Understanding Comics

I first read Scott McCloud's “Understanding Comics” two years ago, but it was well worth the second look. At the time of my first reading I was working on a research paper for my high school English class and my teacher had given us the ability to choose any subject we wanted as long as it interested us. I had been beginning to look in to the comics culture for a little while and thought that perhaps a paper over the idea of comics as an art form would give me a better idea of just what I was getting in to. A quick google search on comics research material led me to “Understanding Comics” and in reading it I discovered a lot more than I thought I would.

At that time I had never really read any comics aside from occasional newspaper serials and a lot of web comics. However, since Understanding Comics was written before the eve of the web comic it opened my eyes to the world of comics before those with which I had become familiar, the ideas within it led me to want to read more and more of what came before and inspired web artists like Scott Kurtz and Jeph Jacques.

In reading through it again after a few years and a lot more comics I picked up on things that I hadn't before, and I recognized names and comics that I hadn't known the first time round. The idea of closure and Scott's broad definition of comics seem ever more acute when put into perspective with my history classes. This is the sort of book that is improved upon as you read it when put into juxtaposition with your own personal experiences. Even if you have no experience with the world of comics the book is a great primer, a wonderful introduction to the huge realm of possibilities that emerges from comics.

The ideas McCloud presents allow the everyman to understand just what it is their getting in to and allows them to appreciate it on a deeper level. Having an awareness of the history and structure of comics increases the joy of the experience by leaps and bounds. Understanding the concept of closure and the highly flexible nature of time in comics makes reading that much easier to enjoy. Knowing just how varied the contents of the medium of comics are can allow people to see that there's something in it for everyone, that comics aren't just superheroes in spandex and Garfield lamenting Mondays, there's so much more to it.

I sound a bit like I'm writing a promotional ad for this book, and for that I do apologize, but in my life this book really jumpstarted my introduction into the vast world of not just what I thought comics were but what they really could be. I really feel that, despite how out there McCloud's ideas can sometimes get, this book is excellent for anyone interested in starting to read comics more seriously, wanting to upgrade from casual browsing to really getting it as a medium. The book is really great in the way it presents the ideas and how it is a textbook over comics without looking like a textbook about comics because it is, itself, a comic book, and comic books can't be textbooks. Or at least that's what you think until you read it.