Understanding Comics: A Comprehensive Guide to the Art and Craft of Comics, Exploring Visual Storytelling

I suggest everyone who wants to make comics to buy this one, it is a manual made as a comic instead of a boring text.

This is a brilliant book about comics, storytelling and graphic design. Scott McCloud packs a huge amount of information about art, history, comic design and the different ways people communicate in words and pictures into this highly accessible book. Like comics themselves, there are hidden depths here, because beneath the immediacy of the presentation are some deep, serious ideas about the development of language, art and communication. The book is superbly done; clever, witty, thought-provoking and really informative. You will never read a comic or graphic novel in the same way again, and you will almost certainly appreciate the art form more than you did. The whole book is engrossing and educational, but chapters 3 and 4, on how we interpret the space between the panels in comics, and how time and space is represented in pictures, show McCloud's genius for conveying complex ideas with real power and clarity.

I'm not normally one to write a review, normally I just buy a product at that is it. I am currently undergoing a solo comic book project involving script writing and illustration. I had read good stuff about this book so I bought a copy and I was not disappointed. Reading through, Scott highlighted certain areas that I took a second to realise I had already had these thought processes but not realised. It also opened me up to more information that I was not aware of and taught me things about comics that date way back.I like the idea that this was informative and in the style of a comic, pure genius. 10/10 for me and a brilliant read.

I had recently started getting into reading graphic novels when my friend recommended this book to me. I was skeptical at first - put off by the mention of "comics" - but decided to give it a try anyway after hearing more rave reviews. I was definitely not disappointed. Scott McCloud uses the medium of comics to explain their history and how to understand them, exploring everything from faces and backgrounds to panels and the progression of time in a comic. His explanations are easy to understand, even for people like me who are very inexperienced with comics. This book has given me a new appreciation for comics. I've read graphic novels completely differently since reading it. I now really notice the authors' styles, savour each frame, and I feel like I have a deeper understanding of the stories now than I would've before. I also appreciate the time and effort that goes into making a good comic and find it unfortunate that comics are generally not taken very seriously. I will never look at comics the same way again, and in some ways I will never look at art the same way again either. This book is both for those experienced and very inexperienced with comics. Very thought-provoking but also an entertaining read!

Good good book! Extremely interesting and easy to read and at particular points, enlightening. It is a really good read and covers many topics of comic books. What I value most is that is a theory book about comics that demonstrates itself perfectly in the medium it studies, which makes it evolve from the theoretical field to actually a practical and fun learning experience. a must read for comic book fans & creators alike.

Bought this as a present for a friend but got sucked in reading half of it myself before wrapping it, absolutely fascinating, I didn't realise there was so much complexity to comic book writing. This book really does pay respect to this amazing art form and as other reviews say, it gives you a whole new and complex view of what you're looking at. To those that tut, roll eyes and say "Aren't comics just for kids?" - read this book and your opinions will make a complete U-turn and do away with the stereotype! I have only recently started reading comic books, and I now can't wait to get stuck in to more & more, paying more attention to how they are formulated.

Wow... That was incredible. Like many of you probably will anticipate this to be, I expected this to purely be a text book about comics. I was very wrong indeed... What you have here is a wonderful dissection of not only comics in themselves, but of storytelling and how human beings use different senses to interpret different entertainment mediums. If anything, it is as much a book about the human introspection of how to process information, with obviously the visual nature of comics being the main focus. Overall, I absolutely recommend this book to all creative people, regardless of whether you plan on ever writing a comic or not. There is just so much here which creatives and storytellers would greatly benefit from. Truly, you can imagine how much work went into this. Trust me, you will not be wasting your money on this!

I bought this for a 13 year old who asked me what an icon was. I suggested she start at chapter 2, then go back to the beginning. The language and illustrations are great teaching material, and the tone seemed to appeal to her developing maturity. Recommended.

Piacevole ed istruttivo!

Excellent état, livre de référence pour les graphic novels. Trrs satisfaite de cet achat. Ce serait dommage de ne pas donner une seconde vie à des livres d occasions ...

I first owned this classic text about 15 years back, until I 'loaned' it to a student. I didn't mourn the loss of the book so much as the loss of the many many notes I had made in the margins! Anyway it was time to read it again, and Amazon had a generous discount applied to the item, so... bonus! I do agree with one of the other reviews that the paper stock used is the cheapest, about the same newsprint stock as the older comic books, so, appropriate in a way! This wasn't an issue to me, in fact a glossy stock isn't conducive to pencil notes in the margins, so, job done in my use case. The reprint history and ratings speak for themselves, this book is a must read for anybody involved in the field of visual communication, for example like myself teaching painting or like some of my students, graphic design and sign making.

Great information. Bought for a literature/comicbook history class. Recommended for casual reading also.

UNDERSTANDING COMICS ist eines der faszinierensten Bücher, welches mir in letzter Zeit untergekommen ist! Ich muss gleich klar stellen das ich Comics zwar mag, aber weit davon entfernt bin, mich irgendwie als Experte auf dem Sektor fühlen zu können. Aber auch wenn man sich so wie ich eher beiläufig für Comics interessiert ist UNDERSTANDING COMICS eine geniale Lektüre. Der Grund ist zunächst mal, das UNDERSTANDING COMICS ein echtes Kunstwerk ist: es ist Scott Mcloud beeindruckend gelungen, ein Medium bis in seine Tiefenstrukturen zu erklären, indem er eben dieses Medium nutzt - ein Comic, um Comics zu erläutern. Hierbei nimmt McCloud den Leser auf eine faszinierende Reise mit: er zeigt, was ein Comic ist (ich war über seine Definition überrascht, muss ihm aber letztlich zustimmen) und welche Möglichkeiten dieses Medium hat. Hierbei geht er naturgemäß viel auf Thematiken wie Wahrnehmung, Linguistik und Gestaltung ein - und zeigt, welche Möglichkeiten in Comics stecken. Vor allem aber zeigt er, wie elegant es ihm gelingt, komplexe Gedankengänge mit ein paar Sprechblasen und ein paar Bildern darzustellen... das, was so manche Abhandlung staubtrocken erläutert zeigt McCloud lustig, spannend und enorm einprägsam. Insofern ist UNDERSTANDING COMICS in jeder Hinsicht interdisziplinär: Comicfans werden viel über das Medium erfahren, aber auch an Gestaltung, Kunst, Literatur, der Medien allgemein oder auch Wahrnehmung interessierte sollten auf ihre Kosten kommen. Mir ist klar weswegen dieses Buch so einen Kult begründet hat und woher sich seine Popularität herleitet, es ist einfach ein ganz großer Wurf. Alles in allem eine bewundernswerte Arbeit - selten wurden komplexe Themen unterhaltsamer erklärt! Großartig.