Comics and Technical Communication

What was my first big MAPC final assignment, was also one of my favorite assignments, as I was able to connect one of my greatest passions—comic books and the comics medium, and technical communication. It certainly wouldn’t be the last time I would do this during my MAPC tenure, but this particular case study final report for my Technical Communication course holds a dear place in my heart.

Below is the abstract that I had written, along with a link to read the tome in full. Further down are the presentation slides that I created to compliment this case study.

Abstract:

This case study examines the comics medium as it relates to technical communication. It studies the commonality between the creation of instructional directions that adapt sequential storytelling applications, and likewise explores how the comics medium derives inspiration from technical communication applications. By examining symbolic analytic theory as expanded upon by Johndan Johnson-Eilola and analyzing it alongside several pages of comics published by Marvel Entertainment and pages of technical documents selected from an instructional booklet for a television stand/shelving unit made by IKEA, it concludes by proposing the use of comics as a form of technical communication.

Keywords: comics, technical communication, symbolic-analytic theory