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.
It was definitely interesting learning about how far we’ve come as a culture when it comes to the stereotypical representations used in early comics and other forms of media, especially in terms of race, sexuality, gender and ethnicity. To me, despite the current cultural climate of dissatisfaction, I think that we’ve come pretty far as a culture in one lifetime. It actually seems like we’re probably pushing the limit for the amount of change and adjustment that some people can make to their worldview in one lifetime, without completely plunging them and the culture into a state of mass anxiety and hysteria. That being said, I wish we would have acknowledged that in class in a more positive way, and approached this topic in the lecture from a more reassuring perspective - especially in today’s current media-fueled maddening political climate. It would have been refreshing to hear about this topic from the perspective that the changes we need to make as a culture, have already happ...
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