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songwind's review against another edition
5.0
This is an excellent book for anyone who is interested in making comics, or just learning about the theory behind them.
[a:Scott McCloud|33907|Scott McCloud|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1231113775p2/33907.jpg] lays out the fundamental building blocks and questions behind creating a comic, and covers them in depth. He eschews questions of technical execution and personal style in favor of theory and design.
He covers communication, pacing, framing, and transitions in excellent detail. His chapter on the tools available is more brief, but gives a beginning cartoonist enough information to help decide where they would like to make their first forays.
The chapters on words and writing are similar to those on art. Rather than a step-by-step manual on how to do it, he presents the groundwork on what to do, and how to approach it.
Throughout the book, the focus stays steadily on the comics medium. Art and words, working together to tell stories. This single-minded focus makes the book more valuable to a comic artist than a more general treatise on art of creative writing.
Along with his earlier work, [b:Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art|102920|Understanding Comics The Invisible Art|Scott McCloud|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1202750472s/102920.jpg|2415847], Making Comics is an excellent resource for understanding or creating your own comics masterpiece.
As an aside, the book also clued me in to some other, non-mainstream comics work that I am already enjoying checking out.
[a:Scott McCloud|33907|Scott McCloud|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1231113775p2/33907.jpg] lays out the fundamental building blocks and questions behind creating a comic, and covers them in depth. He eschews questions of technical execution and personal style in favor of theory and design.
He covers communication, pacing, framing, and transitions in excellent detail. His chapter on the tools available is more brief, but gives a beginning cartoonist enough information to help decide where they would like to make their first forays.
The chapters on words and writing are similar to those on art. Rather than a step-by-step manual on how to do it, he presents the groundwork on what to do, and how to approach it.
Throughout the book, the focus stays steadily on the comics medium. Art and words, working together to tell stories. This single-minded focus makes the book more valuable to a comic artist than a more general treatise on art of creative writing.
Along with his earlier work, [b:Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art|102920|Understanding Comics The Invisible Art|Scott McCloud|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1202750472s/102920.jpg|2415847], Making Comics is an excellent resource for understanding or creating your own comics masterpiece.
As an aside, the book also clued me in to some other, non-mainstream comics work that I am already enjoying checking out.
i_have_no_process's review against another edition
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
5.0
Every bit as good as its predecessor.
maryvarn's review against another edition
5.0
Anyone even mildly interested in comics and or graphic novels should read this charming book. It'll increase your appreciation of the media, and give you a lot to think about if you want to make your own. The whole book is graphically told, fun and easy to read.
karnakjr's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
McCloud is still one of the most relevant formalists to ever work in comics. This book trades the broad usefulness of Understanding Comics, for an instructive introduction that makes making accessible. The exercises are interesting, and probably thorough enough to make this the core textbook of an introductory class.
If I was going to teach making comics, I would start here.
If I was going to teach making comics, I would start here.
weechito's review against another edition
4.0
As usual for McCloud, his ideas are sharp, his writing crisp, and his art is clever and clean. I’m not a comics creator, but this book still gives plenty of interesting insight into the process.
helpfulsnowman's review against another edition
This would be a great book to read if you had an idea for a comic and didn't really have the skills.
Scott McCloud isn't afraid to show how the sausage is made, and I think that for me, a reader who enjoys comics but doesn't so much want to write them, it took away just a little of the magic. This is totally a good thing, not a slam. The book sets out to explain how to do things within comics, and it does so just right. But for me, right now, I like a little mystery. I like to feel a certain way in comics and wonder what happened. I don't like to know what the author is doing.
But seriously, if you're someone who wants to make comics, pick this up and flip to the exercises at the end of any of the chapter. And for the sake of reader clarity, I urge you to pay attention to what he says about complicated, busy layouts that make comis hard to read.
Scott McCloud isn't afraid to show how the sausage is made, and I think that for me, a reader who enjoys comics but doesn't so much want to write them, it took away just a little of the magic. This is totally a good thing, not a slam. The book sets out to explain how to do things within comics, and it does so just right. But for me, right now, I like a little mystery. I like to feel a certain way in comics and wonder what happened. I don't like to know what the author is doing.
But seriously, if you're someone who wants to make comics, pick this up and flip to the exercises at the end of any of the chapter. And for the sake of reader clarity, I urge you to pay attention to what he says about complicated, busy layouts that make comis hard to read.
obnorthrup's review against another edition
4.0
Another great distillation of what makes comics worthwhile.
rachelhelps's review against another edition
5.0
This was such a fun book to pick up and read a little bit at a time. I don't know whether or not McCloud recycled much of his material from Understanding Comics (haven't yet read it). I liked the idea and execution of illustrating how to make comics in comic book form. It lets the reader learn about comics in a freer way - through image as well as through text. I'd like to see more text books in comic book form, honestly.