Spreading Out the Two-Page Layout

Photo: The Uncanny X-Men Volume 1, No. 285 “Portal’s End”

I stumbled upon a two page-spread that spanned the second and third pages, while flipping through an X-Men comic book from the nineties that I picked up from a local thrift. The comic doubled as a splash page listing all the script writers, letterers, inkers, colorists, and producers of the entire comic book.

The most interesting part was how it altered the way my eyes moved around the page as I was reading it. Instead of scrolling through the entirety of page two and then moving my eyes from the top to bottom of page three, I first allowed myself to take in all the details of the two pages side-by-side and figure out the comic’s natural order.

The two page comic spread made me think about its digital counterpart, which would either be a full-screen presentation of a double page shown side-by-side, or two separate pictures uploaded on two different days with an anticipation for a printed version where the viewer could finally see the two-pages printed next to each other. It reminded me about collecting trading cards that required two separate cards to complete a set and make a whole picture.

Two-page comic layouts make the most sense for printed comic layouts, whereas the impact of a two-page spread is limited by screen size. Printed comics have an advantage in presenting comic layouts the way they were originally intended.


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