Kurt Vonnegut’s postmodern novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, provides an illustrative

perspective of war, time, and tragedy through his own unconventional style. Vonnegut’s

rejection of a standard literary structure, one full of, “ups and downs”, is glaringly

obvious from the first chapter. To emulate his choppy structure, the comic follows a

subject-to-subject panel transition, moving from one part of a scene to another. While a

non-secular transition may sound like a better fit considering the jumps in-between time,

the passage from Chapter Eight on page 226 remains within a single scene in the

Slaughterhouse. The subject-to-subject transition provides an introspective look and

focuses on different aspects provided by the narrator as he describes Billy’s memories.

This allows a clear encapsulation of the scene, as the voice-over within the panels

explains the narrative progression of the book.

Beyond the panel transitions, the way type of content reflected in the panel was a

specific aspect to consider. The subject-to-subject nature of the panels allowed flexibility

of what I could choose to illustrate, opting to go from heavy imagery to word-specific

panels. Word-specific panels refer to the contents reflecting the narration but aren’t

necessary for aiding the understanding. These panels are used to emphasize the

voiceovers while giving a sense of space and atmosphere. Since the panels are simplistic

in imagery, I utilized a low camera angle and special-effect lettering to hone in on the

atmospheric experience. The low angle directed towards the ceiling reflects the

perspective of Billy in the meat locker. Moreover, I wanted the low effect to make the

viewer feel small, vulnerable, and uncertain of their surroundings. In conjunction with the

special-effect lettering (onomatopoeias) that reinforce the unstable tone. Stylistically, the
lettering is presented with aggressive calligraphy that draws attention and reflects the

voice-over.

I chose to reinterpret the passage where Billy (notably remembers) the night

Dresden was bombed because of the darker, somber tone. Though the narrator has a dark

sense of humor throughout the novel, passages like the one utilize short and blunt diction

which shifts into a subdued atmosphere. In my comic, this somber atmosphere is created

through the use of graphic weight. The use of white ink on top of black negative space

creates a literal, darker piece. The white line work, which is used to outline important

figures and objects juxtaposes strongly, while the inclusion of grey adds a subtler depth in

the midground to the background. Moreover, the excessive shading style and line work

used in the first and third panel demand attention to be drawn to them. While the comic

uses a predominantly monochrome color scheme, the second to last panel uses the color

orange when illustrating flames. After the incessant use of white, I wanted the specific

theme of death to have an associated color with it. As a result, the sparing use of color

within the comic references the importance of the image and the visual connotation by

creating a definite focus.

Lastly, the final panel is a dramatized emphasis on the repeated phrase, “so it

goes.” By not including imagery to go along with it, the visual impact of, “so it goes”

becomes stronger, creating a strong emphasis on the lettering. Considering the quote as a

recurring motif, the weight of the piece needed to be emphasized. Without images, there

is an emphasis on the words themselves and the significance behind them, imploring

viewers to rely on the previous images and their own interpretation.