From comics do audiocomics: an intermedial analysis

Abstract

Part of a larger doctoral research focusing on audiobooks and their multiple aspects from the perspective of Intermedial Studies, this study aims to analyze how the semiotic hybridization that constitutes comics as a type of media is transmediated into the auditory signs of audio comics. In other words, how panels, dialogue balloons, and other visual elements are transformed and transferred (Elleström, 2021) into vocal performances, music and sound effects. Through this examination, we sought to demonstrate how these auditory media are capable of mediating different formats of audio comics. To illustrate this, we took examples from the audio comics The Boys (2020) and The Sandman (2020), with the former serving as an alternative way to access the content of the graphic novel by acting as an audio description, while the latter resembles a film without synchronized moving images. Finally, we discussed possible reasons why audio comics are still relatively unexplored in Brazil, despite the country's rich tradition of printed comics.