Speak Less, Show More: Mastering the Subtle Art of Comic Dialogue
Create dialogue that captivates and pushes beyond the visuals. Find out how to weave words into your comic masterpiece so your readers can't put it down.
A Pragmatic Look At Dialogue and Text in Comics
Comics are a unique medium where words and pictures collaborate to tell stories. Like any great partnership, each has unique skills and strengths. Your task is to manage their roles.
Many novice creators struggle with a common problem: their text and images fight for attention instead of working as partners.
Sometimes, they have the opposite problem. Their text directly reflects what's in the image. We call this "on-the-nose" dialogue, and it feels stilted and unnatural. This guide will help you balance showing and telling in your comic.
Core Principles: The Collaboration of Text & Image
What to Show, What to Tell
INEFFECTIVE:
```
Panel shows a character crying.
Dialogue: "I am so sad right now!"
```
EFFECTIVE:
```
Panel shows a character crying.
Dialogue: "I promised Mom I wouldn't let this happen again."
```
The second example adds context and depth that the image alone cannot convey while avoiding redundancy.
The Power of Silence
Not every panel needs dialogue. Consider these moments where silence strengthens your story:
Reaction shots after significant revelations
Action sequences where the visuals carry the momentum
Emotional beats where facial expressions speak volumes
Scene transitions establishing new locations
Practical Techniques
1. Writing Natural Dialogue
Characters should sound like real people, not exposition machines. Compare:
STILTED:
```
Character A: "As you know, brother, our father died three years ago in that terrible accident."
Character B: "Yes, and that's why we're here at his grave today."
```
NATURAL:
```
Character A: "Three years..." [looking at gravestone]
Character B: "Feels longer, doesn't it?"
```
2. Strategic Caption Placement
Captions serve different purposes:
Narration: Frames the story from a specific perspective
Internal Monologue: Reveals character thoughts
Time/Location: Establishes when and where we are
Thematic Commentary: Adds a layer of meaning to visual scenes
Example of effective caption use:
```
Panel: A busy city street
Caption: "They say New York never sleeps. Truth is, it doesn't even blink."
[The caption adds atmosphere without describing what we can already see]
```
3. Balloon Placement Best Practices
Left to right, top to bottom reading order
Leave 1/8 inch minimum space between balloons
Keep balloons clear of critical visual elements
Use tails to indicate speakers clearly by pointing at who is talking
Consider balloon shapes for different types of dialogue:
Rounded: Normal speech
Spiky: Shouting/intense emotion
Wavy: Whispers/weak voice
Thought bubbles: Internal monologue (these are the ones that have a trail of circles, like blown soap bubbles, instead of a tail)
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
1. The Echo Effect
```
Panel shows character opening door
Dialogue: "I'm opening the door"
```
Instead, use dialogue to add information:
```
Panel shows character opening door
Dialogue: "Mom never locks it anyway..."
```
2. Information Overload
```
Panel shows two characters talking
Dialogue: [Three paragraphs of exposition]
```
Break lengthy exposition across multiple panels or convert to visual sequences.
Unlike a novel with seemingly endless horizons of words, word balloons are full, maxed out, when they hit 24 words. Not a lot of words, is it? More words? Add a separate bubble. More than that? Write a novel. (Just Kidding) But seriously, condense your words. It works better in the medium.
3. Floating Head Syndrome
Avoid panels that are just faces talking. Boring! If you're so inclined, you may as well have a second character DOING something in the panel while a balloon with a tail pointing out of the panel tells us someone "off camera" is doing all that yammering.
Include meaningful background elements and character actions. Remember, we're doing visual storytelling here. Images get 50% of the credit, so writers shouldn't neglect them. Masters of the Medium create disparities between the picture and the text. It's a tricky technique, but it's riveting when it works. This happens when the drawn panel and its action contradict what's said. Oh, the liars we humans can be. Bad for relationships, good for drama.
Exercises for Improvement
1. The Silent Panel Challenge
Take a dialogue-heavy page
Remove all dialogue
Identify which moments actually need words
Rewrite with minimal, purposeful text
2. Subtext Practice
Create a two-character scene where:
What they're saying?
What they're thinking?
What they're doing?
All tell different parts of the story.
3. Caption Integration Exercise
Write a one-page sequence using:
No dialogue balloons
Only captions
Must advance the story through both text and visuals
Resources for Further Learning
1. Books
1. Piekos, Nate. The Essential Guide to Comic Book Lettering. Image Comics, 2021.
2. Chiarello, Mark, and Todd Klein. The DC Comics Guide to Coloring and Lettering Comics. Watson-Guptill, 2004.
3. Starkings, Richard, and John Roshell. Comic Book Lettering: The Comicraft Way. Active Images, 2003.
2. Online Tools
Blambot.com
Balloon placement calculators
Font size guidelines for different print sizes
Panel layout templates
The Final Thoughts
Remember: every word in your comic should earn its place. Comics are more poetry than prose. We have limited space, and like poetry, and must therefore be dense with meaning. Distill your words into their most intense form. Brevity is a constraint comics share with poetry.
If the image alone tells the story, let it. When you add text, make it count by revealing what the pictures cannot show: thoughts, history, context, and deeper meaning. Most of all, your dialogue should reveal the emotional truth behind the actions. Stories are engines for emotion. If there ain’t gonna be any emotion, don’t bother starting the engine.
---
Use this guide as a quick reference. Use Nate’s book when you need to go deep. When editing your work, consider these ideas and verify your text and images work together rather than competing for attention.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Want to see what's below the waterline? Visit Nate Piekos’ site, which has a link below. It isn’t about poetry, but it is about words, specifically how to letter a comic effectively.
Charles Merritt Houghton
2 January 2025 (ugh, already 2025?!)
Want the full picture?
https://blambot.com/pages/comic-book-grammar-tradition
Nate wrote one of the best books on lettering. I love his book and whip it out whenever I reach the lettering stage. (Seriously. I forget this stuff because I don't letter daily.) He knows lettering at the deepest level. He wrote the damn book! (p.s. He has free comic fonts and some killer paid ones, too. Support him. He deserves it.)