Although I’m not an avid comic book reader, I really enjoyed reading Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics: An Invisible Art. I thought it was a smart idea to write the book in the form of a comic, instead of feeding audiences the material in textbook form. I think structuring the book as a comic makes the overall experience much more pleasurable for the reader. Considering the fact that McCloud has created a comic book about comics, it’s no surprise that I often found myself reading the material and then unconsciously applying it to my own reading. However, McCloud does make it a point to remind us that we are in fact reading a comic, forcing us to notice what’s happening and what tools are at work. I also enjoyed McCloud’s lively, conversational tone. It makes the book even more animated and fun to read.
My favorite chapter so far was Chapter Two, in which McCloud talks about icons — Why do creators use pictures that are representative of the “real thing” instead of just using realistic images? Why do icons appeal to us? McCloud suggests, “We humans are a self-centered race. We see ourselves in everything. We assign identities and emotions where none exist. And we make the world over in our image” (32-3). So very true. We make up a culture that revolves around symbols and icons, and we often attach personalities to inanimate objects like our cars, our clothes and even our iPods. After all, these objects are symbols for our identities. In short, comic creators use iconic images so it’s easier for readers to see themselves as the characters in the comics.
I also thought McCloud’s discussion of “closure” was quite interesting. I think he’s right when he says that we often observe parts and perceive them as a whole. We don’t have to see something to know that it’s there. McCloud then goes on to discuss the “gutter,” or the empty space between panels. He notes that “here in the limbo of the gutter, human imagination takes two separate images and transforms them into a single idea” (66). In other words, readers fill in the gaps using their own imagination. In this sense, interactivity is inherent in comic books. This made me think about the different hypertexts we’ve looked at in class. When “reading” these hypertexts, the reader must fill in the blanks, much like he or she does when reading a comic book. But I’m skeptical of the term “closure” to describe this phenomenon. Readers might be making mental connections between images, but do they really achieve a sense of closure?