Understanding Comics - by Scott McCloud (Paperback)

About the Book

This detail-packed book includes a history of comics that reaches back to pre-Columbian picture manuscripts and Egyptian monuments and a running analysis of comics as art, literature, and communication.

Book Synopsis

"Reading Understanding Comics blew my teenage mind, and gave me a toolbox full of ideas that I still use today." --Raina Telgemeier

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.

From the Back Cover

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.

Review Quotes

"Cleverly disguised as an easy-to-read comic book, Scott McCloud'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
"Reading Understanding Comics blew my teenage mind, and gave me a toolbox full of ideas that I still use today." - Raina Telgemeier
"The best analysis of the medium that I have ever encountered." - Alan Moore
"McCloud's masterwork is not just an indispensable treatise on comics, it's also the best primer around on visual literacy and the mechanics of storytelling. A must-read for anyone interested in narrative of any kind." - Alison Bechdel