"Understanding Comics" = Understanding Everything

When I was in college, I spent some time between quarters volunteering in my friend Colleen's classroom -- the most well-connected kindergarten teacher you'll ever meet. I had a great time with the kids; my task was primarily helping them with computer literacy. (FYI -- naming things makes a big difference in kindergarten-land; there was MUCH DISTRESS whenever Pooky was on the fritz.)

I love reading to kids (if my job consisted entirely of reading stories to children all day long, I'd be the happiest person on earth) so I would bring in some of MY favorite books to read to them, and towards the end of my volunteering time, I brought in the book pictured at left: The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish -- words by Neil Gaiman, pictures by Dave McKean. (It's delightful -- here's a preview and some more info.) One little girl piped up, "Hey, I know that book! He's my godfather!"

It's true. This little girl was named Sky McCloud, which I knew. What I then learned from Colleen after school was that her dad, Scott McCloud, is a comics artist who pals around with Neil Gaiman (the girls' godfather) and Dave McKean and all sorts of other cool people. AND, he wrote this awesome book which I just read: Understanding Comics. (See! That story totally had a point.)

Now, I may be tooootally behind the times here -- Understanding Comics came out in 1993, and I've only just read it now. BUT, I highly recommend it -- to anyone who's interested at ALL in art, storytelling, or the art of storytelling.

It's so awesomely meta: a comic book about comics. Within its pages, he manages to work in thoughts on: line, color, the Bayeux Tapestry, Dadaism, hieroglyphs, manga, cave paintings, movies, space, time, and human perception. Among other things. All with a witty, unassuming, measured, clear style that makes Total Sense.

McCloud uses the modern conceptions of comics as a starting place, and then strips away everything you thought you knew about it. He builds up a basic definition of the form, and then starts building it back up again from scratch, beginning with the dawn of history and the perception of the human face. Cool, huh?

And take note, engineer-types: there are GRAPHS. GRAPHS about ART. (It reminded me of Un-Scripted's flashes of brilliant improv-math.)

Within his many-inclusive definition of comics he includes Hogarth's The Harlot's Progress and The Rake's Progress (I love Hogarth!), Egyptian tomb paintings, and your favorite picture book from childhood. What other tome could draw lines between Rene Magritte, Edvard Munch, and Scrooge McDuck?

Understanding Comics is a fantastically thoughtful book that, indeed, also made me laugh quite often -- either with humor, or with glee in just how awesome a point he was making. Using the language of comics, he explains the language of comics. Each chapter is simple and well-thought-out, with the chapter's storyline laid out with great use of words, pictures, and/or lack of either and/or both. The book shows great artistic skill and an enormous breadth of knowledge of the subject at hand. It will cause you to think about, oh, Everything, with new perspective. (And there's a great concise definition/defense of art in the last chapter. Hooray!)

I say again, if you're interested at all in how stories are made and/or perceived, you should read this book. What's it called again? Understanding Comics, by Scott McCloud. (Hey, I know that guy . . . . . .'s wife and kids. Hope they're all doing great--it's been years!)

Side note: The McCloud girls were returned to my peripheral brain in 2006 when it was announced (on BoingBoing?) that the whole family was going on a 50-state road trip for the book-tour launch of Making Comics. The whole family was going, including the girls, who'd be taking a year off school -- they took that opportunity to be "home-schooled," using their trip as an excuse to write, do research, and create and produce interviews. Is that not the coolest?!?