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Week Two: Understanding Comics

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud was a fantastic explanation of the mechanisms behind comics and how we the viewers process sequential imagery. I loved his explanation of why more realistic images tend to be more particular and therefore less relatable to the viewer, and how we as humans tend to project ourselves into more relatable characters. I also loved his breakdown of how we process time in a medium like comics, and all of the potentiality that the medium has. Not only was the information in the book fascinating, it was also a highly effective, visually appealing comic in and of itself. Strangely the book was published in 1994, and i feel like the only graphic novel I've read that really pushes the concepts he elucidates to the max, is Promethea by Alan Moore. Promethea goes above and beyond the artistic call of duty, stretching time, space, and the readers mind, with its graphic storytelling techniques. Ensuring that what is being read is both felt and experienced by the reader first had.

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