NEW A Different Kind of Cultural Frame
Comparisons abound between the properties of Japanese manga and American comics. This study seeks to provide empirical evidence for these comparisons by examining 300 panels in each of twelve American and twelve Japanese comic books. It examines 1) how they highlight amounts of information, 2) their depiction of subjective viewpoints, and 3) the angle of view taken by their representations. (15 pages)

Cohn, Neil. 2011. A Different Kind of Cultural Frame: An Analysis of Panels in American Comics and Japanese Manga. Image [&] Narrative 12 (1):120-134.

The Limits of Time and Transitions
This article explores how the linearity of reading panels and the iconicity of images create various false assumptions about sequential images’ depictions of space and time. It argues that any linear panel-to-panel analysis (such as McCloud’s panel transitions) or loosely defined principles of connection (such as Groensteen’s ‘arthrology’) between sequential images are inadequate to account for their understanding. (22 pages) Blog Thread

Cohn, Neil. 2010. The Limits of Time and Transitions: Challenges to theories of sequential image comprehension. Studies in Comics 1 (1):127-147.

Japanese Visual Language
Over the past two decades, manga has exploded in readership beyond Japan, and its style has captured the interest of young artists all over. But, what exactly are the properties of this "style" beyond the surface of big-eyes and "backward" reading? This paper explores the structural properties of the visual language underlying the "manga style," how it works, and how it differs from the visual languages in comics from other parts of the world. (21 pages, 1.4MB) Blog Thread

Cohn, Neil. 2010. Japanese Visual Language: The Structure of Manga. In Manga: An Anthology of Global and Cultural Perspectives, edited by T. Johnson-Woods. New York: Continuum Books.

Extra! Extra! Semantics in Comics!
As in the verbal and manual modalities of expression, various semantic structures arise across sequences of images in interesting and effective ways. This piece examines metonymy, conceptual metaphors, and blending across a three-panel pattern used in strips from an advertising campaign by the Chicago Tribune newspaper. (9 pages, 474K) Blog Thread

Cohn, Neil. 2010. Extra! Extra! Semantics in Comics!: The Conceptual Structure of Chicago Tribune Advertisements. Journal of Pragmatics 42 (11):3138–3146.

A Visual Lexicon
Panels are the most recognized unit in visual language used in comics, though meaningful units do exist that are both smaller and larger than panels. This is similar to spoken languages, where lexical items can be both above or below the level of the "word." This paper addresses these varying levels of representation aiming towards a general understanding of a "visual lexicon." (19 pages, 725K)

Cohn, Neil. 2007. A Visual Lexicon. Public Journal of Semiotics. 1(1):53-84.

Un-Defining "Comics"
Perhaps the most befuddling and widely debated point in comics scholarship is the very definition of “comics” itself. Most arguments on this issue focus on the roles of a few distinct features: images, text, sequentiality, and the ways in which they interact. However, this piece argues that sequential images actually create their own visual language, which combines with text in the sociocultural objects that we call "comics." That is, "comics" and the visual language of sequential images are two separate, yet interacting, categories. (11 pages, 1.8MB)

Cohn, Neil. 2005.Un-Defining "Comics." International Journal of Comic Art. 7(2):236-248.

Early Writings on Visual Language
More writings are included in this 120 page book which collects, refines, and expands on the earliest of writings on visual language theory. It covers topics such as the muddled definition of "comics" and its relation to visual language, how sequences of images communicate, and child visual language learning, plus a lot more. Want one?

Preview: "Visual Syntactic Structures, Part 1":
Straightforwardly, communication made by a sequence of images might be viewed in terms of linear "panel transitions." However, while intuitive, a linear approach ultimately has many problems with it. This chapter addresses many of these issues, setting up an alternative method of analysis in the form of hierarchic rules (22 pages, 452K)

¡Eye græfIk Semiosis!• 2005
Written as my Masters Thesis for the University of Chicago, this piece challenges the common classifcation between "sound" and "idea" based writing systems. I argue that all graphic signs lie on a cognitive continuum, the ramifications of which beg for reconsidering their analysis as homogenous systems, the conception of their invention, the nature of their relationship to other visual signs, and the universality of the category of "writing" in the first place. (61 pages, 1.5MB) Cognitive Map

These links go to Comixpedia site, not pdf. files:

Interactive Comics? (February 2005) - Usually, when people think about language, there is an aspect of face to face intaction and exchange that springs to mind. This piece addresses how social interactivity factors into visual language structure and use

Art vs. Language (July 2004) - This pieces discusses how the cultural conceptions of "Art" and "Language" might affect the structure and usage of visual language in American society.