WEEK TWO

WEEK TWO

Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics

        Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics was an insightful and entertaining read. I've always read and enjoyed comics but I've never noticed a pattern or method to them as McCloud describes. After reading this book (Which was cleverly crafted to be read as a comic) was stimulating and very educational. It turns out I didn't know a lot about comics, nor did I understand there were terms and methods used my comic artists and such. I learned about the 5 types of transitions (Action-to-Action, Moment-to-Moment etc) and why the proper use of transitions matter. I also enjoyed his analysis on the transition usage patterns of different genres, time-periods, and locations. It was interesting to see how comics, though being a highly universal and well-known vehicle for storytelling, it's varieties are more rooted in the culture of the specific area than I thought. I also learned at the beginning of the book how a comics style matters to the viewer. We apparently identify faces without even trying and a two dots and a line can transform to an actual face in our imagination. There were a lot of other things I learned about comics after reading this, but above all else I understood that the way one creates comics is a complex art-form that stimulates the viewer and has the potential to tell a compelling story.