Understanding comics pdf Continue 1993 224 pages. Black and white with 8-page color section. A 215-page comic book about comics that explains the inner workings of the medium and examines many aspects of visual communication. Understanding Comics has been translated into 16 languages, excerpts in textbooks, and its ideas are used in other areas such as game design, animation, web development, and interface design. Winner of the Harvey and Eisner Award, the Alph'art Award at Angoulême, and a New York Times Remarkable book for 1994 (mass market edition). Topics include: Definitions, history and potential. Visual iconography and its effects. Closing, reader participation between the panels. Word-image dynamics. Time and movement. The psychology of line styles and color. Comics and the artistic process. With Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, the dialogue about and about what comics are, and more importantly, what comics can be, has begun. If you read, write, teach, or draw comics; if you want to; or if you just want to see a master explainer at work, read this book. - Neil Gaiman, Coraline, The Graveyard Book If you've ever felt bad about wasting your life reading comics, check out Scott McCloud's classic book right away. You may still feel like you've wasted your life, but you want to know why, and you'll be proud. - Matt Groening, The Simpsons Understanding Comics is simply the best analysis of the medium I've ever met. With this book Scott McCloud has taken breathtaking leaps towards establishing a critical language that the comedic art form can work with and build on in the future. Clear and accessible, it's an astonishing achievement of perception. Highly recommended. - Alan Moore, Watchmen Smart disguised as an easy to read comic, Scott McCloud's simple looking tome deconstructs the secret language of comics while casually revealing the secrets of Time, Space, Art and the Cosmos! The most intelligent comics I've seen in a long time. Bravo. - Art Spiegelman, Maus, Divisions In one clear, well-designed chapter after another, [McCloud] guides us through the elements of comics style, and ... how words combine with images to work their unique magic. When the 215-page journey is finally over, most readers will have a hard time looking at comics in quite the same way ever again. - Garry Trudeau, in the New York Times Review of Books The basic manual for introduction to the medium. Do not attempt to operate your comic book without reading this first one. Warren Ellis. a rare and exciting work that brilliantly uses comics to examine the medium itself. Publisher's Weekly... a brilliant comic discussion of what makes comics work. LA Times BRAVO! Understanding Comics is a seminal dissection and intellectual consideration of comics as a valid medium. Its employment comic art as its vehicle is Every school teacher should have one. Will Eisner. one of the most insightful books on graphic design user interfaces ever written, although it never discusses the subject directly. - Andy Hertzfeld, co-creator of Mac Scott McCloud's book, Understanding Comics, is a must read for any true connoisseur of comics. for Pete's sake, everything that has been going on in comics art. With a lively wit and a laser intelligence, Scott McCloud offers us a fresh new look at the comics medium. Art. - James Gurney creator, Dinotopia McCloud firmly establishes his reputation as both Thomas Edison and Marshall McLuhan of comics ... A comic book about comics, Understanding Comics is a thoughtful book that will be talked about for years to come. Since its first hit in 1993, the book has been controversial and constantly analyzed with comedic stories that have been published many times, becoming an indispensable classic reference book for those studying animation. It has been translated into many languages, says Scott Mccloud. In both aspects of the painter. And in the reader's perception of how to understand, reach and in with comics' images and words. McCloud presents it with a draw. Comics tell a story similar to a documentary, and references to comics from a variety of locations in America, Europe and Japan, so readers can enjoy McCloud's real life moves with the style of painting and words, and it's almost impossible to hear the author's voice in the near est assessment. As a result of the author's insight into this medium, and think about in a clear way. Reading this book can therefore help us understand this medium more. Help comics creators work out more fun or deep outbursts. Help students or researchers research deeper. Comic book album Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art Cover of the Original Tundra Publishing Edition of Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art Editor Mark MartinAuthorScott McCloudCountryUnited StatesLanguageEngLishSubjicsPublication date 1993Page s215Great byReinventing Comics Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art is a non-fiction comic book of 1993 by the American