How To Put Music In Comics The Right Way

This fascinating article explores the relationship between comics and music.

We’re huge fans of comics here at Electronic Beats. And like all avowed comic nerds, we like ourselves a good read that dissects the form and reveals its shortcomings. Elle Collins’ Give ‘Em Elle is a well thought out weekly column on Comics Alliance that does exactly that, more or less.

Her latest article takes on the issue of music in comics, which, frankly, is an issue that’s always kind of bothered us. Nothing ruins the immersion of a good comic faster than a music sequence. As comics are a purely visual form, it’s obviously difficult for them to convey musicality in anything but the most mundane of ways. Do you just put lyrics with musical notes? Do you just rely on visual spectacle and dialog to convey genre?

Collins examines this problem through a few stinkers and then runs through some great examples of music in comics done right: She looks at Jem and the Holograms, Black Canary and the reboot of Archie. We weren’t completely familiar with all her picks, so it was super cool to see all these really creative approaches to portraying music in comics.

Like comics? Go deeper into the page with this exploration of the controversy around Marvel’s hip-hop album covers. Or, if you’re looking for something lighter, check out the weird comics of Will Laren.