"Understanding Comics"

In Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud, the thing that struck me the most is how we recognize things. We don’t see things as objects or words, instead the are actually icons. We just associate them as something more than they actually are. I had never thought about this before I read the graphic novel.

Another thing that it put into perspective for me is the difference in styles and storytelling in different geographical regions of the world. For example, Eastern vs. Western comics. Eastern comics tend to focus more on details only after something is mentioned or brought up. Western comics tend to be consistent in this and details throughout the works.

The differences in stylization are also apparent. Some comic artists favor realistic scenarios, ideas and styles, while others tend to go more stylized and surreal. It is mentioned that the more stylized something is the more iconic it becomes. This goes along with the idea of icons and symbols and how the brain recognizes them. The same goes for the types of words used in the graphic novel as well. The ones with more actions rather than words get their ideas across faster than those that use an obscene amount of words just to explain such a small detail.

In the end it comes down to the author and their vision in how they want to get their point across. We as readers can only hope that they understand enough about comics to engage us in the right way.