speech balloons
Comic text holders
Speech balloons are the outlined shapes in comics and cartoons that contain a character's spoken words, with a tail pointing toward the speaker.
The shape often conveys tone: jagged edges suggest shouting, cloud-like borders indicate thought.
Also called speech bubbles or word balloons.
The artist drew speech balloons coming from both characters in the panel.
- comic stripsSerialized newspaper cartoons
- comic bookBound illustrated story publication
- cartoonAnimated or humorous illustration
- pointerReference to memory location
- panelsFlat rectangular sections
manga style · tail · bande dessinée · whisper · oval · thought · inner monologue · dialogue · onomatopoeia · lettering · phylactery · exclamation · exclamation point · graphic novels · encapsulation · cloud · bubble · jagged
verbal vs. non-verbal comic elements
speech balloonsvisual storytelling
Conveying meaning through images
speak, speech, balloon, speechless, balloons, speechlessness, speechify, balloonist