Understanding Comics (The invisible Art) by Scott McCloud – review
Just look at the Amazon reviews if you want to know how good Understanding Comics is.
Eighteen 5-star ratings out of eighteen is a pretty good sign – and the reviews for this ‘comic-book’ about comics from Scott McCloud certainly explain why. On one level this book is a powerful validation for a whole movement of artists who feel their art form has been overlooked and undervalued by critics. It’s a clenched fist “Yesssss!” moment of long-overdue recognition.
On another level it’s a beautifully-articulated argument for the effectiveness – and the pedigree – of this medium and what’s great is that the argument isn’t expressed in words. It’s expressed directly through the medium itself.
Some of the book’s best moments come with the kind of mixture of shock and delight that – arguably – only the comic form can deliver – such as when the artist turns into a shaded, photo-realistic representation of himself for a single frame. Or when McCloud reminds us that we create the (unshown) grisly murder in the gutter between frames. Wonderful.
McCloud reveals all the major comic conventions as he takes us on a journey that weaves in and out of history, narrative, perception, psychology – to name but a few disciplines along the way. As such, it’s an excellent primer for any budding comic creator and by the end of the book, we’ve not just read about the comic form, we’ve experienced it too.
Understanding Comics offers some important insights into the effectiveness of our Visual Dialogue™ process, too. Why are comic characters most effective when they have least detail? The less detail they have, says McCloud, the more we can project ourselves into their place in the story.
Our experience of how readily our clients see themselves in the pictures we create for them certainly bears this out.
Watch Scott McCloud talk about the book in this TEDTalk.
