Constrained comics

Constrained comics is a form of comics that places some fundamental constraint on form. By adding a constraint, the artist is attempting to produce original art within tightly defined boundaries.

A conceptually similar movement is the constrained writing movement, where writers have attempted to do things such as write novels in palindromic form or without the letter "e". Poetry is sometimes constrained into specific rhyme and meter categories such as haiku or sonnet.

Examples

Notable examples of constrained comics:

• The Angriest Dog in the World a comic strip by David Lynch. Each comic features the same four panels, the first three of which are identical.
• Dinosaur Comics which uses the same artwork, with only dialogue changing.
• Partially Clips which uses three identical panels based on clipart.
• The many works of the Oubapo group.
• Matt Madden's 99 Ways to Tell a Story.
• Garfield Minus Garfield, which features the comic character Jon Arbuckle without the titular cat, who has been digitally removed from the otherwise untouched comic.

See also

• Infinite canvas, a movement in comics in a sense opposite to that of constrained comics.

Further reading

• Baetens, Jan. Comic Strips and Constrained Writing. Image & Narrative. Issue 7. October 2003. Retrieved on 2008-09-24.

External links

• Article about constraint on ComixTalk