Clear Line Comics

In France and Belgium, during the 20th century, there was one prominent art style that seemed to take hold. Clear line. Clear line comics are known for their ability in storytelling and characterization. Due to this, they have become so popular that they have breached their own genre of works and have started invading graphic novels and even superhero comics! From stories like Hawkeye or The Sound of Your Heart, clear line is taking over everywhere. 

But what defines the basic characteristics of the “clear line” style? 

It feels like it should be very obvious. 

Well, as the name suggests, it is chock full of straight, easy-to-see, clear lines. See? Obvious, right? These distinct and simple lines are contour line drawings that give definitive shape to the characters and landscapes in as few strokes as necessary. It would be awful to bog the reader down with lines that give no meaning to the work. They show enough to succinctly get the point across. 

The images are also clear and clean because they are not weighed down by dense shadows or complex color schemes. The characters are dealt in the same manner with in a simple and clean style. Herge, for Tintin, is really good at finding the perfect balance between realism and simplicity. The fine dance of a realistic body with the simple face of two dots for eyes and little ‘u’s for everything else, it’s a beautiful waltz. 

With a straightforward style, the entire thing is wrapped in a nice bow, so to say. The clean style of artwork goes hand-in-hand with the characterization in the stories as well. Look in the panels below: Tintin, Captain Haddock, and Professor Calculus all have distinct and clear personalities. Tintin is an honest, hardworking man with a simple, straightforward nature. Captain Haddock is a strong man of the sea, full of boasts and exaggerations, and a loyal dog till the end. Professor Calculus is a man of brains, but slow when it comes to affairs outside of his field. 

 

 

These characterizations are made known through the clearly written dialogue, costuming, and actions given by Herge to these characters. Furthering this, as I mentioned earlier, you can see how everything is based on simple line art, simple colors, and no shadows.  

This simple yet distinct style makes it easier for the reader to enjoy and flow through the comics. The realistic proportions give the story an adult feel, as I believe the more stylized it is in this simple form, the more “childish” it may read. The art balances well with the story and neither one is overly complex nor overtakes the other. It feels well balanced, like a breakfast. 

For such reasons, this is probably why it has become such a popular genre. The simple style is engaging and being that they are contour line drawings that have basic colors within, it gives the author more of a chance to also build up a simple and engaging story to match with it. This type of art and story-telling isn’t a “one culture only” style either, many different countries and cultures can create art like this within their own culture’s prominent style and writing.