Upon scanning the title I wasn’t sure what Scott McCloud meant by “The Invisible Art.” I thought it could be referring to the certain underground culture that surrounds comics, but I wasn’t completely sure. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the whole book is in the comic format. I think McCloud did a wonderful job explaining the art behind comics. When you’re reading the Sunday comics you realize that there is art behind it, but not to the depth of deciding on the size of the frame or which thought bubble to use. I’m not surprised that comics aren’t seen as a legitimate form of art. Since it is known to be geared toward children, scholars and the general public dismisses comics as childish and a simple craft. McCloud pointed out so many facts about the way humans perceive themselves and the world we live in. I enjoyed reading the different categories that he compiled to discuss the mechanics of creating a comic. The section on time frame and the evolution of depicting motion was quite interesting to me. I’ve seen all these types of motion portrayed when I read the Sunday paper. Before I never thought about their origin and the changes they have gone through. The chapter on time and how the artist draws a particular scene to portray a certain amount of time interested me as well. After learning about closure I can visualize how it works in my mind when you read a long panel and several actions happen seemingly at once. I think McCloud has written a fun and thoughtful book on comics. He addresses things like the use of the line to the visual metaphors comics use. I also liked the comparison between Japanese and American comics. Parallels between the two cultures help to show the different uses of the 6 kinds of action between frames. I think this book was great and a good start to understanding comics.
A blog for and about the intersection of comic books and American history.
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