Name: Matthew Jackson's review of Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
Item: Understanding Comics
Rating: 4
Author: Matthew Jackson

Scott McCloud

Understanding Comics

Matthew Jackson

Traces the 3,000 year history of storytelling through pictures, discussing the language and images used.

Gavin

Good fun. In any other medium I would disdain McCloud’s fussy, interminable construction of a single definition of comics, but he provides the distraction from it with the visuals. Gets really good after Chapter 2, when he uncovers a couple of tricks (masking and decartooning) in grand style.

Rohan Uddin

A nice and helpful treatise on the art of the comic book.

Rachel Kanyid

Very interesting way to portray a textbook! Much more fun to read than usual. :)

Adrian Mato

Awesome comic book explaining the world and creation of comics. 100% recommended!

Adam

I didn't grow up reading comics. I've recently started reading more, but I'm still figuring out what I enjoy (Y the Last Man, Walking Dead, Saga, and Attack on Titan so far).

This book is completely different. It's not about how to read comics, but about how to write comics. While I have no intention of writing comics, it's an insightful overview of how to create a story using a combination of images and words – something I want to get better at.

What impresses me most about this book is that it felt like a conversation between me and the author. The entire comic is written in a format where the author, the main character of the comic, is introducing you to various comic concepts and exploring why they work (or don't). Although I don't plan to create comics, I came out of this with a bunch of ideas that I want to try on mediums I work in.

Rebecca Owen

Great introduction to the world of comics as an art rather than just a children's pre-reading material. It feels slightly dated occasionally, but the majority of the chapters on language, symbolism and art still apply.

Daryl Houston

I've tended not to read comics for a couple of reasons -- I don't feel like I have the patience to engage in the way they require you to engage, and I've felt like most of what's out there just wouldn't interest me; I don't really care about superheroes, for example. I guess I'm basically a snob. So I'll read something literary (e.g. Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan) but not something light. This snobbery at least applies across genres; it's not the comic form itself that I'm snobbish about but the sort of material that most of what I think of as comics covers. 

This was a great read. It was very clever, and nicely laid out, and easy and fun to read, and it made me think about aesthetics and narrative in ways that I found satisfying. It's probably not for everybody, but I think most anybody who likes thinking about how stories and art function would find it appealing.

The Invisible Art

Vicky

3.5 Stars

This book started off enjoyable enough, I thought Scott McCloud was a fun "narrator" for this story and I enjoyed the way his character (cartoon?) spoke to the audience. The back third of the book, however, gets a bit more "technical" and I found myself very easily distracted from what I was reading.

I've been a reader of Japanese Manga for a long time, so I was familiar with a lot of the points McCloud was making. I don't feel like I picked up a great deal of new information in reading this book, but I think I'll be more aware of certain techniques used by comics artists in the future.

Hugo Ahlberg

incredible book on not just comics but the art of visual storytelling. highly recommended for anyone interested in any visual medium. 

(note to self: recommended and gifted to me by Alex Henry)

Praised throughout the cartoon industry by such luminaries as Art Spiegelman, Matt Groening, and Will Eisner, this innovative comic book provides a detailed look at the history, meaning, and art of comics and cartooning.

Varun Khatri

A must read for anyone trying to understand the medium of comic books. The first few chapters are more relevant to understanding the craft then the last few but through and through, this book showcases why comics matter and are not limited to the superhero stories people connect them to. Comics is a medium not a subject matter. 

Matthew Jackson &
Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

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Matthew Jackson &Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

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Matthew Jackson &
Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud