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A review by jsjammersmith
Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels by Scott McCloud
5.0
Scott McCloud always reminds me why I love comics, and this book is no different. The fact that I lead a MakerSpace for kids and teenagers about making comics on the same day I finished this book was also a delightful bit of serendipity.
Unlike his previous two books (UnderStanding Comics and ReInventing Comics) Making Comics does not explore the culture relevance of the medium of comics, nor does it attempt to validate the form as a legitimate medium. Instead McCloud leads this book with the idea that the reader probably has already read these books, or else already believes comics to be a worthwhile medium. And from there he provides the reader with a toolbox. This metaphor is used purposefully because often while reading it I felt like I was receiving one unique tool after another and whether it was advice for character designs, atmosphere designs, drawing equipment, Software programming for digital sketching, drafting, etc. Every page of this book was beautifully and carefully constructed to reflect the argument McCloud was making. This book is the work of a human being compelled by passion to make something great, but also to pass along the wisdom of a lifetime learned.
Scott McCloud is likely to fall into the same company as Will Eisner who fought for comics as a worthwhile form of art, and Making Comics is proof of that. McCloud, like Eisner, like me, and like so many of the people who pick up comics and disappear have been waiting for books like this. It's not just an empty guide of "how-to's," it an opportunity share a familiar passion.
I loved this book all the more for it, and can't wait to see it's effect on the next generation of comics artists.
Unlike his previous two books (UnderStanding Comics and ReInventing Comics) Making Comics does not explore the culture relevance of the medium of comics, nor does it attempt to validate the form as a legitimate medium. Instead McCloud leads this book with the idea that the reader probably has already read these books, or else already believes comics to be a worthwhile medium. And from there he provides the reader with a toolbox. This metaphor is used purposefully because often while reading it I felt like I was receiving one unique tool after another and whether it was advice for character designs, atmosphere designs, drawing equipment, Software programming for digital sketching, drafting, etc. Every page of this book was beautifully and carefully constructed to reflect the argument McCloud was making. This book is the work of a human being compelled by passion to make something great, but also to pass along the wisdom of a lifetime learned.
Scott McCloud is likely to fall into the same company as Will Eisner who fought for comics as a worthwhile form of art, and Making Comics is proof of that. McCloud, like Eisner, like me, and like so many of the people who pick up comics and disappear have been waiting for books like this. It's not just an empty guide of "how-to's," it an opportunity share a familiar passion.
I loved this book all the more for it, and can't wait to see it's effect on the next generation of comics artists.