In The System of Comics (2009) Thierry Groensteen uses the term Spatiotopia to refer to comics’ system of structures that sit within each other working independently and interdependently. Frames, symbols, panels, captions, image, text, transitions, compositions; structures inside of structures, some of them symbolic, others representational, some used to facilitate clarity of communication, others serving to inject extra layers of meaning. The sequence below shows my process in manipulating the structures within this particular sequence; editing from eight pages to six, removing unnecessary structures, and trying to achieve a spatiotopia that enables the reader to move quickly through the scene without any trouble. A squiggle line here, a tilted image there. Magic.
