Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics provides a very thorough and unique guide on the history, technicalities, and purposes of comics, picking them down to their very structure and deliberation on how we inherently understand the context within a comic that are otherwise just a mishmash of images and words put together disjointedly.
A section that caught my attention in the excerpt was McCloud's hypotheticals about the journey that comic artists go through. Some artists start young, get distracted, get busy, or continue on to college in their studies. Others get critique from professionals and hone their skills with their self discipline. McCloud always stops at certain points in a comic artist's journey to level out their satisfactions. He deliberates on whether settling at any of these points is acceptable. Some feel comfortable under the wing of more experienced comic artists, maybe never getting their storytelling skills honed to the point where they can present new genius ideas to the world. Some settle at storytelling that is not necessarily unique or intriguing, but remain the best at what they do. Others seek to change the world around them with their work, and create shifts in the comics industry and introduce new ways to tell stories. He speaks of all these stages in life as acceptable and normal. He speaks to personal satisfaction. Why do we make art, why do we make comics? If we do not seek to change the world, are we still satisfied with ourselves? McCloud presents a really personal and emotional view on being a cartoonist, and brings forth these ideas of finding purpose in doing comics, that there must be a personal investment, and that you need not make a masterpiece to be satisfied with your work and your purpose.
After a very technical talk on the structure of comics, the psychology behind why we understand the basic comic form, and its use of abstractions to convey ideas that we inherently understand, it is very surprising to see a very emotional perspective on cartooning. McCloud provides a surprisingly deep exploration to the core of comics making, the satisfaction of doing something worthwhile with your life, in the form of cartoons.
A section that caught my attention in the excerpt was McCloud's hypotheticals about the journey that comic artists go through. Some artists start young, get distracted, get busy, or continue on to college in their studies. Others get critique from professionals and hone their skills with their self discipline. McCloud always stops at certain points in a comic artist's journey to level out their satisfactions. He deliberates on whether settling at any of these points is acceptable. Some feel comfortable under the wing of more experienced comic artists, maybe never getting their storytelling skills honed to the point where they can present new genius ideas to the world. Some settle at storytelling that is not necessarily unique or intriguing, but remain the best at what they do. Others seek to change the world around them with their work, and create shifts in the comics industry and introduce new ways to tell stories. He speaks of all these stages in life as acceptable and normal. He speaks to personal satisfaction. Why do we make art, why do we make comics? If we do not seek to change the world, are we still satisfied with ourselves? McCloud presents a really personal and emotional view on being a cartoonist, and brings forth these ideas of finding purpose in doing comics, that there must be a personal investment, and that you need not make a masterpiece to be satisfied with your work and your purpose.
After a very technical talk on the structure of comics, the psychology behind why we understand the basic comic form, and its use of abstractions to convey ideas that we inherently understand, it is very surprising to see a very emotional perspective on cartooning. McCloud provides a surprisingly deep exploration to the core of comics making, the satisfaction of doing something worthwhile with your life, in the form of cartoons.
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