Blood In The Gutter Meaning

In the comic world this space is known as the gutter.

Blood in the gutter meaning.

Blood in the gutter is a glimpse into the mind of chris mccarthy comics scholar and college english teacher. It refers to the space between the panels in a comic the gutters. What is a gutter. Chapter 3 blood in the gutter summary and analysis.

The invisible messenger if one were to look at a comic they would see empty space between the panels that contain the illustrations and dialogue of the text. It s criminal there ought to be a law criminal there ought to be a whole lot more you get nothin for nothin tell me who can you trust we got what you want and you got the lust if you want blood you got it if you want blood you got it blood on the streets blood on the rocks blood in the gutter every last drop you want blood you got it yes you have it s animal livin in the human zoo animal. A terrible disease that sticks your once perfectly normal ish mind into a dirty gutter hense gutterbrain. Blood in the gutter is the name of my favorite chapter from the book where scott explains what constitutes the magic and the mystery of comics through a concept called closure.

Scott says that one s perception of reality is an act of faith based upon mere pieces of the world. It will make you think dirty all the time make any sentense dirty ect. This is an obvious observation that has not so obvious implications. The title of this blog is shamelessly plagiarized from a chapter in scott mccloud s book understanding comics.

Blood in the gutter understanding comics ch 3 pdf. This reduces the panel and its negative space the gutter to icons that indicate that time and space is being divided. In this chapter scott discusses the idea that one relies on sensory perception in order to experience the outside world. Blood in the gutter understanding comics ch 3 pdf 8 62 mb.

Scott mccloud 1993 understanding comics p. The example below shows the appropriate use of gutter for the text along the top left and bottom edges of the design. 66 68 63 it is closure that makes comics an immersive medium that they are. This is a visual reference to stop you from crowding the finished edge the solid red line with text and any graphics that don t require bleed.

Scott introduces the concept of closure the phenomenon of observing the parts but perceiving the whole. Fullers used to be called blood grooves or blood gutters by some antiquarians although their purpose has nothing to do with blood. In effect the panel and gutter have less to do with the actual process of closure that is perceiving the whole from parts and more to do with indicating what is a part. The gutter is essential.

Following are some panels from the chapter that explain this concept in lucid detail.