2 - Newspaper Comic Strips

Summary

This chapter looks at a humor subgenre of manga defined by form, the four-panel (comic) strip known in Japanese as yonkoma manga. While this form has played a significant role in modern manga history, including a close interrelation with story-manga, it remains underrepresented in comics studies today. Yonkoma manga can be found in magazines and on internet platforms, but in this chapter, the focus leans toward newspapers where the strips initially developed and today still reach their widest audience. A brief historical overview of the development and current situation of four-panel strips is given before attention turns to their structure, usually described as ki-shō-ten-ketsu (introduction-development-turn of events-conclusion). How this conventional narrative structure is approached varies. This is demonstrated by introducing the creative processes of a few artists. To highlight this structure, an example strip is described. To move beyond mere explications of narrative pattern, however, this chapter ends with a simple application of linguistic humor theory to reveal in part how the humor is created, and to call for more engagement with humor theories in manga studies.