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Understanding Comics : the Invisible art

McCloud, Scott. Graphic Novel - 1993 Teen Graphic Novel / Understanding Comics, Teen Book / Comics & Graphic Novels / Nonfiction / General / Understanding Comics 3 On Shelf No requests on this item Community Rating: 4.4 out of 5

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Call Number: Teen Graphic Novel / Understanding Comics, Teen Book / Comics & Graphic Novels / Nonfiction / General / Understanding Comics
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Pittsfield Branch

Location & Checkout Length Call Number Checkout Length Item Status
Downtown Teen, 1st Floor
4-week checkout
Teen Graphic Novel / Understanding Comics 4-week checkout On Shelf
Downtown Teen, 1st Floor
4-week checkout
Teen Graphic Novel / Understanding Comics 4-week checkout On Shelf
Pittsfield Teen Books
4-week checkout
Teen Book / Comics & Graphic Novels / Nonfiction / General / Understanding Comics 4-week checkout On Shelf

Reprint of original Kitchen Sink Press paperback published in 1993.
Setting the record straight -- The vocabulary of comics -- Blood in the gutter -- Time frames -- Living in line -- Show and tell -- The six steps -- A word about colour -- Putting it all together.
In comic book format, McCloud explains the various elements of comics style, history, energy, symbols.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

Library Journal Review
Booklist Review
Summary / Annotation
Fiction Profile
Publishers Weekly Review
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Understanding comics submitted by Desha Stewart on July 24, 2011, 4:05pm This book was great.

Really helpful submitted by susanlam on August 26, 2011, 9:26pm After reading this, I feel like I understand comics a lot better. Recommended for comics readers and writers alike!

Entertaining submitted by priestlr on July 12, 2012, 9:23pm I feel as if it was an interesting glimpse into art theory in regards to the industry of comics. I also love how the delivery was in graphic novel form, which is a feat when you are describing something philosophical.

Entertaining and educational submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on July 8, 2014, 8:02am If you ever read comics or graphic novels (or if you have kids who do), this is an insightful look into the history, what, why and how of "sequential art."

A dense, clever examination. submitted by eknapp on April 29, 2015, 8:31am Scott McCloud explores the form, history, and potential of comics for consumers and creators, speaking to the reader via a flexible, clever cartoon avatar.

I was expecting something both intelligent and fluffy, but WOW, is this dense. There's a lot (by my standards) of art history, comics history, even some anthropological history. McCloud covers an abundance of fundamental concepts and illustrates them beautifully.


Concepts and definitions:

Author's working definition of "comics": juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence.

The masking effect--use of simple, cartoonistic characters against more realistic backgrounds, allowing readers to "mask" themselves in a character and safely enter a sensually stimulating world.

Universality of cartoon images--A photoreal picture represents a specific person; a cartoonish picture represents all. The more cartoony a face, the more people it describes.

Closure--The phenomenon of observing parts but perceiving the whole (eg object permanence); the phenomenon of filling in the space between panels to connect the panels.

Six kinds of panel transitions: 1. moment-to-moment 2. action-to-action 3. subject-to-subject 4. scene-to-scene. 5. aspect-to-aspect 6. non-sequitur.

Bleeds--When a panel runs off the edge of the page. Expands time, conveys timelessness.

Polyptych--A moving figure or figures imposed over a continuous background.

"The longer any form of art or communication exists, the more symbols it accumulates. The modern comic is a young language but it already has an impressive array of recognizable symbols. Stink lines, x-eyes, sweat beads"

"The art form of comics is many centuries old, but it's perceived as a recent invention and suffers the curse of all new media:the curse of being judged by the standards of the old."

Types of picture/word combinations:
1) Word specific--Text-heavy, pictures are merely accents.
2) Picture specific--Illustrations tell the story; words merely add a soundtrack.
3) Duo specific--The words and illustrations are redundant.
4) Additive--Words and pictures amplify one another.
5) Parallel--The words and pictures are not obviously related.
6) Montage--Words are part of the picture.
7) Interdependent--The most common type. Words and pics go hand in hand to convey what would be impossible alone.

Understanding` submitted by mjanen on June 19, 2017, 10:07pm Makes you think. Good book.

So meta! submitted by terpsichore17 on June 14, 2019, 4:12pm I’m impressed by the extent to which McCloud can demonstrate his points in the serialized image medium. Even if no one uses his definitions, analysis, or categorization for comic creation (and he DOES play fast and loose with definitions, which is mildly irritating), this book makes for a more aware comic reader, amplifying that reader’s experience thereafter. If nothing else, I want to reread Sandman and catch up on Girl Genius bearing this book in mind; Sandman could have been a case study for much of it.

Since this was published in 1993, I’m curious how McCloud has refined his thesis and/or definitions since. Given the waves of webcomics, internet memes, and the nature of internet humor generally, there must be more to be said.

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PUBLISHED
Northampton, MA : Kitchen Sink Press, c1993.
Year Published: 1993
Description: 215 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm
Language: English
Format: Graphic Novel

ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9780060976255
006097625X
0878162445

ADDITIONAL CREDITS
McCloud, Scott.

SUBJECTS
Comic books, strips, etc. -- History and criticism.
Cartooning -- Technique.
Comic books, strips, etc. -- Illustrations.
Comics (Graphic works)
Graphic novels.