Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts

In Einstein's theory of relativity, we learn that energy is equivalent to mass. Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared, or E=mc^2. I have seen that equation most of my life. It's probably the most famous equation out there. But I never gave it much thought. I always thought of it the way I would think of buying something at the grocery store. 1 candy bar = 1 dollar. The two things are completely different, but you can exchange one for another.

As I got older, I learned more about atomic theory. The smallest unit of matter is the atom, named from the Greek word atomos, meaning "that which cannot be divided." Well, actually the atom can be split. There are three subatomic particles that make up atoms, but that's it. Nope, I was wrong again. Subatomic particles are comprised of even smaller particles which are made of energy.

Wait, what? Matter is actually made out of energy? That means that matter and energy are not just equal, they're identicle! It's not like saying that a product is equal to money. It's saying that a foot is made up of 12 inches. They're the same thing.

Suffice it to say that it rocked at least part of my world to come to this realization. And yet, matter and energy aren't exactly the same. There is something different about matter. It's more than merely condensed energy. It does things that energy can't do, has properties that raw energy doesn't have. Somehow, matter is greater than the sum of its parts.

In my last blog, I mentioned how the artwork of comics is like condensed words. It can express pages of exposition into a mere panel on a page. And yet, I think that this is not quite accurate. I think that pictures are to words what matter is to energy. They may be the same thing in principle, and yet the denser structure is somehow greater.

There exist things in this world that can only be expressed with words that do not exist. A particular look on a person's face, a feeling in the body, a complicated emotion based on a complex set of circumstances (such as why we have to steal the German word schadenfreude). A comic can express all of these ideas perfectly and succinctly. The contours of a face that shows the undescribable emotion says more than words ever could.

There are certain stories that cannot be told. Sometimes an experience is awkward or strange in a way that is felt and not thought about. We are incapable of sharing the feeling, so all we can do is tell the story and end it with, "you had to be there." The you-had-to-be-there story is the bane of all storytelling. Well, almost all. With comics, we can create the world, show the situation, and make the reader feel the story instead of thinking about it. Only comics can tell the you-had-to-be-there story because you actually are there.

Some people may see comics as a bastardization of the written word. I consider it an evolution of it. Only through this medium can we do all the things that every other medium of writing is incapable of.