A review by olivia_piepmeier
Reinventing Comics: The Evolution of an Art Form by Scott McCloud

3.0

This took me longer to read than expected. I think that says a lot about the subject matter. While the first McCloud book felt like an art history text, this felt like straight up critical literature in the first half and business and economics in the last. That being said, I much preferred the first half. This was written in 2000 and so many of the ideas he puts forth are being talked about and addressed in comics now (gender, race, genre, literature, etc.). It was enjoyable to read what had been floating in my head without the proper words to describe it. I might use a chapter or so in my graphic novel class this fall, especially the one talking about comics as literature.

Since it was written 15 years ago, a lot of the technology talk felt very dated. That paired with the many pages on the business of comics made me very sleepy. The first half would get 4 stars, but the boringness of the last part brings the average down to 3.

Of course I'll read his next book, Making Comics, but I would really like to see this revised at some point.