Understanding Comics

To kill a man between panels is to condemn him to a thousand deaths.

Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics

Just back from breakfast, where my friend Laurie returned my copy of Sin City - the collected comics, that is - which I'd lent to her so that she could see what they were aiming for in the production of the film version. I asked what she thought of the two in relative terms, and she said that she found the movie easier to follow, because it didn't have the fragmented jumps from frame to frame that the comic had.

It's an interesting criticism of the space-bound nature of comics versus the time-bound approach of movies. Movies are designed to flow through time: they start, run for a specific period of time as determined by the director, and take place in one location: the screen. Comics are the opposite - the story's physical existence is spread out in space, with multiple moments in time existing simultaneously on each page and sometimes in a single panel.

For a much more comprehensive discussion of the nature of comics, I unhesitatingly recommend Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, a clever and thoughtful examination of how and why the medium of comics works.

Understanding Comics is one of those rare books which fully deserves the title "instant classic". Since its publication in 1993, it has become the standard for any discussion regarding comics. Not everyone agrees with its conclusions, but it's impossible to ignore the quality of the consideration which McCloud has given to the topic - presented, of course, in the form of a large comic book.

McCloud, acting as his own black-and-white narrator, offers a complete view of the comic: he defines it, views its historical roots, examines how our minds process the content, looks at the mechanics of the frame and transition between frames, abstraction and realism in style, and the flow of time, and concludes with a comprehensive personal theory on the nature of the creative process in general. But this quick summary does the book an injustice: there is not a single page which does not present the reader with some new or unexpected insight.

For me as a long-time reader of comics, Understanding Comics offers an amazing education in the nature of the medium, but I'm honestly not sure how it would read to a non-fan. I suppose I could lend it to Laurie and get her opinion - although, come to think of it, she'd probably prefer the movie version.

- Sid