Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

This is probably the densest comic book I've ever read. Scott McCloud's dissection of what makes comics work is fascinating because the principles he comes up with not only apply to comics, but to many written and visual art forms as well. I particularly like his definition of art: “Art, as I see it, is any human activity which doesn’t grow out of either of our species’ two basic instincts: survival and reproduction.”

McCloud's book design as a comic is genius. I sometimes found myself wondering how the words and pictures worked together - and how this can be applied to oral presentation. I'll definitely have to return to the book because I'm sure I didn't absorb everything.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Dates: 29-31 Aug 2010