Again with the piles of information! I had to read this one chapter at a time and then take a long break to think about all the things contained in each chapter. In Making Comics, Scott McCloud gets down to discussing the specifics about creating a comic book – everything from the placement and spacing in word bubbles, to the construction of panels in a way that’s intuitive to the reader, to the interaction of words and pictures. There can never be too much discussion about the interaction of words and pictures. Seriously.
This book made me sad I can’t draw. Although there were bits about telling stories, I felt like the book was more geared towards artists, than writers. It may have felt this way because, while I can write, I can’t one bit draw, so my perception could be skewed on account of how sad I felt during all the drawing bits. Compared with how fun the words-and-pictures bits were! All nicely broken down into categories and everything!
Scott McCloud’s books about comics are altogether wonderful. He’s good at explaining complicated concepts in ways that are easily comprehensible, and referring back to them frequently enough to keep them in the reader’s head. He uses examples from a broad range of comics, and his love for comics shines through in every panel. Also he is funny and self-deprecating and clever. Hooray for Scott McCloud!