Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
by Scott McCloud
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
everyone -- not just comic book fans
FASCINATING book!
I'd heard excellent things about this book ever since I got into comics way back in 1993, but never decided to sit down and read it until a few months ago. It took me a week to go through it (reading a bit every night before bed), but it's honestly a pretty quick read. Most people could probably get through it in a couple of hours.
What I found in the pages of this book is an excellent explanation of what happens to us as we read comics, how our mind interprets informat...more
I'd heard excellent things about this book ever since I got into comics way back in 1993, but never decided to sit down and read it until a few months ago. It took me a week to go through it (reading a bit every night before bed), but it's honestly a pretty quick read. Most people could probably get through it in a couple of hours.
What I found in the pages of this book is an excellent explanation of what happens to us as we read comics, how our mind interprets informat...more
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recommended to Austin by:
Josh Welton
recommends it for: Really, REALLY Nerdy Comics Fans
recommends it for: Really, REALLY Nerdy Comics Fans
Scott McCloud makes a valiant effort to analyze and discuss the mechanics of comics, in the form of a comic. Yeah, I know.
While he does not fail outright, what comes across in his book is not precisely easy to enjoy. Many of his points are completely valid; the book, on the whole, does elucidate how comics work on a piece-by-piece basis, and his sense of humor has a sort of Larry Gonick kind of feel to it (which, I love).
But part of what is frustrating about it is that McCloud does n...more
While he does not fail outright, what comes across in his book is not precisely easy to enjoy. Many of his points are completely valid; the book, on the whole, does elucidate how comics work on a piece-by-piece basis, and his sense of humor has a sort of Larry Gonick kind of feel to it (which, I love).
But part of what is frustrating about it is that McCloud does n...more
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Read in January, 1999
recommends it for:
disaffected college students
it's one of the best examples i've found of someone writing so specifically about a topic that the observations and implications become absolutely universal.
think about it: hamlet is completely consumed in his little world, and the stakes are all about what will happen to denmark and only denmark. and centuries later, we still perform the play and read it and think that that is us up there struggling with our problems, just with a different name.
this is what mccloud achieves here: he is ...more
think about it: hamlet is completely consumed in his little world, and the stakes are all about what will happen to denmark and only denmark. and centuries later, we still perform the play and read it and think that that is us up there struggling with our problems, just with a different name.
this is what mccloud achieves here: he is ...more
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Read in December, 2006
Scott McCloud’s tour de force book was an engaging and quick read. I think I finished it over the course of 4 nights around the Christmas holiday. Drawn as a comic, the book attempts to explain the special power of sequential art by breaking it down on a number of different levels.
Particularly interesting to me was the way he incorporated examples as part of the text. Everything he explains, he shows, because he’s using the medium to explain the medium. Things like the handling of time wit...more
Particularly interesting to me was the way he incorporated examples as part of the text. Everything he explains, he shows, because he’s using the medium to explain the medium. Things like the handling of time wit...more
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Read in April, 2007
Buat yang selama ini memandang rendah komik, kayaknya loe harus baca buku ini. Karena buku ini ngebahas komik dari segi komunikasi dan psikologi. Hah???
Itu juga reaksi gw waktu temen gw nyuruh baca. Ternyata setelah gw baca, gw menjadi ngerti kenapa komik bisa menyihir semua orang. Hal yang dibahas tuh seperti sejarah komik, apa guna ruang antar panel, bagaimana komik menggambarkan perasaan, dan bagaimana manusia menginterpretasikan sebuah adegan antar panel. Buat gw yang belajar komunikasi,...more
Itu juga reaksi gw waktu temen gw nyuruh baca. Ternyata setelah gw baca, gw menjadi ngerti kenapa komik bisa menyihir semua orang. Hal yang dibahas tuh seperti sejarah komik, apa guna ruang antar panel, bagaimana komik menggambarkan perasaan, dan bagaimana manusia menginterpretasikan sebuah adegan antar panel. Buat gw yang belajar komunikasi,...more
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Read in January, 2006
I have used this with my English 4 classes and will be using it next year with my Intro to the Graphic Novel course. This is a wonderful study in how the comic form of writing works. I think the graphic novel is going to become a more and more important form of literature. Just look at the movie scene lately and check out how many derived from graphic novels, and that is not just the superhero movies from Marvel and DC Comics.
