Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud was very interesting to read. Ive never had comics explained to be in that way before and so in depth. He starts off talking about what comics are sequential art and explains the differences from other media and I thought that was interesting point to make, that the definitions of things could be interchangeable at some points and what goes into each to make them different and how similar certain things are within those structures.  I agree that we see ourselves in comics especially the more “cartoony” they are. It makes me think about the things I watch and read and how I react to them. There are so many styles in character illustrations and the author was able to categorize them together and explain how it happens, it’s a good way to organize that concept. 

I thought the concept that people can see faces or themselves in everything really interesting. I see faces in stuff all the time like cars and wall sockets like the examples, But im not sure if I ever pictures myself in those things, but I do humanize them by giving them faces. I also thought it was amazing how little detail you need to actually communicate a concept if you needed. Turning a realistic drawing of someone riding a bike to essentially just lines was a good example.  I also liked the concept of making something simple like the character but making the background realistic and I have seen that used in comics as well as animation.

Overall it was a very good introduction to the idea of comics, what they are and concepts behind them that are interesting.