The De Luca Effect in Comics

To be or not to be effected.

I am not afraid to ask questions on things that somehow are not on my radar or I cannot recall or whatever the case might be. Sometimes this happens deep within an interview, possibly not to be found but for our most loyal listeners and readers. Anyway, to cut to the chase, I recently brought up in a conversation the “De Luca Effect” in comics theory. I asked my guest for clarification since I found myself bumping up on limited time to check myself. My initial reaction is to take such scholarly-sounding terms with a healthy dose of skepticism: Is this actually some common enough technique going by another name? Maybe it’s something I’ve done in my own comics without putting a label to it. And then I inevitably circle back, ready to withhold any further judgment, take it in and see what mileage we get.

So, what exactly is the De Luca Effect? It certainly has a portentous sound to it, doesn’t it? Well, put on the spot, I didn’t know its origins and no one outside of certain academic circles would dare a guess either. It turns out this term was coined in a 2008 essay by comics historian Paul Gravett which features a comic dating back to 1975 by Gianni De Luca (1927-1991), an Italian cartoonist who, in order to efficiently condense his comics adaptation of Hamlet, depicted a series of moments of the main character, in multiple iterations of himself, reciting various lines all on the same page or series of pages, free-floating without using comics panels. Alright, that makes sense to me now. I recognize Gravett’s observations here as a useful reference point in a better appreciation and understanding of the comics medium.  And my initial hunch wasn’t exactly off. You can’t tell me there haven’t been any number of instances where a character in a comic appears in multiple images on the same page, well before De Luca. That said, Gravett’s essay provides a point of entry to discuss the language of the comics medium, the reliance we have to the comics panel that acts as a container from one moment to the next on a page, and to the very concept of time within the pages of comics. What if we did away with the traditional confines of the comics panel? Would the comic still makes sense? Yes. It would indeed still make sense. Gravett’s choice to focus upon De Luca’s Hamlet brings that home. It’s also quite a nice touch that the featured comic finds us with one of the most uncanny of cultural icons, that most enigmatic and troubled of souls going off in all directions, none other than Hamlet. Sometimes, the stars align perfectly in place.

And so an academic term is born.

The beauty of Gravett’s essay is how he builds upon his first observations on Gianni De Luca’s use of multiple images used in the service of the comics narrative. This jumping off point provides a platform to expound upon the impulse to break from certain established comics formats. Gravett uses this opportunity to comment on the impulse to push limits from such varied cartoonists as Winsor McCay to Joe Sacco. Gravett more than hints that comics panels are too conventional but let’s just say that I’m hardly swayed that they need to be phased out. Any fan of comics will be intrigued by Gravett’s comments with their dash of controversy tossed in for good measure. I would argue that certain formats, like comics panels, are sustained for a multitude of practical reasons: as much for the sake of clarity as for narrative momentum. Just like in other mediums, the impulse is always there to subvert the conventional way of doing things, break the fourth wall and so forth. Would you prefer a work of comics made up solely of panels, no panels or a combination of both? Well, it all depends, doesn’t it?

Where art thou, De Luca Effect?

The fact is that cartoonists are a very contrarian lot. I should know. I am one. Of course, without a doubt, they will be the first to put this peculiar vehicle of their creative efforts through its paces. Cartoonists will be the first to knock the hell out of the machine they are working with, customize it into whatever hot rod ultimately works best for them. Even Gravett must admit in his essay that comics artists do what they do and don’t easily fit into a theory: When Gravett asked Dave Gibbons about his being influenced by De Luca (as he very well should have been, according to Gravett), Gibbons said he had never heard of the De Luca Effect. Gravett states: “When I asked Gibbons, he was unaware of De Luca’s device and, what’s more, he told me he had never heard Frank Miller discuss it either.” It is the comics critic, whom I most humbly count myself among, who will emerge, reach this or that conclusion, take note of this technique or that so-called innovation. But it is ultimately the comics fan who makes the final judgment on whether any given work is something more than fancy and really worth a hoot.

Excerpt from Il Commissario Spada.

To put a bow on all this, I need to say that cartoonists are doing several things all at once, including pushing the limits of their craft. One person’s innovation might be another person’s way of practical problem-solving, finding a way to keep things interesting. And so I leave you with an excerpt from the series, Il Commissario Spada (1970-1982) another work by De Luca, with writer Gian Luigi Gonano, which echoes his so-called, effect. In the above excerpt we see the same character at different moments of time that are punctuated with panels. For this comics project, De Luca and the writer were not necessarily engaging with comics trailblazing and lofty thoughts of spatial concerns or, at least, that was only one component to their activity. No, in this case, the subject matter was the most compelling part to this comic. It is considered groundbreaking in the sense that it is a comic about crime and violence in a Catholic magazine for young readers, unheard of at the time. The panels do their job quite nicely. It is only, after the fact, that comics scholars appear and provide their analysis. At the end of the day, panels are simply part of the artist’s toolkit, to be used as needed and even to be honored as part of the family.