Comics ala McCloud, Part II

I decided to comment on Elizabeth M.'s blog for the previous entry about McCloud's Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. You can view her blog at:

http://emcgraw328.blogspot.com/

Elizabeth chose to look at the comic entitled "I am the Most Beautiful Dog in the World," which is a short and simply stated comic strip about a young boy who wants his dog to play fetch, but refuses to move unless the boy says she is the most beautiful dog in the world first. It is a clever comic strip, and I found that Elizabeth and I had similar ideas about the comics we both read. She commented that she had never really noticed gutters in comics before, but understands and appreciates the freedom it gives the reader freedom to make choices about the comic himself/herself. I found that in the comic I read as well,"The Right Number," in that there were sometimes large gaps between the frames, but I was able to assume the actions of the characters and story easily using my own imagination. She also found that the simplicity of the drawings allowed more readers to be able to relate to the characters and story in general.

In addition to the elements that Elizabeth found, I also noticed some things in Chapter 5: Living in Line, that related to this particular comic. In this Chapter McCloud discusses the power of the line, in that if a line is drawn in a certain way it can give new meaning to an image: "Not really a picture anymore, these lines are more a visual metaphor--a symbol. And symbols are the basis of language" (128). I found that this relates quite well to "I am the Most Beautiful Dog in the World" in the way that McCloud draws three lines protruding from the boy's face to imply that he is shouting with rage at the dog. Also, the three wavy lines above the boy's head show that he is heated and exhausted from frustration over the dog. McCloud is very successful in using symbols to represent a complex idea with very little effort on the reader and writer's parts.

I also noticed that the comic connected to Chapter 6: Show and Tell, because there is a link between the use of pictures and words. As McCloud states: "The different ways in which words and pictures can combine in comics is virtually unlimited" (152). He goes on to show that there can be any number of words in one frame, and in the next, none. The comic writer has a great deal of freedom, which is shown in McCloud's comic that Elizabeth looked at. Out of the 21 frames, only 8 of them contain words, and I think that is because the reader can assume what is going on based on the images. His use of simple, yet obvious lines to evoke emotion and imply actions is enough for the reader to follow the comic very easily. I think this is a very interesting aspect of comics because language comes in so many different forms, and we're able to see that so well in the simplest of comics.

Reading and Writing about Comics, McCloud Part I

I chose to read the first comic that I came across on Scott McCloud's website, which is called "The Right Number," and I read both Part I and Part II. It is a story about a man who is looking for the right woman, and the right phone number to lead him to her. He meets a new woman when he incorrectly dials his girlfriend's phone number (he gets the last digit wrong) and ends up dumping the girlfriend for the new woman. But soon, he becomes bored of her as well and comes home early one day to find her cheating on him, so he decides that he needs to go on a hunt for a new number and new woman. HIs mathematical equations and theories about this mission are amusing and confusing, which make him a fun character to read. He also seems to go a bit crazy near the end, stalking and following the new women he comes across, and the comic has an open ending that I find intriguing. I definitely want to know what happens next!

Here is the link if you wish to read it: http://www.scottmccloud.com/comics/trn/intro.html


It was interesting to see the comic on the computer screen because while it still had the comic feel to it, it also seemed like a movie. This was interesting because McCloud discusses the difference between the two so thoroughly in Chapter 1 of UNDERSTANDING COMICS: THE INVISIBILE ART: "Each successive frame of a movie is projected on exactly the same spaces--the screen--while each frame of comics must occupy a different space. Space does for comics what time does for film" (7). I enjoyed reading the comic on the computer because it flowed more like a movie even though "the gutter" (66) still existed between frames. I was very interested in this section of the text because it fascinating how the reader can make instantanious assumptions about what happens between frames, almost to the point where they don't notice the gutter even exists. That is something I hadn't really considered about comics before.

I also noticed in that in this particular comic, he has drawn the characters to look more realistic than he draws himself in his book, yet they are still not drawn in such detail that they look like a real person. I think this is a nice balance because since this is an adult comic, it's appropriate to give the characters a more realistic look. Yet, the images are simple enough that a large number of people could relate to the characters, as McCloud discusses in Chapter 2: "The cartoon is a vacuum into which our identity and awareness are pulled...an empty shell that we inhabit which enables us to travel in another realm. We don't just observe the cartoon, we become it" (36). I also think this is a good technique because his language is more complex and mature in this comic, so the detailed, yet subtle illustration lighten the weight of the language to an extent.

I think Scott McCloud is an extremely intelligent, creative, and brave writer. His comic approach toward discussing adult and academic issues are quite fascinating and a nice change for readers.