Making Comics

Scott McCloud's latest, Making Comics, is out. If you loved Understanding Comics but felt a little disappointed with Reinventing Comics, you should definitely take a look. And if you didn't like either of them, well, you just have no business reading my blog. Go on, git. As the name suggests, the new book teaches and explores how to make comics. Skipping past how to draw, he goes right for the meat. How to build a story, characters, and worlds. What to show and what not to. How to pace a scene, create mood, interest a reader. The most important things for creators to know seem to be the least taught, or written about anyway.

The genius of McCloud is in his clarity. He takes complicated ideas and communicates them in a way that makes you feel like you already knew them. (but you didn't) Or maybe not. Maybe he takes simple ideas that many people overlook and calls attention to them and their significance. Either way, he's been an inspiration to many. And for the naysayer or two who want to know why this authority doesn't actually seem to make comics, he says his next book will be an actual narrative. But I'd rather he moved on to Understanding String Theory or something.

And btw, we're doing everything we can to get him into town for his current book tour. Keep an eye out here for a definite word on that.

-Nick