'' when Gretel recounts her last encounter with Miwa.* Occurs once in ''QuestionDuck'' on [[http://questionduck.smackjeeves.com/comics/1394051/278/ this page]].

* Occurs once in ''QuestionDuck'' on [[http://questionduck.smackjeeves.com/comics/1394051/278/ this page]].

** "[[http://xkcd.com/817/ Mutual]]" has an infinite loop of this.
** Happens in ''Webcomic/NeverMindTheGap'' when Gretel recounts her last encounter with Miwa.

** "[[http://xkcd.com/817/ Mutual]]" has an infinite loop of this.

* All the time in ''TodayNothingHappened'', starting on [[http://www.shazzbaa.com/index.php?c=2 the second page]].