Comics and Interactivity
To Do: Copy paste everything in here upload photos update formatting (maybe it needs to be multiple pages) Also consider changing up the css for these (to make it more readable) (also maybe make it multiple pages? Just for the sake of the markdown)
Introduction
Whether in newspapers, magazines, or even on your phone, comics can be found everywhere. They are a cheap and accessible form of art and literature that anyone can partake in. Comics are an inherently interactive medium where the authors and the audience are co-creators of the story.
My goal in this collection is to introduce you to the most obvious examples in comics that I could find, as well as pointing out commentary within the comics that further showcases a discussion being had between the author and the audience. Many of the examples here come from the traditional comic book page, but examples can be found within manga and webcomics as well.
Many comics will include the audience by allowing them to weigh in on topics. Whether helping a character make the right decision, or deciding to get rid of a character entirely, the audience holds a lot of sway over the story. The audience can put pressure onto comic creators by choosing to not purchase or read the comic, as creators become discouraged by no one wanting to read, or, they can uplift and popularize a comic by creating fan-works that bring new people in.
Peanuts
It’s difficult to overstate the influence that Peanuts had on the comic industry. It’s longstanding popularity and well preserved issues make it a great starting point when discussing anything comics related. In the case of interactivity, a series of letters exchanged between fan Harriet Glickman and creator Charles Schulz resulted in the first black character appearing in peanuts in July 1968.
It’s important to note that Charles Schulz was incredibly hesitant at the time to introduce a black character, large in part due to fear of misrepresentation and backlash. After plenty of deliberation, and a lot of back and forth between Harriet and Charles, Franklin debuted in Peanuts. The comic was made up of four panels and depicted Franklin returning a lost beach-ball to Charlie.
Zatanna Zatara Joins the Justice League
DC Comics is well known for is large number of superheroes. Among them is Zatanna Zatara, a magician super-heroine first introduced in HAWKMAN #4 (1964). Today in the modern era, she’s a well known and respected member of the Justice League, but that wasn’t always the case. In issue #51 of Justice League of America, she was voted in unanimously by the Justice League. In reality, she was voted in by the audience!
DC held a poll asking readers who they wanted to see join the Justice League as well as who they wanted to leave. This poll is what resulted in Zatanna’s addition, with the audience’s wishes being heard.
Modern Era Zatanna looks a lot different from her appearance here, and she’s calmed down a lot more from her explosive introduction to the justice league. She leans in a lot more heavily to her stage performace persona in her most recent run ZATANNA (2025)
ZATANNA Issue #3
Published: April 16, 2025
Publisher: DC Comics
Genre: Superhero
Writer/Artist: Jamal Campbell
Context: In the conclusion of her battle with clayface, Zatanna finds herself coming down from an overuse of her magic, a mysterious voice guiding her through tongue twisters to help ground her.
A Death in the Family / Under the Red Hood
These two comics cannot be separated from each other. Despite the almost 20 years between their releases, A Death in the Family and Under the Red Hood both focus on the story of Jason Todd, the second Robin. The dead Robin.
In its release in 1988, A Death in the Family gave the audience a chance to make a huge change to the story of Batman. They were given the option to call in to either kill, or save Robin.
A Death in the Family
Published: 1988
Publisher: DC Comics
Genre: Superhero
Writer: Jim Starlin
Artists: Jim Aparo, Mike DeCarlo, John Costanza, Adrienne Roy
Context: The Joker beats Robin, Jason Todd, as Jason’s mother watches. Batman is rushing to where Robin is, fearing the worst.
In the end, Jason died. The death of the second Robin is significant in comics for many reasons. The first of which being that it was asked for by the audience. The second is that Jason Todd died and stayed dead. Often in comic books, a character doesn’t stay dead for very long. There’s always a Macguffin or a Deus Ex Machina to bring the dead back to life. This did not hold true for Jason until in 2005 where he came back in Under the Red Hood for revenge.
Under the Red Hood
Published: 2005
Publisher: DC Comics
Genre: Superhero
Writer: Judd Winick
Artists: Doug Mahnke, Eric Battle, Shane Davis
Context: Jason Todd finally reveals himself to Batman as the Red Hood. Bruce is in disbelief at his dead son resurrected and out for revenge as Jason leaves all the proof he could need to verify that it really is him.
