Until this class, I thought that Choose Your Own Adventure books were simple children’s stories, and I thought that comics/cartoons were the bottom rung of the graphic arts ladder. Mapping our books convinced me of the complexity of ergodic texts, and reading Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics has convinced me that comics are multifarious.
McCloud gives relevant examples of the development of comics from the earliest forms, like the record keeping symbols of the Sumerians, and explains how these symbols evolved into language. I didn’t realize that many common symbols actually originated in comics, like @#?! (That one comes in handy on a bad day!), sounds – like ssss and zzzz, as well as commonly recognized representations of facial expressions and gestures. The symbols of comics are an evolved and evolving language. Further, it is significant that the language of comics is unique to the culture of the artist(s). To demonstrate the differences, McCloud gives examples of Japanese comics. He attributes the differences to the fact that Japanese comics developed in isolation from the West. This fact is true of other art forms as well. (Now, my recall of Art 101 is coming in handy!) This same isolation is evident in the development of perspective. While the West was developing techniques such as foreshortening and atmospheric perspective, Asia developed isometric perspective. Although not as realistic, this perspective is useful and still applied to video games.
I like McCloud’s discussion of the versatility of line. This visual element is as significant to comics as any other art form. Directional lines – implying movement, stabilizing horizontal lines, assertive vertical lines, dynamic diagonal lines, and implied lines are powerful tools in any artist’s hand. As McCloud points out, line is so much more than visual. Throughout time, line has evoked an emotional response. McCloud’s examples of Expressionism (“the unseen world making itself visible”), such as Munch’s Scream and Van Gogh’s Portrait, demonstrate the power of line to evoke a strong emotional response. According to McCloud, comics merge time and space, and unite the senses to evoke emotional and sensual responses. This sounds like a powerful medium to me. Then, I started thinking about comics in my life, my world. Has any comic ever evoked an emotional response from me? The answer is yes. For years, my favorite comic strip was B.C. I looked forward to reading it every Sunday in the Washington Post. After so many years of enjoying Johnny Hart’s* creation, I was shocked when the Washington Post banned B.C. from the Sunday comic section. The reason? Johnny Hart’s use of Christian symbols on Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday, and Christmas. So, McCloud’s assertion is correct. Paper and ink, arranged in rectangular panels, with added symbols, splashed with a little color, evoked the ire of the editorial staff of the Washington Post. Comics are powerhouses, wrapped in the guise of simple ink drawings, word balloons, and symbols. In reality, not so simple after all.
*Johnny Hart died in April last year.