Staff Pick
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art gives readers an introduction to storytelling via the media of comics or graphic novels. McCloud explains basic theory and concepts in a clear and engaging way for anyone who is new to the genre or seeking to better understand its complexities. While this book would work as a textbook, it would also make an excellent gift for anyone who loves comics and graphic novels. Recommended By Sarah B., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
We are living in a golden age of cartoon art. Never before has graphic storytelling been so prominent or garnered such respect: critics and readers alike agree that contemporary cartoonists are creating some of the most innovative and exciting work in all the arts.and#160;
For nearly a decade Hillary L. Chute has been sitting down for extensive interviews with the leading figures in comics, and with Outside the Box she offers fans a chance to share her ringside seat. Chuteand#8217;s in-depth discussions with twelve of the most prominent and accomplished artists and writers in comics today reveal a creative community that is richly interconnected yet fiercely independent, its members sharing many interests and approaches while working with wildly different styles and themes. Chuteand#8217;s subjects run the gamut of contemporary comics practice, from underground pioneers like Art Spiegelman and Lynda Barry, to the analytic work of Scott McCloud, the journalism of Joe Sacco, and the extended narratives of Alison Bechdel, Charles Burns, and more. They reflect on their experience and innovations, the influence of peers and mentors, the reception of their art and the growth of critical attention, and the crucial place of print amid the encroachment of the digital age.
Beautifully illustrated in full-color, and featuring three never-before-published interviewsand#151;including the first published conversation between Art Spiegelman and Chris Wareand#151;Outside the Box will be a landmark volume, a close-up account of the rise of graphic storytelling and a testament to its vibrant creativity.
Review
"If you've ever felt bad about wasting your life reading comics, then check out Scott McCloud's classic book immediately. You might still feel you've wasted your life, but you'll know why, and you'll be proud."
Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons
Review
"In one lucid, well-designed chapter after another, [McCloud] guides us through the elements of comics style, and...how words combine with pictures to work their singular magic. When the 215-page journey is finally over, most readers will find it difficult to look at comics in quite the same way ever again."Garry Trudeau, New York Times Review of Books
Review
"BRAVO!! Your Understanding Comics is a landmark dissection and intellectual consideration of comics as a valid medium. Its employment of comic art as its vehicle is brilliant. Everyone...anyone interested in this literary form must read it. Every school teacher should have one." Will Eisner
Review
"With Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics the dialogue on 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 simply want to watch a master explainer at work, you must read this book." Neil Gaiman
Review
"Cleverly disguised as an easy-to-read comic book, Scott McClou's simple looking tome deconstructs the secret language of comics while casually revealing secrets of Time, Space, Art and the Cosmos! The most intelligent comics I've seen in a long time. Bravo." Art Spiegelman
Review
"Understanding Comics is quite simply the best analysis of the medium that I have ever encountered. With this book Scott McCloud has taken breathtaking leaps towards establishing a critical language that the comic art form can work with and build upon in the future. Lucid and accessible, it is an astonishing feat of perception. Highly recommended." Alan Moore
Review
"[A] rare and exciting work that ingeniously uses comics to examine the medium itself." Publisher's Weekly
Review
"[A] brilliant comic book discussion of what makes comics work." L. A. Times
Review
"[Understanding Comics] might well turn out to be the rosetta stone, the secret decoder ring, the lyrics sheet, for pete's sake, to all that has gone on in comics art. [This] 216-page book is one of a kind, a combination of everything funny and profound, cool and quirky." Chicago Sun-Times
Synopsis
Get set for back to school with the definitive guide to comics
"You must read this book." -- Neil Gaiman
The bestselling international classic on storytelling and visual communication
Praised throughout the cartoon industry by such luminaries as Art Spiegelman, Matt Groening, and Will Eisner, Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics is a seminal examination of comics art: its rich history, surprising technical components, and major cultural significance. Explore the secret world between the panels, through the lines, and within the hidden symbols of a powerful but misunderstood art form.
Synopsis
You must read this book. --Neil Gaiman
The bestselling international classic on storytelling and visual communication
Praised throughout the cartoon industry by such luminaries as Art Spiegelman, Matt Groening, and Will Eisner, Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics is a seminal examination of comics art: its rich history, surprising technical components, and major cultural significance. Explore the secret world between the panels, through the lines, and within the hidden symbols of a powerful but misunderstood art form.
--Will Eisner
Synopsis
Praised throughout the cartoon industry by such luminaries as Art Spiegelman, Matt Groening, and Will Eisner, this innovative comic book provides a detailed look at the history, meaning, and art of comics and cartooning.
Synopsis
Hillary Chute has become recognized not only as the most incisive scholar of contemporary comics, but also as the most canny interlocutor with the star practitioners of this booming genre. There is a sense of community among these artists, and they have together taken the field of graphic narrative forward in terms of force, sophistication, and craft.and#160; But their styles and sensibilities diverge, and their work represents a range of goals and desires, which Chute deftly elicits in conversation. Several commonalities emerge from the interviews. For example, art school was not, for any of these cartoonists, a necessary step for a career in comics. Another theme running across the interviews is the enduring importance of print and the varieties of its circulation. For example, Lynda Barryand#8217;s first book, collecting her series Two Sisters was entirely reproduced through Xeroxes: and#147;Copy shops had just come out,and#8221; she tells Chute. and#147;I just copied the whole collection. I put it in a manila envelope and I hand-decorated the top, and I sold them for ten dollars.and#8221; These mechanisms of reproduction, Chute notes, were key for the expansion of creative comics culture.and#160;
Synopsis
A sketchbook is an essential tool for the growth of any aspiring artist, but its blank pages can be daunting to even the most motivated. Obsessed with perfection, many wind up treating their sketchbooks more like portfolios than playgrounds. In Drawing Is Magic, author John Hendrix teaches aspiring and advanced artists to find their unique visual voices and become creative daredevils. Through his freeing, offbeat exercises, drawers learn a sophisticated philosophy of creative thinkingandmdash;in a way that is totally accessible and fun.
Synopsis
Cartoonist Edward Ross uses comics to illuminate the ideas behind our favorite movies. In Filmish, Rossandrsquo;s cartoon alter ego guides readers through the annals of cinematic history, introducing some of the strange and fascinating concepts at work in the movies. Each chapter focuses on a particular themeandmdash;the body, architecture, languageandmdash;and explores an eclectic mix of cinematic triumphs, from A Tripto the Moon to Top Gun. Like other bestselling nonfiction graphic novels such as Scott McCloudandrsquo;s Understanding Comics, Filmish tackles serious issuesandmdash;sexuality, race, censorship, propagandaandmdash;with authority and wit, throwing new light on some of the greatest films ever made.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [216]).
About the Author
John Hendrix is an associate professor of art at Washington University in St. Louis. His illustrations have appeared in many publications, including Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, the New Yorker, Esquire, and the New York Times. He is the author of Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek and John Brown. He lives in St. Louis, Missouri.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Introduction: Twenty-First-Century Comics
1.and#160;Scott McCloud (2007)
2.and#160;Charles Burns (2008)
3.and#160;Lynda Barry (2008)
4.and#160;Aline Kominsky-Crumb (2009)
5.and#160;Daniel Clowes (2010)
6.and#160;Phoebe Gloeckner (2010)
7.and#160;Joe Sacco (2011)
8.and#160;Alison Bechdel (2006 and 2012)
9.and#160;Franand#231;oise Mouly (2008 and 2010)
10.and#160;Adrian Tomine (2012)
11.and#160;Art Spiegelman and Chris Ware (2008)
Acknowledgments
Index