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Show Don't Tell Mistakes in Comics: When to Show, When to Tell

Master the show vs tell balance in comics. Learn when to use visual storytelling and when narration works better for your story.

“Show, don’t tell” is writing advice so common it’s become cliché—and in comics, it’s often misunderstood. Comics are visual media, so showing is natural. But telling has its place too. The mistake isn’t telling; it’s telling when showing would be stronger, or showing when telling would be clearer.

Understanding the Principle

What “Showing” Means in Comics

Showing conveys information through:

  • Character actions and expressions
  • Environmental details
  • Body language
  • Visual symbolism
  • Scene composition
  • Character interactions

Example of showing: A character with bags under their eyes, coffee cups piled on their desk, staring at a computer screen. (Shows exhaustion without stating it.)

What “Telling” Means in Comics

Telling conveys information through:

  • Narration boxes
  • Character dialogue
  • Thought bubbles
  • Explicit statements

Example of telling: A narration box stating “Sarah hadn’t slept in three days.”

Why Comics Complicate This

Unlike prose, comics have two channels:

  • Visual (inherently showing)
  • Textual (typically telling)

The question isn’t just “show or tell” but “use art or words, and how?”

Common Showing vs Telling Mistakes

Redundant Narration

The mistake: Text that describes what the art already shows. “He punched the wall in anger” while the art shows him punching a wall with an angry expression.

Why it happens: Lack of trust in the art. Not thinking about what each element contributes.

The fix:

  • If the art shows it, don’t say it
  • Text should add information art can’t convey
  • Reactions and thoughts work better than descriptions
  • Trust your visuals

Dialogue Describing Emotion

The mistake: Characters stating their emotions instead of expressing them. “I’m so angry right now!” instead of showing anger through action.

Why it happens: Ensuring clarity. Writing like prose.

The fix:

  • Express emotion through facial expression and body language
  • Actions convey emotion better than declarations
  • Let readers interpret emotional states
  • Reserve emotional statements for emphasis or misdirection

Invisible Character Traits

The mistake: Narration claiming traits never demonstrated. “Lisa was incredibly brave” while Lisa never does anything brave on page.

Why it happens: Efficient character shorthand. Not creating scenes to demonstrate traits.

The fix:

  • Show traits through action
  • One brave action proves more than many descriptions
  • Create scenes that demonstrate claimed traits
  • Labels without evidence don’t convince readers

Over-Narration of Events

The mistake: Narration that recaps what readers just saw. “And so they escaped the dungeon” after showing them escape.

Why it happens: Transition habits from prose. Ensuring readers understood.

The fix:

  • Cut recap narration
  • Move forward, don’t summarize
  • Trust readers to follow
  • Narration should advance, not repeat

Abstract Emotional Summary

The mistake: Summarizing emotional experiences instead of depicting them. “The next few weeks were the hardest of her life” as a caption over a time-skip.

Why it happens: Time constraints. Not wanting to dwell.

The fix:

  • Show representative moments
  • Even brief scenes outweigh summary
  • Select key images that convey difficulty
  • Montage beats caption

When Telling Works Better

Interior Experience

Some internal states don’t show well:

  • Complex reasoning
  • Specific memories
  • Detailed sensory experience
  • Abstract thoughts

When to tell: “The smell reminded him of his grandmother’s kitchen” (art can’t convey smell memories).

Necessary Efficiency

Sometimes showing takes too much space:

  • Time passage over long periods
  • Background information
  • Context that enables plot

When to tell: “Three years later…” beats showing three years.

Unreliable Narration

Telling can deceive:

  • Characters lie to themselves
  • Narration contradicts visuals
  • Misdirection through stated vs shown

When to tell: Narrator says “I wasn’t afraid” while art shows fear.

Establishing Context

Some contexts show poorly:

  • Time periods
  • Geographic locations
  • Character expertise
  • Relationships

When to tell: “Moscow, 1962” is clearer than trying to show it.

Voice and Style

Narration creates distinct voice:

  • Character personality in narration
  • Genre-appropriate tone
  • Stylistic choices

When to tell: Hardboiled detective narration creates genre atmosphere.

Balancing Showing and Telling

The Specificity Test

Choose based on specificity:

  • Specific emotions → Show
  • Specific information → Might need to tell
  • General atmosphere → Show
  • Precise facts → Tell

The Impact Test

What has more impact here?

  • Emotional beats usually show better
  • Plot information often tells more efficiently
  • Character revelation → Show
  • Necessary context → Tell

The Redundancy Test

Ask: Am I saying this twice?

  • If art and text say the same thing, cut one
  • Text should add to art, not repeat
  • Exceptions for emphasis or irony

The Clarity Test

Will readers understand from showing alone?

  • If confusion likely, some telling helps
  • If meaning is clear, let the art work
  • Clarity trumps purity

Format-Specific Considerations

Webtoons

Scroll format affects showing:

  • More vertical space for visual sequences
  • Readers tolerate less text per view
  • Showing flows naturally down
  • Reserve text for essential information

Page constraints affect choices:

  • Limited pages push toward efficiency
  • Text can compress what art would stretch
  • Page turns create natural pauses for narration
  • Balance is different per page

Manga

Different conventions:

  • More internal monologue accepted
  • Sound effects carry weight
  • Heavy use of visual metaphor for emotions
  • Cultural expectations differ

Visual Techniques for Showing

Expression and Body Language

The primary showing tools:

  • Face conveys emotion
  • Posture shows attitude
  • Gesture communicates intention
  • These replace explicit statements

Environmental Storytelling

Setting as character:

  • Messy rooms show chaos
  • Empty spaces suggest isolation
  • Details reveal history
  • World-building through visuals

Visual Metaphor

Abstract concepts made visible:

  • Colors representing emotion
  • Symbolic imagery
  • Visual echoes
  • These show what can’t be literally depicted

Panel Composition

Showing through design:

  • Size indicates importance
  • Perspective creates feeling
  • Framing guides interpretation
  • Layout itself communicates

Common Scenarios

Character Introduction

Telling approach: “Jake was a tough ex-marine who had seen too much.”

Showing approach: Jake in a scene demonstrating toughness, with visual cues to military background and haunted expression.

Best choice: Showing, with minimal contextual telling if needed.

Relationship Establishment

Telling approach: “They had been best friends since childhood.”

Showing approach: Interaction that demonstrates deep familiarity and shared history.

Best choice: Showing the dynamic, telling the duration if necessary.

Emotional Climax

Telling approach: Character states “This is the worst day of my life.”

Showing approach: Character’s expression, posture, and actions convey devastation.

Best choice: Always show emotional climaxes. Telling undermines impact.

World-Building

Telling approach: Long narration explaining how the magic system works.

Showing approach: Characters using magic in ways that demonstrate rules.

Best choice: Show primarily, tell only what can’t be demonstrated.

Self-Editing Process

  1. First draft: Write freely
  2. Review pass: Identify all telling
  3. Question each: Could this be shown instead?
  4. Test clarity: Would showing be clear?
  5. Make choice: Show, tell, or combine
  6. Cut redundancy: Remove doubled information

Creating with Multic

The show/tell balance becomes especially important in collaborative visual stories. Multic’s node-based workflow helps creators see narrative structure, making it easier to identify where visual storytelling needs emphasis and where text efficiently serves the story.

The goal isn’t eliminating telling—it’s using both tools where they work best. Great comics flow between showing and telling seamlessly, using each technique to do what it does well.

Related: Visual Storytelling Techniques and Exposition Dump Mistakes