The gist: A comic strip tells a story in panels — images and words together — and the sequence, plus the gap between panels, does a lot of the work.
Three little boxes, and you laugh.Panel 1: a cat eyes a full glass on a table.Panel 2: the cat, paw raised, stares at its owner.Panel 3: the glass on the floor, the cat gone.
No words needed. The sequence and what happens between panels tell the joke. That's the comic strip — analyse how images, words and order build meaning.
What to look for
Panels in sequence
Boxes read in order; the story moves panel to panel.
The gutter (the gap)
The space between panels — you fill in what happens, and the timing lands the joke.
Speech and thought bubbles
Words come as dialogue or thoughts; shape and size show tone and volume.
Exaggeration and visual gags
Big eyes, sweat drops, a final twist panel — cartoon shorthand for feeling.
The key move: Ask ‘how do the panels and their order build the meaning or joke?’ In a comic, sequence and the gap between panels matter as much as any single image.
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Why it matters in the exam: A comic strip can appear in Paper 1. A strong answer analyses how images, words and sequence work together — the panel order, the final twist, the exaggeration — not just describing each box.
Analyse how this comic strip uses its panels and their timing to make its point.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Watch out: Don't just describe each panel one by one. The meaning lives in the order and the gaps — how one panel sets up the next, and how the last one lands.