Motion lines
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In comics, motion lines (or movement lines or action lines or speed lines) is a term that refers to the abstract lines that appear behind a moving object or person to make them look like they're moving quickly. The use of motion lines may have been inspired from both mathematical vectors, which are used to indicate direction and force, and from long-exposure photography, where a camera can capture lights as they move through time and space.
[edit] Zip ribbons
Another term, zip ribbons, is used when the artist uses thicker, two dimensional ribbons in place of one dimensional motion lines. This heavier representation of motion generally occurs in comics, and the term may have been coined by comic-theorist Scott McCloud. Artists use zip ribbons in place of motion lines when they want to convey a stronger power and force behind the movement.
Zip ribbons, like speech balloons, obviously don't exist in the real world, but are used as a symbol of an action that is difficult to capture in a still picture. They are both part of an accepted comics vocabulary.
