Exposition in Comics

[Strontium]

I'm an outlier because I LOVE exposition. I want to know what's going on in the comic! I'm very inquisitive, and it bothers me when the summary of a comic is "X does Y" without any other background. If a comic starts out really slow, without any exposition at all, I tend to get bored. I love worldbuilding; I want to know what kind of world this is, how it works, who populates it, and how the MC relates to it.

But then again, I think this is an unusual taste, compared to many people who like the cinematic, slow-burn approach to exposition. Since HoT's inception, I always imagined it like a cartoon TV show, which perhaps is obvious once I say it. Exposition happens as necessary to the chapter; in the page you linked (thanks!) we're getting important info on a new group of characters that could not have been skipped over. I also have my self-insert narrator C do the "C Says" extra-chapter exposition pages, so the audience gets some extra info without burdening it in the chapter script.

As for my approach to exposition, Hierogriff linked a great and pertinent example. I like to exposition over cool images and illustrations. A lot of times the images/illustrations are not literal to the comic (in that page, Cyrus doesn't actually go to space) and are not things the characters themselves are seeing (see ch1 pg14). However it looks cool for the audience, and also, I had a lot of fun drawing space.

Another tool for exposition I like to use is a character telling something while performing another action. I'm working on a page right now where one character, off to the side, is explaining her feelings about the situation she's in, over a montage of characters doing another action, removed from the exposition.

For a comic style like mine, which is more greatly condensed than others, an economy of exposition is important. As long as your exposition is not egregious, too long-winded and/or too anecdotal, it should fly with the audience.

[eagle1]

Exposition bad. Story good.

Seriously, the first rule of exposition should always be "Don't". Yes, you have information to convey to the reader. Yes, you are very proud of the world you have created. Yes, you want to show it off. Yes, the reader needs to understand all of the cool new words you are throwing at him.
Don't

From XKCD:

Exposition should be done in small bites, in context. Visual explanations are best. Casual dialogue comes next. Pedantic lectures should be avoided. Walls of text, while a favourite of poor fantasy writing, are something that let you know your whole concept needs trimming.

From the Great Muppet Caper:
Miss Piggy: [Lady Holiday has just given Miss Piggy the entire backstory for the movie] Why are you telling me all this?
Lady Holiday: It's plot exposition. It has to go somewhere.

If you start hitting me with too much exposition that is keeping me from enjoying the story, I quit. I go find something else to read. I like to give a web comic 20 pages. I am constantly amazed by how many of them are still doing exposition 10 pages in. It's not fun for the reader, and part of it feels like the author is just showing off the world, instead of telling me a story. I want a highly detailed world, but show it to me, don't tell me about it. Reference Robert Heinlein, G. R. R. Martin, or The Dark Knight Returns for examples of how to show me a detailed world without blatant exposition.

Work your exposition in gradually. Don't try to introduce your big concept and the exposition behind it all at once. Start out showing me a small story, then build it into your epic. It works better, shows more skill as a writer, and doesn't hit me with the gibberish all at once.

Eagle
(not trying to be harsh here)

[winglesscomic]

It might just be me but if the intro to a comic is explaining the comic's backstory there's an 85.3% chance that I won't read it. I am instantly turned away from exposition at the beginning of the story. Like, I don't give a shit about what happened 500 years ago. I want to know what's happening NOW. You can explain the backstory later, through dialogue, not a bunch of square boxes at the beginning of the story. That sort of thing does not grip me at all. I skipped the prologue of Ghostblade because I didn't give a shit about what happened to angels or whatever 1000 years ago, and just looked at the pwetty pictures.

I have a problem with dumping information on the reader about everything, even things they really don't need to know or care about, so my pacing always sucks. I'm trying to move away from that problem and I abhor the first two chapters of my comic because I did that with reckless abandon. Yeeck.

[kurisquare]

I was actually pretty worried when making the Postcards in Braille episode you linked (thanks for the mention, btw!), because I didn't want to give walls of text but I still needed to give a lot of precise info. I tried to space it out more when doing this episode, which ended in a 5-page long episode but I think it was worth it XD otherwise the page would be too crowded!! no one wants a comic with huge walls of text, no matter how interesting the world can be.

As for worldbuilding, I agree that you shouldn't just throw everything at the reader right away. The characters in the story already live in that world, so they don't need any kind of explanation to how things work there. Let the reader discover the world, one piece at a time. Having part of your world unknown also helps get the readers engaged!! I really want to know more about the mythos of Heroes of Thantopolis but I know we'll get to see more and more of it as the story advances (I'm looking at YOU, Stront), and that has me even more hooked to the comic.

I am instantly turned away from exposition at the beginning of the story. Like, I don't give a shit about what happened 500 years ago. I want to know what's happening NOW.

