Reading Reflection #7
In the first chapter of Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, the author attempts to make us rethink comic books and dives into how he came to really appreciate what comics can do as an art. The book is written in the form of a comic book – in a way that both helps and hinders my ability to learn from this resource. It hinders me in that I went through and read the whole thing without thinking to look at the pictures; I read it like a novel. It helped me when I went back and reread it by making myself look at each picture and notice how it creates action within a single frame. McCloud makes the point that usually comic books are “poorly-drawn, semiliterate, cheap, disposable kiddie fare – BUT – they don’t have to be!” (McCloud 3) Hey that sounds pretty familiar… isn’t that what people say about animation too? Because most people associate animation with the Nickolodean shows they grew up with – some poorly made, some well made, all made for children. Like animation, comics, according to Will Eisner, are a form of “sequential art.” (McCloud 5) McCloud really draws the comparison when he writes: “You might say that before it’s projected, film is just a very very very very slow comic!” (McCloud 8) THIS IS WHY STORYBOARDS ARE SO IMPORTANT. It helps you visualize your film (live action or animation) like it’s a very very very very slow comic.
In the second chapter, McCloud dives into the vocabulary of comics. To start, he goes about finding a definition of the word “icon.” Icon “mean[s] any image used to represent a person, place, thing, or idea.” I really like the part where he says, “When you enter the world of the cartoon – you see yourself.” (McCloud 36) There is something so different about cartoons specifically that allows us to to disassociate and take on the cartoon as real. One weird thing about me – I do remember thinking that the characters from Hey Arnold! were real living, breathing, humans. Considering that, it’s amazing that I’m graduating college in a month.
Overall, there is so much to take from this entire book. I made my way through the whole thing pretty thoroughly. I particularly found Chapter 4 (time frames) and chapter 8 (a word about color) helpful for my projects. I’m really excited to incorporate some of McCloud’s ideas into my upcoming project.