From one square to another

A minimal unit of the comic strip, the square is an image in disequilibrium, torn between the one that precedes it and the one that follows, but no less between its desire for independence and its inclusion in the narrative. Unlike the photographic snapshot or the cinematographic photogram, the square is synthetic in nature  : the action presented could not unfold in the blink of aneye. The image offers both the start of a movement and its continuation. Or it may host several lines of dialogue. The secret of the comic-bookframe is to lead into the next image, while at the same time possessing its own temporal thickness .