From: [normanc 523] at [aol.com] (NormanC523)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc
Subject: Review: UNDERSTANDING COMICS
Date: 28 Jun 1994 02:04:02 -0400

Book review by Norm Cook ([normanc 523] at [aol.com])

UNDERSTANDING COMICS: THE INVISIBLE ART by Scott McCloud, Kitchen
Sink 1993

UNDERSTANDING COMICS has been nominated for the nonfiction Hugo Award
this year.  Its subject matter is related to science fiction in as
much as most comics are fantasy-based.  It is a well researched and
well executed reference.

McCloud does an outstanding job of analyzing what makes comics tick. 
Making it all the more relevant is that McCloud is an illustrator as
well as a writer, and he presents his material in the graphic form
that he is analyzing-a comic book about comics.  One of his main
purposes is to dispel some of the misconceptions about comics and to
show the almost unlimited potential comics have in storytelling.

The book starts with a discussion of how to define comics.  Although
McCloud presents a rather long and technical definition, he mainly
uses the simplified approach that comics are sequential art.  Then
McCloud traces the history of comics, going back to Egyptian
hieroglyphics and then examines how comics evolved over the years due
to inventions such as printing and the increasing sophistication and
experimentation of artists.

McCloud continues with a chapter about the basic elements of comics
and how the mind processes these elements.  The language of comics
includes the icon, an image used to represent something.  Icons can
be either words or pictures.  McCloud uses the icon to demonstrate
how cartoons interpret physical objects and how different styles work
to create the information we perceive.  One of the important ideas
presented is a triangular chart that categorizes various comics
styles.  The corners of the triangle represent Reality, Meaning
(Language), and The Picture Plane.

Another important concept is that of "closure."  Closure is the
phenomenon of observing the parts of a process but perceiving the
whole.  This is used by comics artists when they move from one panel
to another across the blank space known as the gutter.  The reader
closes the gap in time or space in one of six defined ways.  McCloud
then compares various comics to discover patterns in storytelling. 
It turns out that American and European artists are fairly consistent
in their styles, but that Japanese comics use a noticeably different
pattern.

A chapter is devoted to how comics represent the passage of time. 
There's another one that examines the interaction of words and
pictures, including how sounds are conveyed on the page.  One chapter
is concerned with how color influences what we read.  Finally, there
is an important discussion about the six steps required in the
creative process of any piece of artwork, using comics as an example
of how those steps work.

As a long-time reader of comics, I found many good concepts in
Understanding Comics that will enhance my enjoyment of them.  I will
be better able to appreciate why some creators tell their stories one
way and others don't.  As a writer myself, I can apply some of the
ideas to my work, and be better able to collaborate with other
writers and artists when the need arises.  I highly recommend
UNDERSTANDING COMICS: THE INVISIBLE ART.