Homestuck
Easily one of the most influential webcomics out there, Homestuck is an 8,000 page epic detailing the adventure of four friends creating a new universe. In its early days in 2008, the comic took in prompts from the readers on what should happen next. The first four characters: John Egbert, Dave Strider, Rose Lalonde, and Jade Harley, all got their names from the MSPA forums.
Homestuck
Published: 2009
Genre: Coming of Age, Webcomic
Author: Andrew Hussie
Context: The first page and the first flash game of Homestuck. Simple in style and heavy on the text, we are introduced to our protagonist John Egbert. The comic itself is styled after choose your own adventure games with the links going to the following pages being titled like commands
Even after breaking away from the forums and having Andrew Hussie take over creative control, the story continued to be about the fans and the relationship the story, the author and the fans have. Two characters within the story: Caliborn and Calliope, represented two different sides of the audience in Hussie’s point of view. Caliborn represented the destructive and perpetually critical audience while Calliope represented the creative and loving fans that helped keep Homestuck relevant even during its massive breaks and pauses between issues.
The comic was known for being highly interactive outside of that. Mini-games existed within the comic that allowed the reader to take control of a character and interact with the world in order to keep reading. Because the comic was hosted on a webpage, Andrew Hussie was also able to have a single page branch off into different sections at once with it all looping back to the starting point. In this page of the comic, readers are able to click on the different panels that then take you to different parts of the story all happening at the same time.
Context: This page features a bunch of jumbled together panels due to a scrapbook falling and a bunch of the photos falling out. The reader is currently in Doc Scratch's domain and is at his whim during this segment. The reader is able to click on each of the pictures in panel 2 in order to see what is happening in that frame. This segment of the comic also messes with the established form (using the header as a panel). It really showcases how little control the reader has and how much is dictated by Doc Scratch (an all knowing time demon)
Apothecary Diaries
Looking at manga now, I want to highlight Apothecary Diaries for a few reasons. The first is that the author of the story first published it as a light novel, a novel with manga-like drawings interspersed. It got incredibly popular when it was released, to the point of it getting a manga adaptation as well as an anime. This is just another way in which the audience influences the art and stories written. It’s likely that if the Apothecary Diaries remained unpopular that it would not have gotten a manga adaptation.
Another reason I want to look at manga and Apothecary Diaries in specific, is that oftentimes in manga releases, authors will provide supplemental materials, notes, or messages to the audience. They’ll sometimes address questions about character backgrounds or “what-ifs” as well as give insights into the story development and the current status of the story arc.
This page here is a small authors note by the light novel author Natsu Hyuuga. It also features a drawing of the character Maomao as a pig with game like stats displayed on the side. These small details give us insight into Maomao’s character while also getting to hear directly from the author.
The Apothecary Diaries Volume 1
Published: 2017
Publisher: Square Enix
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Story: Natsu Hyuuga
Artist: Nekokurage
Compilation: Itsuki Nanao
Character Design: Touco Shino
Context: Maomao is an apothecary who is kidnapped and brought into the inner palace as a maid. She quickly rises to poison taster after revealing her ability to read and her knowledge of poisons. This is her recollecting her youth of making and testing poisons on herself.
Absolute Martian Manhunter
Finally, I want to take a look at the comic that first sparked my interest in this topic and I knew I was going to cover from day 1. Absolute Martian Manhunter is an ongoing series by DC Comics in their “Absolute” Universe. A world where despair rules over everything and heroes are unheard of. In this comic we follow John Jones, an FBI agent who’s struggling with seeing peoples thoughts and feelings after getting caught in an explosion.
This entire comic deals with the sharing of ideas and how what happens in our heads also affects reality. It’s a piece of art that communicates how the things we create and the things we consume are one in the same. It is a comic that is meant to be consumed in its original format, paper.
Notably, in the last page of the first and sixth issue the reader is instructed to hold the page up to the light in order to see the full picture. In the first issue, what is at first just a head-shot of John Jones on a yellow background, becomes a vibrant colorful overlay of John Jones and the Martian. As the martian says to John: “We are the Martian Mind****er”
I did my best to recreate the visual appearance of the comic being held up to the light, but I highly recommend you pick this comic up for yourselves for the full experience.