THIS!! I won't care about what happened 500 years ago if I know literally nothing else about the comic!! it's better to show what's going on now, and once the reader is interested in the world they'll feel more like "oh, I wonder what happened in the past that made things this way"

[allenthomas]

I am a guilty of this in my own comic Shadosassins. At the beginning of the story quite a bit of action takes place but a few too many questions are posed without answers. At the point I'm currently at in the story a lot of exposition is needed to explain, at least in part, some of the crazy events that had been taking place so far. Whether I have too much or too little dialogue in my opinion would be up to the reader. However, in my opinion if it makes sense for story explanation I think that it makes sense for a little extra dialogue. I do agree though, that the story should not instantly begin with a bunch of dialogue or excessive text.

[MoiAri]

Hmmm well! Okay then! Whatever you guys say! xD

But don't complain to me, or even question why there are Children digging themselves out of the ground to travel over a mountain of endless smoke and ashes with glowing insects in lanterns. Collecting dead bodies of 'winged-humanlike' people found in smoldering craters, then sending the bodies to space as traditional burying. xD

I'll say some stories kinda need a page to explain alittle 😅 But your world better be one GOD AWFUL or freakn BEAUTIFUL place in that case being! x)

[Raven_C]

Yeah, too much exposition in a narrator-like manner, especially at the beginning of the story, is immediately a turn-off to me. I don't mind a bit of it, but I'd rather it explained through scenarios and dialogue with some sort of action going on. Like OP said, make it part of the story.

I used to read a comic that always had a bunch of exposition and world-building stuff at the beginning of every chapter. They had some images, of course, but it didn't make up for the wall of text that I always had to go through at the start of a story arc. Even the flashbacks were told in so much text. I decided to stop reading it and that was probably one of the reasons that I did.

[UltHamBro]

The last episode I've uploaded to Hearts is precisely called "So yeah: exposition". However, I prefer including subtle hints, or mentioning things in passing, than writing an exposition-heavy dialogue.

[Kura]

I actually don't mind it as long as it's not excessive.

There is something I would list much higher on my hate list than this, and it's when explanations are thrown poorly into the story.

For me it's REALLY awkward and annoying when there's a character that will "explain everything from how the world works to it's history" I don't mind when they are explaining to a character that I duno, got transported to the world or something and knows nothing about it. But when they are explaining to characters that are ****ing natives to that world/country/where ever they happen to be and should know all this stuff from LIVING FRIGGEN THERE ALL THEIR LIVES. Then it's clear that it's there for reader benefit and it REALLY breaks the storytelling flow for me, it's extremely distracting and often more tiresome to read though then an explanation at the beginning would have been, especially when the story literally stops to make way for a friggen lesson in how the world works.

[eagle1]

That's called Butler/Maid conversation. It's referring to the fact that a lot of bad mystery novels used to have those two stereotypes talking in the pantry giving all of the exposition. I've had to do that a few times, but I always try to limit it, and to keep it from disrupting the story.

Here's an excerpt from my Johnny Reb script:

"Panel 5: Tucker and Leon “Tak” Takai are at a workbench looking at several electronics boards set up with testing equipment.
Tucker 1: So explain this to me slowly, Mr. Takai.
Takai 1: All right. Rosetta chips allow the user to control cyberware with brain impulses.
Tucker 2: Right. Common knowledge.
Panel 6: Another view of the two of them with what is a very cramped lab in the background.
Takai 1: So what this Ortiz guy did was alter the circuitry so that the user can control other things through the interface, such as electronics that are not actually implanted in the body’s electrical field.
Tucker 1: And this could work on something as complex as a tac-suit?
Panel 7: Same.
Takai 1: Theoretically, certainly. Practically? Sure, as long as you had time, money, and the patience to work the kinks out.
Tucker 1: Would you like a job, Mr. Takai?"

The "Right, common knowledge" was lampshading the fact that the previous sentence was Butler/Maid conversation relaying something known by people on my world. There wasn't much way to avoid that sentence about the Rosetta chip. The rest of the excerpt is another sentence of exposition, but mostly introducing a new character.

Exposition is something that should be treated as a required evil, and beat down with a stick whenever possible. It's something that even writing Pros sometimes screw up on, but as long as a writer has been showing instead of telling, they should be able to get most of their exposition into the actual story instead of something that might have been a better sidebar.

Eagle
(Bad exposition is one of my prime dislikes)

[winglesscomic]

Isn't that the point of a comic, to question what is happening and find it through the ongoing narrative in bits and pieces? The premise you said was interesting enough for a reader to ask, "Wow, what's going on?" and continue reading without knowing the background (and if that was a reference to something I don't know what it was).

If there was a narrative at the beginning of the story explaining why the children are collecting dead bodies, I'd be like, fuck that. I don't care. The writer just blew out the flame of the candle. If they told me why they're doing it right off the bat, what's the point of me continuing reading? To me, there is no further hook. They just explained the thing I wanted to know.

