Understanding Comics, The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud

Using a combination of interesting graphics, cartoons, and text, Scott McCloud takes the reader on an illuminating tour of art, communication, and design.

Cover of Comics, The Invisible Art

Who hasn't thought "gee, it would be great to create comics!" Many think about it, but few put in the time, effort, study, sweat, and tears that it takes to actually do it. Scott McCloud clearly has and it shows. He has thought about comics a lot, and shares what he has figured in Understanding Comics, The Invisible Art.

It's not a "how to draw" or "how to write" comics guide. But, anyone aspiring to the art or seeking to gain a better appreciation of this often maligned medium will be richly rewarded by the short time it takes to absorb it.

Graphics About Graphics

Go ahead, try to define "comics" (comics is a plural that takes a singular verb). It's not that easy. Which is why McCloud's definition is so impressive:

Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or produce an aesthetic response in the viewer.

Or, perhaps his shorter version is preferred: Sequential art.

McCloud support his definition with fantastic examples. He proceeds to explain the problems that comics artists face and the ways they have discovered to overcome them. It would be hard to improve upon a simple list of the chapter titles to properly describe the rich and thorough treatment McCloud gives his subject:

1. Setting the Record Straight
2. The Vocabulary of Comics
3. Blood in the Gutter
4. Time Frames
5. Living in Line
6. Show and Tell
7. The Six Steps
8. A Word About Color
9. Putting it All Together

That pretty well covers it as well as it can be done in 215 pages.

 

Comics, the Invisible Art

Why "the invisible art?" Interesting subtitle. At first it doesn't seem to make sense because comics is, above all else, a visual form of expression. But despite the clever techniques comics creators use to show the passage of time, the existence of sound (KAPOW!), and motion, all the images in comics can be nothing more than static symbols. Some symbols are pictures (varying from the highly realistic to the extremely abstract), some are words, and others are simply lines.

Yet the potential for engaging story telling are nearly infinite. Something as simple as the size and shape of a panel, or the space between panels (the gutter) can have a profound effect on how a comic is perceived and reacted to by the reader. Hence, much of the effect produced by a masterfully designed comic or graphic novel are not readily apparent and happen in the subconscious imagination. Invisible indeed.

From Primitive Art to Graphic Novel

McCloud pays due respect to many artists (both comics artists and others of note) as he attempts (only partially by his own admission) to explain where comics came from, how they have evolved, and their relation to other art forms. Wisely, he makes little attempt to predict where comics may be going. That would be beyond the powers of human prediction.

After reading and viewing (experiencing really) Understanding Comics, the world of graphic novels and comic books cannot be perceived in the same way as it was before--no matter how familiar the subject may have been. McCloud effectively elevates comics to a form of expression on par with any other. It's a well deserved promotion.


McCloud, Scott; Understanding Comics, The Invisible Art; New York, NY: HarperPerrenial, 1994