All language is fluid and changes with time, as well as being particular to its culture, sometimes in random ways. This glossary reflects current usage of words and expressions for comics-related things.
WHAT IT IS:
Cartoon/cartooning/cartoonist. “Cartoon†has various meanings, including animated films and exaggerated or humorous drawings in general. “Cartooning†refers to the creation of such drawings, but it is often used to mean the art in a comic, whether it is humorous, exaggerated or not. Many comics artists embrace the term “cartoonist†for themselves, especially if they write as well as draw. The term has lowbrow connotations, which is part of its appeal to artists who prefer it to the more pretentious “comics artist†or “comics creator.â€
Medium/form/art form. Comics are commonly referred to as a medium, but some people argue with that, pointing out that “medium†should be used for the physical medium of an art form (such as paint), while comics can be presented in different “media†which also present other things (paper, digital).But that view doesn’t seem to be holding sway, and comics-as-medium is widely accepted. Those who are uncomfortable with the term “medium†for comics sometimes prefer to term comics a “form.†Comics are often referred to as an “art form,†though usually in a context defending their cultural legitimacy.
ON THE PAGE:
Panel (sometimes frame). Â Â A single image on a comics page, usually but not always enclosed by a border line.
Gutter. The space between panels
Grid. As it sounds, an arrangement of panels in straight horizontal rows and vertical columns on a page.
Tier. A single, horizontal row of panels on a comics page, especially if the page is laid out in a grid.
Word balloon (or bubble). An enclosed shape containing characters’ dialogue.  (There are specialized types of word balloons that represent thinking, whispering, shouting, a voice from an electronic speaker, a frosty voice, a shaky voice, and more).
Tail. The line or pointed shape indicating the source of dialogue in a word balloon.
Text box (or caption box). Enclosed shape containing the writer’s description or narration or a character’s “voice-over.â€
(NOTE: dialogue or narration can be free-floating, without bubbles, balloons or boxes)
Sound effects: term borrowed from film, the written-out sounds that take place within the action of the comic. Â Often abbreviated as SFX.
Emanata: an “insider’s term,†invented by cartoonist Mort Walker,  for the symbols and icons used to depict actions and emotions in comics, such as puffs of smoke for fast movement, or flying drops of sweat around a character’s head to indicate surprise or strong emotion. (I have read that a similar term “krollebitsch†– supposedly from Flemish, meaing “little waves†– is used by Franco-Belgian artists, but this has proved difficult to confirm.(
Spread two facing pages of a comic book or graphic novel. The term is used whether the pages are combined into a single image, or just to describe the relationship between two facing pages.
Splash page or splash panel. A large panel, usually at least half a page, (or a full page, if it’s a splash page), usually used to create an extraordinary impact or to show the setting. In conventional American comics (ie. DC & Marvel etc.), a splash page is usually the first page of a story or issue.
Bleed Printing term for when the image runs all the way to the edge of the page, without a white border.
“Shot†etc. Terminology borrowed from film to describe the perspectives used in comics panels, based on the notion of the “imaginary camera†producing the images, ie. close-up, establishing shot, long-shot, two-shot, high- and low-angle and others.
PROCESS:
Breakdowns. Written or drawn, indication or rough depiction of what will be shown in each panel of a page or entire comic. Breakdowns need not indicate the particular layout of the pages.
Layout (of page). The graphic arrangement of the panels and images on a page.
Thumbnails. Highly simplified sketches of the page layouts of a comic, usually at a reduced scale. Thumbnails may be created to communicate layout ideas to an editor or other person, or may be for the personal use of the artist only, in which case they may or may not be legible to anyone else!
“Roughs.†More detailed than thumbnails, preliminary drawn version of comics pages.
Pencils, or final pencils. A finished drawn comic page in pencils (or digital pencils) that has not yet been inked. If a comic’s final form is pencils, the term isn’t generally used.
FORMATS
Comic Book. The classic “floppy,†stapled format that has been popular in the U.S. comics market (and elsewhere) since the 1930s.
Comic strip. The horizontal-format serial strip, usually published in newspapers, since the turn of the 20th century. The term is also used for non-horizontal format comics series, but mainly series that appear in printed periodicals.
The Funnies. Since they began by presenting humorous characters and episodes, the newspaper pages containing comic strips were often referred to as “the funnies†or “the funny papers.â€Â This term seems to be entirely obsolete now, except in a context of affectionate nostalgia.
Gag panel or panel gag.  A single (usually, humorous image), often with a caption or line of dialogue printed below. A very popular format that often has appeared on the comics page of newspapers. Some of these feature recurring characters (Dennis the Menace, The Family Circus), others are unconnected one installment to the next, except for the humorous theme (The Far Side, Bizarro). Whether or not a panel gag can be considered a “comic†is a matter of some disagreement.  Single-image cartoon gags that appear in magazines, such as the New Yorker, are usually referred to simply as “cartoons.â€
Graphic novel. A term that gained popularity starting in the late 1970s, and generally employed to signify a comic of greater seriousness, quality or ambition than a “comic book†(or “album†in Europe). There is no fixed definition of what is a graphic novel, in terms of length, genre, or even if it consists of a single story.
Sequential art. A fancy term for comics, generally accurate, but a little too pretentious-sounding to have ever gained much popularity.
Trade paperback. A general publishing term for a high-quality paperback publication, in comics generally used for a collected edition of comic book episodes in book format (ie. with a “spineâ€)
Digest. A smaller, soft-cover, perfect-bound format. Often used for collections of younger-reader comics, such as “Archie.â€
Album. Used exclusively in Europe, this is the term for the classic Franco-Belgian format (hardcover, 48 pages, roughly 8.5†by 11.5†in inches), as dominant a format in Europe as the comic book has been in the U.S.
Wordless book. A short-lived genre of artist’s books, usually consisting of woodcuts or wood engravings, that tell a story. A somewhat popular form in Europe and the U.S. from the 1920s through the 1950s, wordless books were not, at the time, considered to be part of the comics industry. In recent decades, many cartoonists and scholars have embraced the Wordless Book as part of the panoply of comics history.
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REGIONAL TERMINOLOGY
Throughout most of history (until the early 20th century), while comics-like cultural products have certainly existed, there were no specific widely-used words for “sequential art-“ style creations. Since this is a medium / form that developed fairly independently in different countries around the world, each language’s word for comics tends to reflect local conditions or attitudes, rather than be translated from one language to the next. Thus, in English we call them “comics,†because of the humorous emphasis of the newspaper features around which popular awareness of the form first cohered in America and Britain. The various words for this thing we call comics remind us of how cultural attitudes can determine how we see the form.
Here are some of the international words for comics that I’m aware of. I may be a little off in my understanding of the nuances of some of these terms.
Manga (Japan). First coined by the 18th century Japanese printmaker Hokusai, who used it to refer to sketches and spontaneous studies. From what I understand, it can be translated as “whimsical drawing,†and I have also read “irresponsible drawing†as a possible translation. It was reintroduced as Japanese cartoonist emulated Western comics in the early 20th century, and ultimately has come to mean – in the West anyway – comics from Japan (though the Japanese have had other terms for specific comics forms). It also is used in the West to refer to a particular style and format of Japanese comics.  In Japan, “kommiku†has been used to refer to American comics.
Bande dessinee (French). Literally “drawn strips,†now used for all comics, whether in strip format or not. Like the Japanese, the French have used the term “comics†to refer to American comics.
Fumetti (Italian). The Italian term for comics means “puffs of smoke,†referring to word balloons. This is the best example of how casual a culture can be in how it defines the form, here using an endearing “part for the whole†method of identification.
Historietas (Argentina/Latin America). Meaning “little stories,†as broad and un-specific as the Italian term. With no formal content at all, this word refers to the narrative function and the unpretentiousness of the medium.
Quadrinhos (Portuguese). I believe this basically means “boxes,†and refers to the panels. Another formal, “part for the whole†term.
Tebeo (Spain). This term derives from a particular popular Spanish children’s comic, so it is a brand-name that became generic (like when we used to refer to all photocopies as “Xeroxes,†or now refer to any online search as “googling.â€). I have the impression that in Europe in the mid-20th century “Mickeys†was used as a term for comics, because of the popularity of imported Disney comics.
