Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

We are a very self centered and conceited race (McCLoud, 32)

After reading this book, I totally worship Scott McCloud. I love comic books and I think that this was a brilliant piece to pickup. Not only did he talk about all aspects of comic books for those on unfamiliar ground with it, but he also taught us how to really understand the concept of comics. Now I have a better understanding of comics and how they’re not just simple illustrations, but images that grab our mind because of detail and colour choices.

I remember Mark Lipton telling us about the success of the show “The Simpsons”. I always thought the success came from Matt Groening’s simple detail in the basic skeletal drawings of each character as well as the script written by the show’s writers. Mark Lipton explained to us that it was because of the basic colour choices used in the show. Apparently, Matt Groening’s animators use the same consistent colours rather than having various shades of the rainbow. Mark told us this was because of our perception as humans; if we saw all the colours of the rainbow in the show, it wouldn’t be as successful because our attention would be all over the place. I never thought colours could play such a crucial part to a television show until I finished reading Understanding Comics.

Scott McCloud has a chapter about colours where he explains if he had used colours in his text; our attention to the context would have a different perception than it would if he left his book in black and white. There was also another portion McCloud talked about when he was explaining about detail. If he detailed so many features in his facial expression, he claims we probably wouldn’t take him seriously. Further speaking into detail, Scott also said we see ourselves in just about everything; cars, automobiles, electric sockets, and even in cartoon illustrations. He simply replied, “We see ourselves in everything...and we make the world over in our own image” (32, 33). McCloud was right when he said this; we are self absorbed. The way we see ourselves in everything shows we think of ourselves as a dominant outline for everything around us.

I’m currently researching some more of Scott McCloud’s other books and want to purchase Reinventing Comics, which apparently was published after Understanding Comics. This has got to be my favourite text so far as the visual context kept me interested and also because I love comic books.

McCloud, Scott. Reinventing Comics. New York: HarperCollins, 2000.

McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: HarperCollins, 1993.