Making Comics
Making Comics by Scott McCloud is awesome. I think the most important thing the book accomplishes is inspiration, by providing enough structure and examples to give you a lot of food for thought, without degenerating into a cold "here are the rules you have to follow to make the best comics" instruction book.
I don't see myself taking much time away from animation to stretch my legs in comics anytime soon, but even so there's a lot in it that applies to my own pet medium as well.
That's "pet medium" as in "preferred artistic format," not as in "someone who talks to my dead pets." Although I think my pet medium would get a lot out of this book as well.
Comments
I've been so busy forcing JohnK on you that I didn't even think to recommend Scott. I definitely see the two of you getting along much better.
Fun fact: Will Wright is an a big reader and often gets ideas for games from books. SimAnt, for example, was created after Wright read a book by noted ant scientist E. O. Wilson. Scott McCloud, on the other hand, was a huge source of inspiration for The Sims. It's really interesting. Pay attention to the abstraction of expression, for example, and you'll see the connection.
Posted by: Tougi | September 23, 2006 11:24 PM
Well, sure. Pretending to talk to kitty ghosts ("...I hear Fluffy... she's saying... 'mee-oww'...") is also a form of 'storytelling' too, isn't it?
Anyway, I agree -- t'was an excellent read. Especially those chapters on clarity/intensity, body language, etc. -- where McCloud whips up a 'one-shot' comic on the spot, just to show all the nuances in that particular subject.
(Now, if I could only work up the courage to buy that Cintiq he'd used...)
Posted by: Tom Gordon | September 23, 2006 11:49 PM
I definitely loved "Understanding Comics". I was even in a bookstore yesterday and could have picked up "Making Comics", but I was momentarily stunned by the fact the B&N had 5 different webcomic collections nestled between Marvel and DC collections.
Posted by: Scarybug | September 24, 2006 08:14 AM
Do you think a couldn't - in - a - million - years - draw - comic person like me enjoy the book?
(I liked the other two McCloud books a lot.)
Posted by: Stefan Jones | September 24, 2006 07:22 PM
If you liked Understanding, then you'd probably like this. In talking about how to create comics, you get kind of a behind-the-scenes look at the choices that go into comics. If this was called Understanding Comics II, it wouldn't be that far off.
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September 24, 2006 09:06 PM