frbd1-7, Exercise 1: Tardi's war comics compared

Model answer (check the details), comparing Tardi's First World War comics with a war novel such as All Quiet on the Western Front:

What the comic form adds:
- Images of the trenches, uniforms, mud and wreckage that the reader sees at once, with no need for a long description.
- Pacing by the page: a spread can show devastation in a single look, and panels can repeat to show monotony and exhaustion.
- A drawing style (dense, dark, with little heroism) that conveys attitude as well as fact.
- Words and pictures can disagree, so a soldier's cheerful caption can sit over a grim scene.

What it cannot do as easily:
- The inner life of a character over long stretches, which a novel can give in prose.
- Sound and smell, though the artist can suggest them.
- A film's movement and time.

Care: the comparison depends on which works are chosen, and the details of Tardi's books should be checked.