COMICS JOURNAL 01: Understanding Comics (Ch 1)
Title: Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
Author: Scott McCloud
Pages 2-23: Chapter 1 Setting The Record Straight
Before telling us the definition of comics, McCloud told us how people treat comic books as bad art, stupid stories, cheap and disposable kiddie fare. McCloud, who was still a kid before 8th grade, was one of those people until his friend convinced him to read his comic collection. He changed his attitude toward comics after becoming obsessed with comics in 10th grade. Why he (before 8th grade) and others misunderstand comics? His finding was that people simply define something too quickly and narrowly without looking into the details or trying to understand it.
I am a graphic design student, comics are not introduced or mentioned in our design studies. I admit that I have similar misunderstanding towards comics when I was a kid. However, as I learned more in the design area, I started to have some tendency to explore this category because I want to create some comic stories. In Chapter one, McCloud shows us how comics appeared thousands of years ago and still affecting us today. For example, ancient Egyptian scribe tells stories in zig-zag format in 2700 years ago, France's 230 foot long Tapestry presents the Norman conquest of England in 1066, and today's sequential art such as car owner's manual and flight safety instructions are comics. People seldom use the term "comics" to describe the cave paintings and safety instruction diagrams but they are indeed comics. This made comics even more interesting for me. According to McCloud, comics is "juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence". We drew a lot in Biology lessons such as how the cells works, how mRNA produces amino acid chain which folds into proteins. Are these sequential visual art also a form of comics?
This quote also relates us in our daily lives and reminds us to be more considerate and put yourself in others' shoes. For instance, people may simply judge the other person stupid if that person answered a question slowly or just being too quiet. If we define a person too quickly based on first impression, we are at the same situation as the author who failed to understand something due to defining it too narrowly.
Author: Scott McCloud
Pages 2-23: Chapter 1 Setting The Record Straight
Pg 3 McCloud says "If People failed to understand comics, it was because they defined what comics could be too narrowly!"
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| Scott McCloud. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art |
I am a graphic design student, comics are not introduced or mentioned in our design studies. I admit that I have similar misunderstanding towards comics when I was a kid. However, as I learned more in the design area, I started to have some tendency to explore this category because I want to create some comic stories. In Chapter one, McCloud shows us how comics appeared thousands of years ago and still affecting us today. For example, ancient Egyptian scribe tells stories in zig-zag format in 2700 years ago, France's 230 foot long Tapestry presents the Norman conquest of England in 1066, and today's sequential art such as car owner's manual and flight safety instructions are comics. People seldom use the term "comics" to describe the cave paintings and safety instruction diagrams but they are indeed comics. This made comics even more interesting for me. According to McCloud, comics is "juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence". We drew a lot in Biology lessons such as how the cells works, how mRNA produces amino acid chain which folds into proteins. Are these sequential visual art also a form of comics?
This quote also relates us in our daily lives and reminds us to be more considerate and put yourself in others' shoes. For instance, people may simply judge the other person stupid if that person answered a question slowly or just being too quiet. If we define a person too quickly based on first impression, we are at the same situation as the author who failed to understand something due to defining it too narrowly.
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| Page 14, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art Scott McCloud |
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