Meaning of Speech Bubbles in Comics

The visual tool used to represent the characters’ speech, dialogue, or conversation in the comics is known as a “bubble”. The meaning of speech bubbles in comics will be addressed, emphasizing their proper use and comic grammar.

Table of Contents

• Speech Bubbles
• What are Speech Bubbles?
• Different kinds of Speech Bubble
• Normal Speech
• Thoughts
• Captions
• Scream
• Electronic Devices
• Whispers
• Weakness
• Extended Speech
• Summary
• Some Insights
• What do you think?
• Cite this post

Speech Bubbles

What are Speech Bubbles?

One of the most important parts of comics is the character dialogue. It is one of the features of comics and it is as valuable as the images themselves. They are a great support for the narrative within the comics.

As part of the visual language of comics, bubbles are small expressions in themselves, with their own meaning. They can communicate in a situation or context. Therefore, it is important to know the meaning of speech bubbles in comics to know how to express emotions in a dialogue, nature, the source of the speech, and sounds, for instance.

Certainly, speech bubbles are usually added after the editing and photography of the images. However, at this point in the process of making a comic, you must have the text included inside the bubbles. The extension of the text must be set during the scriptwriting process, as well as the type of bubble to be used. Therefore, knowing the meaning of speech bubbles in comics ensures a better choice of each one to correctly communicate the message you want to convey.

Creative Process of Making Comics

Different kinds of Speech Bubble

There are different kinds of speech bubbles because there are different ways that a character could dialogue or communicate a message in a comic. There are some examples:

Normal Speech

The “basic” bubble — which often has an oval shape — is used for normal character speech. The “tail” of the bubble should generally point towards the speaker, particularly towards his mouth or the area that produces the sound.

Vertical bubbles can be used when there is not enough horizontal space.  Therefore, this provides flexibility in distributing the bubbles within the panel.

Most of the time, this kind of bubble has an oval shape. However, it can have different shapes.

Thoughts

To express a thought, an idea, or that one is daydreaming, the bubble with a cloud shape is the right one. Besides, the shape can also be oval, like the basic one. But its tail is formed by a group of circles, or ellipses. For example, there are 2 or 3 circles.

Besides, this bubble serves to communicate what animals, plants, or things cannot say, as they “do not talk”. For example, the meow of a cat or the bark of a dog could be represented by onomatopoeias. However, to express their internal dialogue, you can use the cloud bubble.

Captions

Rectangular bubbles without a tail are known as captions. They express what the narrator says in such a way that they support the course of the story. In other words, this space describes, in words, a given situation that would not be attributed to a character. Sometimes they are appreciated as voice-overs. Likewise, they are used for subtitles.

Scream

Multi-edged bubbles usually represent screaming or a message out loud, but the screams may have a positive or negative connotation. For example, the character is urging his team to try harder. However, the same bubble can be used to insult or express abuse.

Depending on the connotation of the message, either negative or positive, the text in its content may have variations in style: bold, larger, or different colors, for instance.

On the other hand, this bubble can also vary in shape, depending on the intensity of the emotion to be expressed and the style of the comics.

Electronic Devices

This is used to represent words or sounds coming from an electronic device such as a television, telephone, radio, or microphone. The tail of the bubble points towards the device, and it looks like lightning. In addition, it can be used for robot and hologram dialogs.

Whispers

Whispers are presented with a dashed-lined bubble. However, it also represents saying a secret or speaking in a very low voice. Certainly, the shapes can also vary for greater flexibility.

Weakness

The wavy bubble indicates that the speaker is suffering from physical weakness. Likewise, it indicates that a character is exhausted, semi-unconscious, or about to faint. So, its wavy shape reflects the weakness of the character’s voice.

Extended Speech

If the speech or dialogue is too long or a pause is required, the text is distributed into extended speech bubbles.

Moreover, the extended speech bubble has variations. Dialogues can be interleaving but use a bridge that links the speech bubbles of the same character.

Some Insights

Comics are not just a piece of entertainment for children and teenagers. This massive medium is appreciated and understood by adults as well. Marketing agencies and advertising companies have understood this and have started to use it to attract potential customers.

In conclusion, the narrative power of comics can be exploited in graphic design to communicate ideas interestingly and differently. Learning the meaning of speech bubbles in comics is one of the first steps. If graphic designers want to take advantage of the full potential of comics, it is necessary to understand the concepts and features of comics and their different genres. It is also necessary to follow the process of creating a comic in order to develop a story through this format.

What do you think?

In the comments section, tell me if you already knew these bubbles and their meanings. Do you know other bubbles?