"Drive" review:

(Before I begin, all images contained in this post are the copyrighted material of Dave Kellett. You can find his site here.)

As a mass communications student, I aim to investigate all kinds of communication, not just film and video. The world of comics and graphic novels is an exciting one, full of storytelling devices. Through a process known as synesthesia, comics and graphic novels have to communicate things like sound and smell through text and pictures; which makes them a fascinating example of communication because they must communicate something that is experienced by another sense (sound through words, fro example). As always, to examine and review a work we need criteria. These criteria are: 1) Words; 2) Pictures; 3) Frames; and 4) the interaction of these three.

"Drive" by Dave Kellett, is an example of a comic that uses the aforementioned methods to tell a interesting story. It takes place far in the future, where one man accidentally finds a spaceship that "pinches" space enabling warp speed travel, and uses this to build an empire based upon his family's control of the transportation system. In this way it is somewhat reminiscent of "Dune" by Frank Herbert. However, "Drive" stands on its own feet as a believable and interesting universe.

Words:
In Drive, words are used both in and out of the picture-story continuum. Words are used as a device to introduce classified documents, private letters, and character dialogue. In the case of letters and documents, these are used to reveal necessary exposition for the story.

Looking a little closer, we see that the words are not all the same size. Words are made smaller and larger to emphasize how the words are supposed to sound. Pictures interact with the dialogue by giving the character an expression to match the text.

Pictures:
Throughout the story, Dave Kellett creates a fantastic world that fills the background of the comic. His characters go from being on board a spaceship, to being inside buildings, to vising other planets; the setting is vast and the pictures reinforce this throughout the work.

Even in the first few pictures in the introduction, we see a large universe. Pictures are used to set the mood, and to add depth to the story. In the example above, pictures interact with words to give the feeling of loneliness. Pictures interact with framing to show changing viewpoints: the "camera" (forgive the expression) goes from a close up to a wide shot, etc, to help tell the story.

Frames:
Framing is used to shift the perceptual distance from an something in the story. Framing allows the reader to be taken close to something one moment, and distant from it the next. In story telling this is an important tool as it allows the reader to experience more of the world, and it allows for an easier transition from scene to scene.

Framing is used to change perspective. In the above scene, the viewpoint shifts from one characters perspective to another. This establishes a relationship between the two characters, we are "told" that they look at one another. Framing works together with picture and text to establish power relationships within the story; for example: who (literally) looks up to a particular character?

Interaction:
In Drive, we see a comic where words, pictures, and framing work together to tell a compelling, interesting, character-driven story. Dave Kellett is an artist who understands the new methods of story telling, and how all the facets of a story can work together to tell a good story.

In the world of comics and graphic novels, "Drive" does a good job as an example of how to tell a story.