Scott McCloud's MAKING COMICS

jasonjason
edited September 2006 in Comics
I think y'all will like it. The first half reads like a textbook. (A very funny textbook. With illustrated examples of principles, exhaustive footnotes, and optional exercises.) Combine this with Understanding Comics, and the promised online "Chapter 5 1/2," and you've essentially got a professional course on comicking taught by Mr. McCloud.

Anyone else read it yet?

(I know, I know, I'm a nerd--it just came out today.)

Comments

  • stefstef
    edited September 2006
    I'm really excited to read this! Heck, if his seminars mirror the way you've described the book, I'd love to go to another workshop!
  • mariomario
    edited September 2006
    As long as it's better than Reinventing Comics, I'd gladly check it out!
  • AgentcelAgentcel
    edited September 2006
    I'm wanting to see this verrry bad. You can buy it at a book store? Sweet. But how much is it?
  • jasonjason
    edited September 2006
    I've seen it at Barnes & Noble and Borders for about $25. You could also get it online for considerably cheaper ($15.61 before shipping at Amazon).

    Mario, I'm probably one of the few people on the planet who really actually liked Reinventing Comics. Heck, even McCloud didn't like the way it turned out, but I think he's more ashamed of The New Adventures of Abraham Lincoln. (Which, uh, I also liked.) That said, I think Making Comics is a much better book, and, in generally all respects, more of a direct sequel to Understanding Comics than Reinventing Comics ever was. (Let's face it, RC was kind of a manifesto. And I think it did a fair bit of preaching to the converted.) Artwise, MC is more natural than RC, even though both were made entirely on the computer; the font in MC (based on McCloud's handwriting) is more legible, and the sample comics he draws don't shy from hand-lettering and fine details.

    Basically, MC is McCloud talking about how to tell stories well using comics. He makes a point of not telling you how to make a story that is good and not teaching you how to draw, but focuses on a lot of the little things and the insights that he's found in studying and making comics. I'd blather on about it, but I felt like it was his week-long class, expanded into the week-long class I'd hoped it would be. (Stef, I'm with you...if the course is more like this now, I'd definitely be interested in giving it another go.)

    (Also, a few sample pages I forgot to link to the first time around.)
  • hlavcohlavco
    edited September 2006
    So today I went to this demonstration from Scott McCloud on comics and technology that just happened to be at my college. It was from three to five-ish, but unfortunately I had to leave for prior engagements at four.

    It had some funny parts and some interesting parts, but overall I wasn't really amazed. Seemed like the biggest thing he was pressing on us was that if you make a comic on the computer, it shouldn't be shaped like a newspaper comic. It should 'flow', and you should use your monitor as a window and move around it. It seemed like a good idea and all, but he spent a lot of time on it and then I had to leave. I would've liked to see if the rest got any better.

    EDIT: Beforehand, some guy was promoting an event a few weeks from now where the participants spend 24 hours in a room trying to make a twenty-four page comic, and all submissions will be put in a book. It sounds like fun, but I don't think I have 24 pages worth of ideas in me.
  • X'o'LoreX'o'Lore
    edited September 2006
    I think I've also had this one recommended to me by a teacher (along with Understanding Comics).
  • stefstef
    edited September 2006
    Hlavco, Scott McCloud talks about that a lot. His idea is that comics have and should adjust to make the most of their mediums as they change from stone walls to newspapers to books to online. He does have a point that online comics do have no space or color limitations and that can be a way in which to capitalize on the medium, but I disagree with his distaste for newspaper-like comics online.

    Most of his issues with newspaper-like online comics seem to come from them being a 'throwback' to old comic forms. What he neglects is that comics like Penny-Arcade, etc are using this new comics medium to a great advantage in many ways less tangible than the Tarquin engine.

    I started writing a rant about this, but I realized that a new thread was possibly in order.

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