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Jacqueline Valtierra
Dr. Lynda Haas
Writing 37
30 January 2015
The Role of Frames in WE3
They say that pictures tell a thousand words, and I agree. The technique in not only in the
usage of images, but how those images are presented to the audience. In WE3, Morrison is able
to demonstrate that comic books, just as novels, convey the reader and get a main idea across. He
cleverly exerts different frames throughout the entire novel that not only allows the reader know
what is going on in a specific event but also present different perspectives. I will be using not
only the WE3 series to demonstrate the importance of frames but also excerpts from Disney
with Fangs by Matt Brady, Comics and Sequential Art by Will Eisner, and Grant Morrison:
Combining the Worlds of Contemporary Comics by Marc Singer.

Frames as Will Eisner explained, Undertakes the containment of thoughts, ideas,

actions, and locations or sites (Eisner 38). In the first issue of WE3, the frames vary. Initially,
we encounter the experimented animals accomplishing their mission of exterminating the
guerrera, five frames per pages, then increasing as the suspension of the mission rises, lastly
decreasing as the mission ends. The frames also range in size. For example in pages 14-19, the
frames start horizontally, then transcend into eighteen frames per page in pages 20-25. As Eisner
states, [to] deal with the capture or encapsulation of these events in the flow of the narrative,
thus to enhance the true essence of his main point, they must be broken up into sequenced

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segments (Eisner 38). In the series of events found on pages 20-25, the reader is now presented
with a different perspective, the security camera footage.

In the laboratory, Roseanne Berry heroically saves the animals by not executing the lock
on the harness the animals had on their armor. The reader visually sees that the frames are all the
same size and look like security cameras. Yet, the most powerful message here is that the
command save was going to end the animals life, The cursor flashes on 'SAVE' to show us that
Roseanne hasn't executed the command, to build tension - and also because 'SAVE' has a nice
double meaning in the circumstances (Brady). With the security camera footage, the reader sees
snaps of confusion in the animals, the panic the scientist have, and humanity or compassion in
Dr. Berrys action. Displaying those 18 frames in the five pages got the point of freedom across
smoothly compared to writing out the situation in over five pages.

With the same laboratory example, panels alternate between richly rendered
environment that establish the setting and blank, spare backgrounds that highlights the characters
interior states, it sets a tone words may not do justice (Singer 210). The audience witness the
good and the bad in both perspectives, as a human and as the animal. The storyline then
transitions to bigger frames of the consequences Dr. Berry faces, as well as small frames in the
perspective of the free animals. The structure then used is leaned more towards their newly
gained independence.

The second issue of WE3 exhibits the animals in the wilderness as WE1 tries to lead
them into their home. The frames in the second and third issue are more remarkable than the

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first. For example, in the second issue the solders try to ambush the animals but in page 7, the
single spreads contains 12 miniature frames all displaying the extensive destruction they can
cause when they feel threatened. Later in the issue, on page 9, the frames reflect the frenetic
experience of combat and the animals radically different perception of time and space (Singer
214). In the combat, the cat is able to transport through the linear frames as they are a different
universes the soldier has no idea exist. The time lapse is slow motion to the cat, the battle is a
fragmented and disassembled (Singer 214)
In conclusion, frames play an important role in the structure of the comic as well as
expressing the main idea to the reader. If the controversial issue of military experimenting on
animals can be brought to surface with a few comic books, many more important issues around
the world can as well.