In this book, McCloud explores many interesting concepts and introduces ideas which are easy to understand but one never really thinks about. For me, the best example of this is his proposition that comics are universal. In the book, he shows the varying degrees of realism of the human face in comics - beginning with a realistic shadowed painting and ending with a simple circle with 2 dots and a line. Every human being on the planet recognizes this as a face. While the more detailed examples are also obviously faces, their exclusive characteristics limit their universal appeal. Anyone can read a comic with a distinct character, but only a few can relate to the imagery. Whereas, with the dots-and-line approach, everyone can see themselves as the comic with a little imagination. This makes comics one of the most universal forms of art.
Another interesting point that McCloud makes is the distinction between pictures and words. He describes pictures as "received" information and words as "perceived" information. This further helps to illustrate the universality of comics. The message gained from a picture is instantaneous and applies to any culture. However, to understand words one needs to know and understand a certain language. It takes time to get a message sent by words.
My favorite scene from this book comes from page 24 - where the author asks "but how different are they?" (pertaining to words and images) with the words on his head and his face in the bubble. McCloud illustrates how words and pictures are often perceived as two different concepts but in reality pictures are a kind of language. Icons serve as The Vocabulary of Comics, a vocabulary understood by every human being.
Really good response!
ReplyDelete