Speech balloons

The four most common speech balloons, top to bottom: speech, whisper, thought, scream.

Speech balloons, or speech bubbles, are a graphic convention used most commonly in comic books, comics, and cartoons to allow words (and sometimes pictures) to be understood as representing the speech or thoughts of a given character in the comic.

Speech Balloons Media

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  Speech balloons in a 1948 US comic strip

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  Before the 20th century, speech was depicted using bands, flags, scrolls, or sheets of paper. Detail of The Annunciation to Saint Anne (1506) by Bernhard Strigel.

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  The four most common speech balloons, top to bottom: speech, whisper, thought, scream

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  The Yellow Kid's words appear on his shirt.