Product Description

This is an exploration of the history, meaning, and art of comics and cartooning. Using comics to examine the medium itself, the author takes the form of a cartoon character and explains the structure, meaning, and appeal of comics, and provides a running analysis of comics as art, literature, and communication. He reaches back to pre-Columbus picture manuscripts and Egyptian monuments to trace the history of the comics and examines their place in today's pop culture.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12419 in Books
• Published on: 1994-05-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
As all good card-carrying comic-book fans know, their sheer passion will never overcome narrow-minded critics and their baying cries of derision. There is far more to this perpetually underrated medium than a mix of art and prose. With this indispensable, spellbinding tome, writer/artist Scott McCloud rises to the challenge of dissecting what remains the most enigmatic of art forms. After all, says McCloud, "No other art form gives so much to its audience while asking so much from them as well". Over the course of 215 impeccably formed pages, McCloud joyously exposes and deconstructs a hidden world of icons in a most literate and valid manner. His charming guidance finds a place where Time and Space is effortlessly malleable and the reader is both a willing accomplice and necessary vessel for comics' singular magic. Cunningly presented in comic form, McCloud (or his comic equivalent) conducts a journey that spans thousands of years, taking in art from Prehistoric Man to the Egyptians to Van Gogh to Jack Kirby. Never has psychological and cultural analysis been so understandably clear, beautifully aided by clever visuals and his truly infectious love for the medium. By the end of this funny, charming, rare and exciting book, you'll not doubt the notion that a comic book "...is a vacuum into which our identity and awareness are pulled ... an empty shell that we inhabit which enables us to travel to another realm". A fine exchange for a little faith and a world of imagination. --Danny Graydon

Customer Reviews

Eye-opening
There are precious few books around that really treat the comics medium seriously, or fully explore what is and may be possible in that medium. Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics" is one of the few and - for me - is the best of the bunch.

This book has tonnes of things going for it: McCloud's enjoyable and accessible cartoon-style delivery, which is itself a brilliant demonstration of how powerful a communication tool comics can be ... the infectious passion he has for his subject ... the bountiful results of his serious research and scrutinization ... I could go on.

Perhaps the best thing about "Understanding Comics", though, is McCloud's sheer imagination. When it comes to comics, he has a way of thinking and seeing that is almost completely uninhibited by any preconceptions. The result: he's constantly chucking ideas at you that surprise you and make you re-think about comics, writing, art and perception. You might not agree with everything he says, but the point is you're thinking about something you'd never have considered before. It's a truly eye-opening piece of work.

For readers and writers of comics alike, "Understanding Comics" is invaluable in helping you to appreciate 'sequential art'. For those who have never considered comics worth bothering about ... I urge you to get this book and read it. I guarantee it will make you think again, about comics in particular and art in general.

One final note: as I'm sure Scott McCloud himself would say, don't stop here. Check out other works such as "Comics and Sequential Art" by Will Eisner, or Alan Moore's essay "Writing for Comics". And any sequential art you can lay your hands on!

Eye-opening
A colleague who produces comics recommended this book to me as the definitive guide to the subject, and he was right. McCloud uses comic-strip techniques as elegant proof of the fact that comics really can get a message across to their audience. Apart from its obvious how-to value, this book is also a handy defence against the intellectual snobs who deride the medium (yes, that was me, once upon a time) because of its thoroughly researched and - dare I say it - scholarly approach. It's a surprising, enjoyable and educational guide by someone who clearly loves his work. I'll never see comics the same way again.

A Must-Have Book If Any Truly Exist
Scott McCloud has entertained readers with his wonderful comic, _Zot!_ Now he informs his readers in this, one of the greatest books on the psychology of comics ever written. Shunning the usual nostalgic tone of most books written about comics, McCloud uses the comic format to discuss not the history of the X-Men, but rather the method of storytelling in which such characters are presented. He writes on a vast list of subjects, ranging from the meaning of the word "Comics" to the use of blank space between panels. The art style is simple where it needs to be and complex where it is required. The message comes across in panel after panel of information that is stated simply enough for everybody to understand, if they will only open their minds to these "Funny Books." Scott McCloud's book is an invaluable resource. It allows you to stop merely reading comics, and start understanding them.