this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2024
        
      
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Yeah. I also sometimes break the panel borders this way too, to avoid tangenting. Addis' fingers in the first panel actually break out of it very slightly here.
In Making Comics Scott McCloud talks about these techniques as "fourth wall breaks" - if your characters significantly overlap the framework scaffolding of the comic itself (speech bubbles, panel borders, gutters, other panels etc) it can serve to build up dramatic intensity, especially when combined with other techniques like oversized letters, or dramatic panel shapes, or intense forshortening.
Here, the purpose is much less grandiose... I have a limited size for the panel on the page, and speech bubbles take up a LOT of real estate (especially with this much dialogue.) This forces me to squish my art into the remaining space, but I can get a little more of it out if I disrespect the panel apparatus.