Stories from the Gutter

Abstract

This article argues that the reader has a defining voice in the creation of meaning in a graphic narrative. The medium-specific qualities create a narrative that is not only dependent on the interplay between words and images but also on the way the reader connects the different images. Based on the reader-reception theory (Iser) and the model of transitions as proposed by Scott McCloud in Understanding Comics, I argue that reader activity is crucial to the understanding of the graphic narrative since he must not only connect what is given but must also fill in the blanks.