Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels
 | Harper Paperbacks, 2006, Paperback Customer Rating: 36 reviews Recommend |
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Scott McCloud tore down the wall between high and low culture in 1993 with Understanding Comics, a massive comic book about comics, linking the medium to such diverse fields as media theory, movie criticism, and web design. In Reinventing Comics, McCloud took this to the next level, charting twelve different revolutions in how comics are generated, read, and perceived today. Now, in Making Comics, McCloud focuses his analysis on the art form itself, exploring the creation of comics, from the broadest principles to the sharpest details (like how to accentuate a character's facial muscles in order to form the emotion of disgust rather than the emotion of surprise.) And he does all of it in his inimitable voice and through his cartoon stand–in narrator, mixing dry humor and legitimate instruction. McCloud shows his reader how to master the human condition through word and image in a brilliantly minimalistic way. Comic book devotees as well as the most uninitiated will marvel at this journey into a once–underappreciated art form.
Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics was published in 1993, just as "Comics Aren't Just for Kids Anymore!" articles were starting to appear and graphic novels were making their way into the mainstream, and it quickly gave the newly respectable medium the theoretical and practical manifesto it needed. With his clear-eyed and approachable analysis — done using the same comics tools he was describing — McCloud quickly gave "sequential art" a language to understand itself. McCloud made the simplest of drawing decisions seem deep with artistic potential.
Thirteen years later, following the Internet evangelizing of Reinventing Comics, McCloud has returned with Making Comics.
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Designed as a craftsperson's overview of the drawing and storytelling decisions and possibilities available to comics artists, covering everything from facial expressions and page layout to the choice of tools and story construction, Making Comics, like its predecessors, is also an eye-opening trip behind the scenes of art-making, fascinating for anyone reading comics as well as those making them. Get a sense of the range of his lessons by clicking through to the opening pages of his book, including his (illustrated, of course) table of contents (warning: large file, recommended for high-bandwidth users):
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Title: Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels
Sales Rank: 15389 in Books
Author: Scott Mccloud
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks, 2006-09-01, Paperback, 272 pages, ISBN: 0060780940
Package Dimensions: 10.16 x 6.69 x 0.71 inches, 1.23 pounds
- Great Book on Comics Structure/Analysis (also good intro to some techniques)
- This is a great tutorial and reference for anyone considering writing a comic book for the first time (or perhaps someone more experienced who'd like to get a fresh perspective and/or deeper understanding of fundamental structure). Scott has taken all those elements that go into making a good comic book (that you've probably noticed subconsciously but couldn't put… More reviews
- A Must-Read for All Comic Artists
- Scott McCloud's "Making Comics" is a must-read for all aspiring comic artists. This book is very different from other comic technique books. While most other books will teach you how to draw characters or backgrounds, this one teaches you how to tell stories. McCloud goes in depth into what makes a good story through pacing, image choice, layout,… More reviews
- Great Look at How Stories and Art Combine into the Comics You Love
- I've always found it fascinating to imagine how a comic book author/illustrator creates the stories and images that appeal so much. Having been a non-fiction book author for many years, I have a firm understanding of the writing process. I sometimes pick out a few illustrations to put into a book.
But building a story around the illustrations, that seems like a trip… More reviews
- An Excellent Book For Everyone
- When my grandparents got me this book, I didn't think it could help me. I was looking for a "How to Draw" not a "How to Write". This book proved me so wrong. I couldn't believe how much fun it was to read, and it helped me a lot too. Almost everything I thought I knew was proved wrong and after reading it I felt like I understood comics so much better. As well… More reviews
- As usual, high quality stuff
- Well thought out, well written, quality throughout. I like this book the best so far; the previous weren't as appealing as this but were still very well done. The author really practices what he preaches as far as his message and the book speaks for itself. You won't be disappointed. Looking forward to the new books!… More reviews