[MylCreates]

All pretty good examples. I'm not a big fan of the "chatterbox" character however and find them more annoying than informative even when they are explaining the lore/background of a world.

AnnaLandin's example of "bread crumbing" it throughout the story I think is a really good way to go, and somehow integrating it into the scenes than stoping the story all together to explain. I tried to do this with Hacheeachkee at the beginning. As Sketaldaz grew up, Machiny taught him the basics of their history, then throughout the rest of the chapter, characters kept referring a back to names and lore so it was never really forgotten, and even built upon. (Examples like "Oh my Daz" , "Souls of the Sandy Abyss" and just repeating key words of species and places (like Tiper, Rogun, Rucabje, etc)). There are even easter eggs hidden throughout the comic, such as murals on the walls and actions that backdrop characters do that help further explain the world the comic is set in.

Still I am looking into ways to efficiently teach and keep interesting the background/lore of worlds because each chapter Hacheeachkee involves a new world. (Oh boy XD )

[elixiadragmire]

i try and try and try to avoid this. currently on the third rewrite for a scene in chapter 2 to explain something without explaining it ....

Blocks of text i'm the same as the others, i skip it and start reading the actually story, most of the time I don't need it. In fact something happen 400 hundreds years ago in my world .... not even an explanation yet, seeded stuff, end of chapter 3 really starts it off and chapter 4 and 5 go i little further into it but its a slow burner.

[MoiAri]

All very true. Of course.

But wont people say 'Fuck that' if someone just...didnt bother explaining ANYTHING EVER. Like what would be the point of telling a story? If the reader won't appreciate any sort of backround whatsoever? At least in a 'grand complex' story of sorts, Like at some point a reader should know "why" or "how come" not just aimlessly read, just cuz...? Or am i missing something. Im honestly confused, i get the dislike for 'info-dump' but to never get into why this happened or what lead to this beggining and why the characters in the story should care is odd to me, since there will be and ending readers will just applaud this ending with no context of any sort? readers will stop reading for way earlier fot that very reason.

I feel like that writing style only truly works for interactive storys like so, and Video games.

I guess its still deems true, you cant please everyone. Thank God.

[eagle1]

No, it's not a case of not explaining anything ever, @moisesarias096, it's a case of not doing info dumps. Avoiding walls of text, exposition dumps and characters, and all of the silly ways of putting information out there that annoy readers and interrupt the story. The information has to be gotten out there. However, there are ways of doing it that are almost transparent. Look at how much information is in Martin's A Song of Ice And Fire, and yet he hardly ever does straight exposition. He hides it in dialogue, occasional inner thoughts, stories told to characters who don't know them, implied information, and a dozen other tricks, and by reading, we are shown his world instead of being told about it. It's an example of exposition done in small doses, hidden away in enjoyable reading.

Eagle
(Something I strive for)

[darlingGrim]

I don't like doing exposition and I don't like reading lots of it. I want the characters to tell the story and have important figures tell it, but at the same time you can't have them say everything all at once. Have them tell what's the most relevant and sprinkle background information in where you can.

I think exposition is hard to do though. I like the square text spaces to be used for locations, names, and occasionally flashback conversations. I'm still learning myself though.

[blastryoku]

I think i kinda doing the exposition on small doses or like @AnnaLandin call it "Breadcrumbling."
Though doing it made feel various times that i wasn't doing enough exposition(It must be my 1page/week schedule that made this feel slower).

[nocuddletime]

I absolutely hate too much exposition (which is probably obvious to anyone that's read my comic). I struggle with it because I personally enjoy weird (and occasional hard to follow) stories that are ultimately very rewarding. I'd like mine to be in that vein but also have a big following!

[fanyart]

TBH I always skip these pages. I go straight to the pages where something finally happens. If it keeps me interested, I come back and read the exposition pages. I don't remember ever doing it differently.

I have some things to explain in my comic (not-yet public) too, and have been thinking a lot about how to go about it. My theory is that it would be best to start a comic without any prologue of this kind and explain things bit by bit here and there. I mean, does the reader really need to know all these things right now? If not, they can be revealed later on a good occasion and even serve the purpose of keeping the readers interested in how exactly the world works etc.

[thecokers]

Lots of really great discussion here. I'll add my two cents. Having just seen Fury Road over the weekend, I was surprised at how willing George Miller was to just dive straight into the deep end and let viewers figure out social structure, classes and Wasteland culture on their own. It was refreshing, and a good reminder not to talk down to your audience.

I don't think there's anything wrong with setting up the world as he did at the start, but I really, really hate exposition, and fell into the trap towards the end of "Outcasts of Jupiter #1." I'm not sure what I could have done differently. First issues/episodes are tough, because you're setting up the characters, relationships and lore. Originally we wanted to do 40 pages, which would have given us plenty of time to explain things in a more natural manner, but in the end, I'm mostly pleased with how the issue turned out.

-- Shobo