Josh and Imp: Starting in the Middle

Diana Nock has a short graphic work called Josh & Imp over at Jinxville.

It's a nice, surprisingly realistic slice of life from a superhero world. One of the best attributes of this graphic story is the framing. Nock avoided too much exposition by starting in the middle. This episode could easily be a slice from a novel-length work, but it is stronger alone than it would be as part of a larger work.

When authors trust their audience to have a certain level of intelligence, we all get a better paced story without dull exposition. We as people are accustomed to building background in our heads - how many times have you seen a movie from about 20 minutes in, but still understood the entire story line? Those first 20 minutes are often unnecessary, and Josh & Imp leaves them out to good effect.