Understanding comics

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Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics talks about icons in media, and how a comic is compromised of a sequence of images. He argues that simplicity can create associate to certain concepts. An icon is a representation or symbol. When something is more simple, it makes it more accessible to a wider array of people. On the otherhand, an image that is more photorealistic gives it a more physical definition instead of conceptual. He talks about how as people, we tend to see ourselves in our surroundings. It makes sense that our brains automatically associate observations with imagery that we are already familiar with. McCloud also talks about time. A spread of panels cannot be happening at the same time. He thinks of time as a rope, stringing together the actions into a coherent sequence based on the order they are read in. He talks about several concepts and theories in a relatively short amount of pages that it could have taken for such elaborate ideas. The style that McCloud draws in however, is very blunt and a bit harsh on the eyes due to the thick lines and lack of mid tones. There is also a lack of variation in the panels, which made the comic a bit hard to digest for me. I feel that he may be overcompensating for the complex nature of the theories he is explaining.

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