Page - 28 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 03/01

28 | Christian Wessely www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/1, 17–44 POLyPerCePtiON A visual medium is usually subject to distinct framing. For comics these bounda- ries are traditionally established through the use of panels. Arranged on a page in rows and sections, such panels structure the perception process in terms of both place and time. On one hand, the sequencing of pictures/images is estab- lished, with a line of montage from which the “reader” can deviate only with great difficulty (for an example of this challenge, see fig. 10). On the other hand, however, this structure opens up a new visual field through interrup- tion, for unlike film, which is bound to pro- jection formats or pixel resolution, the picture/ image in a comic can be altered, can break boundaries, and can al- low different weightings within representations of the “reality” of a nar- rative (see fig. 11, and also fig. 1). Freed from all narrative conven- tions, one character can appear multiple times in a single panel, for the act of reception is open to freely established rhythms of perception. the author cannot then expect that the conven- tional reception order will be followed by the reader, who might linger on one page, look re- peatedly at one or more panel, or turn back to previous pages to enjoy certain passages again. this abandonment of Fig. 10: The temporal sequence is fixed by convention – in Chinese /Japanese culture the traditional direction of reading is from right to left. N.N., Meister Pao Blauhimmel, Das Geheimnis des unterschobenen Leichnams (I shih chia-huo), in: Wolfgang Bauer, Chinesische Comics, 45.