Emma Adderley's Different In The Wrong Ways

Graphic Narrative Statement of Intent
Emma Adderley

Marginalized voices often look “different from average” in many texts, however in Emma Adderley’s Different in the Wrong Way graphic narrative, the reader is given another view. Through the strategic use of subtle colouring, simplistic text, and graphic weight with changing perspectives, Adderley offers a glance into a world where everyone is “different” and how an individual is marginalized through isolation for being “normal”. To briefly paint the picture of Adderley’s futuristic world, aliens are living amongst one human individual. What makes these aliens special is that they all look different and have their own characteristics, in contrast to the human who is average and perceived as

Adderley doesn’t use much text in the graphic narrative, so when it is employed, it goes a long way. For example, in panel 2, the protagonist says, “I hate being human”. This is such a simple sentence, but it contains strong language that emphasizes how much being human bears down on his happiness. In just 4 words, the reader is immediately immersed and understanding of the struggle of the protagonist. In panel 7, more text is used, but another short sentence carries the most weight. In this sentence, the protagonist thinks “I wish I was different”. Wishing is such a powerful topic, explored in many literary pieces, and in this context, it goes to show just how much the protagonist hates himself, specifically for being human. In this sentence, the reader can see just how much his appearance burdens him. The final two panels repeat the same sentence: “I’m happy”. Repeating this illustrates that the protagonist isn’t just saying these words to convince the reader, but to convince himself. In the end, he really isn’t happy, and him saying this makes the ending feel so much more weighed with sadness. Essentially, Adderley employs simplistic and meaningful text to demonstrate the hurt and weight that marginalization puts on the

Both panels 2 and 7 have a similar perspective and graphic weight. As it was mentioned in the previous paragraph, these were extremely powerful panels to show how much the protagonist hates himself because he is being marginalized. In making these panels have a similar appearance, Adderley creates a connection between the two, so that the reader can clearly understand the message. A panel that also explores graphic weight and perspective is panel 6. In this panel, colourful eyes belonging to aliens peer at the protagonist. The juxtaposition between these otherworldly eyes, and his own plain eyes punctuates just how different he is from them. Though the general message of this panel is that everyone notices the obvious ways in which he is different, this small detail is a powerful addition that adds to the importance of this panel. The graphic weight lies in the protagonist’s eyes in contrast with the other eyes, and the perspective splits the panel to show him in the midground, with the eyes surrounding him, unconnected from bodies. The jagged edges of the panel reinforce the powerful message of this panel and make it impossible for the reader to ignore the importance of this panel. In this graphic narrative, graphic weight and shifting perspectives are used to emphasize the