Understanding Comics

I was really impressed and interested in this book "Understanding Comics."  The way McCloud described and made sense of each principle used in comics was not only clear but it was creative and fun to read.

  I was most interested in his explanation of the relationship people make with cartoons.  As a computer animator i grew up feeling that connection and it led me down my current career path which is to make others feel that connection I love so much.  Although I've always loved that connection with cartoon characters I never thought about the physiology that McCloud describes in his book. The simplicity of cartoon allows us to escape reality, go to another place and put ourselves in the shoes of our favorite characters.  It's so easy easy for us to that because the simpler the cartoon design the more people it can represent, making it easier it is to see ourselves.  That theory really got me thinking and it made me feel silly for never realizing it myself because it was obvious.

Another theory that really stood out to me was the transitional technique theory used to tell the stories.  The bar graphs of the transitions found in western comics compared to those found in Eastern comics especially from Japan was incredible and yet another thing that never occurred to me.  Many Japanese comics and even anime films strongly focus on the present time and their transitions from aspect to aspect really make you feel in the moment and really add a different mood to the stories.  Where as the Western story telling techniques are mainly action to action and the characters are in search of a goal rather than just experiencing moments.  The gutter theory played a huge role in supporting the transitions and as an animator I really enjoyed that section and I was interested and amazed how much time can pass or not pass from frame to frame.

Many of the tools learned from reading this book make me eager to try and apply them in stories I come up with within my own medium.