Protanopia: An Alternative Reading Experience of a Digital Comic

Abstract

Screen-based reading behavior is now prevalent in society. Comic artists switch medium - from traditional to digital - in order to compromise the changing reading behavior, as well as to access more readers. The digital platform ranges from a static computer screen to mobile devices such as a phone, as well as a tablet. This article aims to explore the technological innovation of digital comics. It discusses the following digital comic developed for mobile devices: Protanopia by Andre Bergs (2017). The article seeks to explore how the digital comic offers a unique reading experience to its readers. The study is conducted through analyzing a personal experience of reading the digital comic, literature reviews, as well as interviews with the comic artists. The findings are as follows: (1) the comic offers images in a three-dimensional space and allows their readers to control the camera angle while reading by tilting the mobile device. This image-viewing control grants the readers an unconventional reading experience; (2) The comic artist utilizes an integrated technology using Unity and Alias Maya software to deliver a three-dimensional objects and space. The 2D look is later created by a drawn-over-3D image technique. This reveals that despite the complication of software, the method of hand-drawing is still a crucial stage. The study affirms that the traditional way of visualization in comic making has not disappeared but adapted to the digital transformation. This paper provides an observation on media changes in comics, as well as a direction for future comic production.