Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

by Scott McCloud

Overview

"You must read this book." —Neil Gaiman

The bestselling international classic on storytelling and visual communication.

Praised throughout the cartoon industry by such luminaries as Art Spiegelman, Matt Groening, and Will Eisner, Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics is a seminal examination of comics art: its rich history, surprising technical components, and major cultural significance. Explore the secret world between the panels, through the lines, and within the hidden symbols of a powerful but misunderstood art form.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060976255
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	04/27/1994
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	23,105
Product dimensions:	6.80(w) x 10.30(h) x 0.58(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Scott McCloud has been writing, drawing, and examining comics since 1984. Winner of the Eisner and Harvey awards, his works have been translated into more than sixteen languages. Frank Miller (Sin City, 300) called him "just about the smartest guy in comics." He lives with his family in southern California. His online comics and inventions can be found at scottmccloud.com.

What People are Saying About This

James Gurney

"McCloud is the McLuhan of comics."

Will Eisner

"A landmark dissection and intellectual consideration of comics as a valid medium."

Editorial Reviews

If you read, write, teach or draw comics; if you want to; or if you simply want to watch a master explainer at work, you must read this book.” — Neil Gaiman

“McCloud’s masterwork is not just an indispensable treatise on comics, it’s also the best primer around on visual literacy and the mechanics of storytelling. A must-read for anyone interested in narrative of any kind.” — Alison Bechdel

“Cleverly disguised as an easy-to-read comic book, Scott McCloud’s simple-looking tome deconstructs the secret language of comics while casually revealing secrets of time, space, art and the cosmos! The most intelligent comics I’ve seen in a long time. Bravo.” — Art Spiegelman

“Reading Understanding Comics blew my teenage mind, and gave me a toolbox full of ideas that I still use today.” — Raina Telgemeier

“The best analysis of the medium that I have ever encountered.” — Alan Moore

“BRAVO!! ... A landmark dissection and intellectual consideration of comics as a valid medium. ... Anyone interested in this literary form must read it.” — Will Eisner

From the Publisher

If you read, write, teach or draw comics; if you want to; or if you simply want to watch a master explainer at work, you must read this book.

Neil Gaiman

McCloud’s masterwork is not just an indispensable treatise on comics, it’s also the best primer around on visual literacy and the mechanics of storytelling. A must-read for anyone interested in narrative of any kind.

Alison Bechdel

The best analysis of the medium that I have ever encountered.

Alan Moore

Reading Understanding Comics blew my teenage mind, and gave me a toolbox full of ideas that I still use today.

Raina Telgemeier

BRAVO!! ... A landmark dissection and intellectual consideration of comics as a valid medium. ... Anyone interested in this literary form must read it.

Will Eisner

Cleverly disguised as an easy-to-read comic book, Scott McCloud’s simple-looking tome deconstructs the secret language of comics while casually revealing secrets of time, space, art and the cosmos! The most intelligent comics I’ve seen in a long time. Bravo.

Art Spiegelman

★ 02/01/2016
McCloud recounts his introduction to comics in the form of a comic, tracing the history of the medium; situating it among media theory, film, and web design; and explaining how its practitioners create meaning.

Library Journal

McCloud is the McLuhan of comics.

James Gurney

This is a rare and exciting work that ingeniously uses comics to examine the medium itself. McCloud (who wrote a comic-book series called Zot! ) conducts a genial, well-researched and funny tour of virtually every historical and perceptual aspect of comics, which he calls ``sequential art,'' that is, art that consists of sequences of words and pictures. Beginning in the 11th century with the Bayeux tapestry, he examines pre-Columbian picture languages and the printing press, presenting a quick survey of the historical development of early sequential pictures into the specialized visual language of comics. But it's McCloud's accessible and quite amusing discussion of realism, abstraction and visual perception that forms the heart of this survey. He dissects the vocabulary of the medium, cheerfully analyzing the psychological power of comics and their central role in our ultra-visual culture. McCloud attempts to place comics within the tradition of serious western art. His black-and-white drawings are a delight, ranging from simplified cartoons to parodies of classic comics and fine art, all the while manifesting every theory and comics trend discussed. (July)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly