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Iconic Abstraction and the Vocabulary of Comics in Hellboy

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In Chapter 2 of Understanding Comics, McCloud talks about two key concepts I’d like to discuss: he identifies reality, language, and the picture plane as a representation of the pictorial vocabulary of comics, and he expresses a scale for iconic abstraction of comic art.

As readers following the action in comics, we are guided by what objects and events cartoonists decide demand focus in each individual moment or panel. This focus via simplification of reality - referred to as abstraction - provides a rhythm of reading the visual representation of a sequence of events, controlling the timing of action and dialogue through spacing of panels and objects on a page.

McCloud makes it clear that abstraction in comics is really just about the representation of ideas. Conceptually, we can perceive a specific drawn event, such as an explosion or a fight, without that event being pictured exactly or photorealistically. Rubble or glass flying midair can represent the impact of fights depicted in comics without the complete physical breakdown capturing it. We can also understand the existence of the figure in a comic without full or hyper-realistic detail.

Looking at this page from Hellboy: Seed of Destruction, we can observe the visual differences between a statue and the main character, or principal figure, in panel 5 (the very bottom panel on this page) and the interaction of figures throughout each panel as an example of Mignola's method of abstraction.

content warning: death
Transcript: In panel 1: Hellboy is pictured asking "Sir..??", waiting for a response from Bruttenholm. In the next panel, Bruttenholm's body suddenly crashes through the glass double doors. One side of the doors tears off with him. Panel 3: Hellboy runs towards Bruttenholm. In panel 4, Bruttenholm is seen dead, covered in small holes resembling bite marks. In panel 5, Hellboy runs after the monster that attacked Bruttenholm. Hellboy's inner voice reads: "I'd be the first to admit that I have no shortage of faults." "But if I had to pick one, the one that's gotten me into the most trouble over the years..." "...it would be that I sometimes get angry."

The main technique employed by Mignola to simplify the figure through abstraction is silhouettes: blacking out the form so that the most important gestures of the body are communicated. In panel 3, both figures are barely identifiable as silhouettes, with more than half of their respective figures blacked out - but we still retain exactly what is depicted within the scene: Hellboy running towards Bruttenholm’s falling body. 

The same abstraction throughout the page can initiate hyperfocus to an event like the death of Bruttenholm in panel 4. While we can clearly see Bruttenholm’s face and part of his chest, the rest of the body is blacked out without further detail. We know the form is there and the position it’s laying in, but it’s not necessary to visually communicate the full form to communicate the idea that he is now dead. 

Mignola’s art likely falls into the 2nd category on the scale in McCloud’s Big Triangle, leaning more towards natural resemblance based on the lines of each figure - but not necessarily on the form, which often happens to sway from the usual realism with its blockiness as another technique for abstraction (I hope this is recognizable from the above page!). Not every detail is present in the backgrounds either, although some objects have more detail than others – possibly for the representation of otherness mentioned in Understanding Comics (44). The detail in the statue in the foreground differs from the silhouettes in the back.

McCloud states that "words, pictures, and other icons are the vocabulary of the language called comics" (47). I take other icons to mean objects like word bubbles which can take also their own form. The last panel in the above page also has a different depiction of words to accompany Hellboy’s actions, representing his inner voice – differentiated by rectangular boxes, communicated as unique from outer dialogue in panel 1 or sound effects in panels 2 and 3 through their images. 

Sound effects in comics or word balloons that emphasize action or tension in the voices on the page are another method of abstraction. We can’t actually hear what happens in a comic, so this has to be a comprehensible visual representation that will help the reader understand what is happening.

Using “WUNK” in panel 3 further explicitly states meaning to show that Bruttenholm's body has finally hit the floor. Visuals could be enough to show this (his head is already near Hellboy's feet in this panel), but this is the fun interplay of words as a part of the comic’s meaning. The sequence continues with the countering lack of action in the following panel where Bruttenholm lays still, and a closeup allows readers the chance to examine his body for cause of death (along with Hellboy, who readers might imagine is doing the examining in this panel as well). Of course, everyone can read the sequence their own way!

Thank you for reading! šŸ’–

Works Cited

McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: [the Invisible Art]. New York: HarperPerennial, 1994. Print.


Mignola, Mike, and John Byrne. Hellboy Omnibus. Seed of Destruction. Dark Horse Books, 2018.

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