Walking Corpses & Conscious Plants: Possibilist Ecologies in ...

Bingham 7
personal growth through the imagination of alternate perspectives. Artists, inkers, and
letterers pay careful attention to the composition of the worlds they craft. Characters act
as extensions of the environments they inhabit. Though graphic narratives include text,
the medium strictly limits the quantity of its appearance. Rather than having long
passages which describe unfolding action, graphic narratives utilize alterations in visual
information to represent the elapse of time (McCloud, Making 10). Meaningful bits of
information are emphasized in an additive or reductive manner except in the case of nonsequitur
transitions; where the relationship between objects or words depicted is not
rationally apparent (ibid). Moving from one image to the next in succession helps
enliven the narrative. Deliberate moves like these alter the speed and frequency in which
information is given; thus guiding the reader's pace. Variance between panel size,
number, and content can indicate where to speed up, slow down, pause, or even reflect.
Thus the process of reading these works differs from purely textual ones and can be better
suited to pose questions about layered constructs like society or politics. By performing
close readings on both Kirkman and Moore's works, I hope to explore of how these
elements combine to make the form so effective in reaching viewers and expanding
discourse on.
Using the possibility of alternate worlds, we can form a basis from which to test
what is considered normal. In fact, the idea of possible worlds becomes an almost
necessary stipulation when addressing the formation of moral or ethical values. Using
the concept as a foundation, I want to explore how these fictional works function to
inform political opinions. Possibilism is a huge component of philosopher David
Kellogg Lewis' theory of “modal realism.” According to Lewis' book On the Plurality of