McCloud deeply and thoughtfully explores how sequential art wor...more
McCloud deeply and thoughtfully explores how sequential art wor...more
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Read in January, 1995
I read this book, along with Spiegelman's Maus, quite often when I was a teenager, poring over my dad's copy when I was bored at his house, which was often. I'm not going to say this is the book that got me into comics, but this is the book that helped me, ahem, to understand them. It helps the book that Scott (I feel close to him after all these years) is a good writer and illustrates his concepts so clearly. He may not have invented or discovered the theory behind sequential art, but he did wr...more
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Perhaps the best explanation of how a particular artistic medium works that I've ever seen. McCloud wrote this at a time when the artistic merit of comics/graphic novels was still in doubt in some corners, so clearly that animates a lot of the discussion. He really demolishes any doubt about their legitimacy, and in the process created quite a comic himself. Understanding Comics is one phenomenal piece of analysis and it's far more than just a treatise on one medium. His meditations on comi...more
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
comic lovers
amazing homage to an art form as old as the carved stories on borobudur temples and the papyrus scrolls of pharaoh - the unassuming geeky guide dissects the media format (worthy of mcluhan) and history of comic and walks us through its tiniest elements to be able to fully appreciate it as an art form - down to the technical and philosophical levels - not just comic but also how human mind works to allow the storytelling to happen through sequencing, line, and meaning... all the things we take fo...more
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This is a fascinating introduction to graphic-fiction theory. McCloud manages to create almost a metatheory, not only explaining but also illustrating elemtns of design theory, art history, and graphic storytelling in a surprisingly concise and understandable format. Plus, it's a comic book! One of the coolest and most invigorating creative writing texts I've read in a long while. Better still, McCloud was smart enough to lead his readers to other, greater writer/theorists (I've just picked ...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
graphic novel fans
Even if you're not interested in comics and graphic novels, McCloud's book might get you interested. Rather brilliantly, McCloud uses the medium of comics itself for a philosophical meditation on the nature and possibilities of comics. He does reflect a little bit on the prehistoric and pre-modern origins of comics, but this is not a history lesson. Rather, he explores the specific nature of comics as sequential art and the potential of the form to explore new modes of expression. It's reall...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to RØB by:
Russ Olson
I would recommend this book to anyone looking to understand comics better. That seems kinda obvious, yes, but it presented the subject matter in an easy-to-understand, thought-provoking, and absolutely applicable way. It made strong arguments in favor of a broader recognition of comics as an art form, and not just "something for kids." Additionally, it was a more universal examination of various aspects of art form, content, and theory. Don't be deceived by the simple style or the ...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommended to Naeem by:
Kathrine Kittridgerecommends it for: Kiehl, Julie, Phil
I read this because I will have to give a talk on Persepolis (if you have ideas on Persepolis, please send them along)and I wanted to be able to speak about the graphic aspect of the novel. I was not expecting much. So I was rather pleasantly shocked that this is comic book is actually a metaphysical meditation on the relationship between, text, images, symbols and the imagination. I learned plenty but not only about how comics work. I lear...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone who love-ove-loves graphic novels and contemporary art
(A leap year review!! Just for you!!)
What an erudite treatment of the art of "juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer." Wow! I never knew that comics had actually been analyzed to such a degree. I love the wonkiness of it! (Wouldn't it have been even more delightful if it were printed in color?!)
And wouldn't this review have been even more delightful if you could se...more
What an erudite treatment of the art of "juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer." Wow! I never knew that comics had actually been analyzed to such a degree. I love the wonkiness of it! (Wouldn't it have been even more delightful if it were printed in color?!)
And wouldn't this review have been even more delightful if you could se...more
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A friend highly recommended this book in a design class I took. Since then, Understanding Comics has floated in and out of my awareness. I really must read it.
What intrigues me is the idea of breaking down and explaining visual language. As an editor, I deal almost wholly with words, so I want to understand how pictures, well, fit into the picture. That said, for my work I do look at figures and tables; a better comprehension of visual language would help me see how those work (and when...more
What intrigues me is the idea of breaking down and explaining visual language. As an editor, I deal almost wholly with words, so I want to understand how pictures, well, fit into the picture. That said, for my work I do look at figures and tables; a better comprehension of visual language would help me see how those work (and when...more
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Read in December, 1995
recommends it for:
to lovers of all visual media
I first read this book back in high school after a friend of mine loaned it to me. The subject matter is pretty heady, but is presented with remarkable clarity in the form of an innocuous comic book. In it he explores the history of comics as a medium; it's validity of the medium in today's society as well as its psychology and craft. Other books explore these concepts more fully, but I haven't found another book that really does such a great job in presenting the information with such impact...more
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Read in June, 2006
recommends it for:
comic book beginners - know what you are getting into and how friggin cool it is!
A really good anatomy book for a medium that is (arguably) young, but has roots in so many other forms of art and literature. It's kind of a talking-head book, discussing an almost philosophical definition of comics (sequential art and writing), what that Means, and why COMIC BOOKS ARE A VALID FORM OF LITERATURE. Due to the pictures and basic explanations with a lot of examples, the talking-head's argument is not just easy to follow, it's even fun - it feels like an engaging PBS documentary....more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
artlings
A book explaining just how dynamic comics are and the potential they have.
The book in itself has a range of pictures and ideas that could be considered fine art in themselves. It was an interesting read that goes into the history of comics and the depths involved in creating one.
I agree with an earlier comment that there's a weird "comics will save the world" fanaticism to the subject which takes away from the substance. This take hold moreso after the third chapter where ...more
The book in itself has a range of pictures and ideas that could be considered fine art in themselves. It was an interesting read that goes into the history of comics and the depths involved in creating one.
I agree with an earlier comment that there's a weird "comics will save the world" fanaticism to the subject which takes away from the substance. This take hold moreso after the third chapter where ...more
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Read in January, 2007
As Art Spiegelman wrote in his blurb for this book, it is more than just a treatise on the art of comic books. Understanding Comics is about Art, Time, Space, and the Cosmos. This is not an exaggeration.
There is so much in this book that will interest anyone interested in comics, art, and/or storytelling. I was particularly intrigued by Scott McCloud’s discussion of the use of...more
There is so much in this book that will interest anyone interested in comics, art, and/or storytelling. I was particularly intrigued by Scott McCloud’s discussion of the use of...more
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recommends it for:
art students, comics enthusiasts, psychology enthusiasts, anthropology enthusiasts
This book has actually been very influential on my reality tunnel. Scott Cloud illustrates (literally) how we see ourselves and the world around us and why we identify with comics (because the abstract characters are closer to our internal view of ourselves). It's a fun and illuminating read and not just for people who are into comics but anyone who is interested in anthropology and psychology as well. Highly recommend it! There's also a followup book to this one: "Reinventing Comics&qu...more
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