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

3.0

As McCloud himself predicts at the beginning of this book, the ideas presented here aged very quickly. Many of the industry shifts and technological advances have taken place already and/or been replaced by other concerns and revolutions. But this isn't to say that the book has been entirely rendered obsolete.

I think Reinventing Comics has a lot of interesting things to say, and I enjoyed the way it acts as a time capsule for the start of this millennium. Considering where he stood in that time, McCloud's predictions have proven very prescient, discussing the Y2K crisis on one page and predicting the rise of iPad kids and wearable tech on the next. It was entertaining just to see what he got right.

McCloud provides interesting historical information both intentionally and retrospectively, for the comics industry and the rise of the digital age at large. If you're not interested in the historical aspects, however, there are still a few ideas worth considering; in particular the discussion of comics in a digital form and what the removal of print limitations could mean for the art form. Personally though, I enjoyed spending time with this optimistic 2000s time capsule, and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in comics history.