From Paper to Screen

Intermedial implications from printed comics to digital media

Abstract

Comic books were restricted, for almost a century, to the technical media of printing until the advent of digital technologies, which are increasingly transforming forms of production, distribution and consumption. However, with these changes, new issues also arose, such as the difficulties in transfer this type of media product, usually conceived in printed format, to digital media, since every electronic device presents distinct characteristics and affordances, such as screen size. Based mainly in the studies on Intermediality proposed by Lars Elleström (2021), this paper seeks to discuss the implications of the process of transmediation from printed comics to tablet, computer, Kindle and smartphone electronic supports, investigating the consequences of these transformations. Taking a digital comic book as an example, we can verify from this study that computer reading is closer to reading a printed magazine, while tablets, Kindle and smartphones present a disruption with the main affordance of this media type: tabular or arthrological reading.