cartoonist Scott McCloud. [1] It explores formal aspects of comics, the historical development of the medium, its basic vocabulary, [2] It lays out theoretical ideas about comics as an art form and medium of communication, and is written in cartoon form. writers such as Art Spiegelman, Will Eisner, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman and Garry Trudeau (who reviewed the book for the New York Times). [4] Although the book has given rise to debate on many of McCloud's conclusions,[5] its discussions of iconic art and the concept of closure between panels have become common reference points in discussion of the medium. [6] [7] The title of Understanding Comics is a tribute to Marshall McLuhan's seminal work Understanding Media from 1964. [recion required] Publication history Excerpts from Understanding Comics were published in Amazing Heroes #200 (Apr. 1992); this issue later won the 1992 Don Thompson Award for best non-fiction work. McCloud showcased the book at the August 1992 Comics Arts Conference. [8] Understanding Comics was first published by Tundra Publishing; reprints have been released by Kitchen Sink Press, DC Comics' Paradox Press, DC's Vertigo line, and HarperPerennial. The book was edited by Mark Martin, with letters by Bob Lappan. Editions Softcover Tundra (1993): ISBN 1-56862-019-5 Kitchen Sink (Jan. 1993): ISBN 0-87816-243-7 William Morrow Paperbacks (April 1994): ISBN 0-06-097625-X Paradox Press/DC (May 1999): ISBN 1-56389-557-9 Harper Perennial (2004) Hardcover Kitchen (Aug. 1993): ISBN 0-87816-244-5 Vertigo/DC Comics (2000): ISBN 1- 56389-759-8 Sequels McCloud has followed up Understanding Comics with Reinventing Comics (2000), where he proposed ways for the medium to change and grow; and Making Comics (2006), a study of methods for constructing comics. Summary Understanding Comics is a wide-ranging exploration of the definition, history, vocabulary and methods of the medium of comics. An attempt to formalize the study of comics, it is in itself in comic form. The book's overarching argument is that comics are defined by primacy sequences of images. [9] McCloud also introduced the concept of closure to refer to a reader's role in closing narrative gaps between comic book panels. [10] The book claims that comics use non-linear narratives because they depend on the reader's choices and interactions. The book begins with a discussion of the concept of visual skills and a story of narrative in visual media. McCloud cites, among other things, early works of graphic storytelling, Bayeux Tapestry, as a predecessor to comics. Understanding Comics postulates Swiss cartoonist Rodolphe Töpffer as in many ways the father of the modern comic. McCloud emphasizes Töpffer's use of cartoons and panel boundaries along with the first interdependent combination of words and images seen in Europe. [11] McCloud also highlights the differences between iconic and realistic characters. Iconic characters can be compared to a standard drawing, while realistic characters focus more on photo quality in detail. He argues that Western culture is captivated by iconic images He provides a full comparison and breakdown of iconic and realistic images and provides an interesting explanation for his reasoning behind this statement. One of the book's key concepts is masking, a visual style, dramatic convention and literary technique described in the chapter on realism. It is the use of simplistic, archetypal, narrative characters, although juxtaposed with detailed, photographic, verisimilar, spectacular backgrounds. This can work, McCloud infers, as a mask, a form of projective identification. His explanation is that a familiar and minimally detailed character allows for a stronger emotional connection and for viewers to identify more easily. One of the book's concepts is The Big Triangle, a tool for thinking about different styles of comics art. McCloud places the realistic representation in the lower left corner, with iconic representation, or cartoonish art, in the lower right, and a third identifier, abstraction of the image, at the top of the triangle. This allows for the placement and grouping of artists by triangulation. Awards and Honors Understanding Comics won several Harvey Awards in 1994 for Best Graphic Album/Original Material[12] and Best Biographical, Historical or Journalistic Presentation. [12] In addition, McCloud won the 1994 Harvey Award for Best Author. [12] Understanding Comics won the Eisner Award in 1994 for Best Comic Book. [13] Author McCloud won the 1994 Adamson Award for Best International Comic [or Comic Book] Cartoonist. The book was a finalist for the 1994 Hugo Award for best non-fiction book. The Swedish translation of the book, Series: The Osynliga Konsten, published in 1995 by Häftad, was awarded the Urhunden Prize in 1996. The French translation of the book, titled L'Art Invisible and published by Vertige Graphic, won the Prix Bloody Mary at the 2000 Angoulême International Comics Festival.