Setting the Record Straight

I really liked this article in Making Sense, and not just because it had more pictures than words. The pictures help to bring the point about what can be considered comics and how they date back really far in the past. And Scott McCloud made several excellent points about how comics today are perceived to be action heroes with cheap animation and stupid stories, and how they are not the only “comics” that exist.

The hieroglyphics of the Egyptians are considered comics because they tell a story through the pictures and language of their people. This is something that I never would have thought of. I knew that they told vivid stories of their people, but they crossed my mind as comics. I believe that this is because I perceive comics to be the same as McCloud did when he was a young boy; the only difference, I loved comics.

I was never able to figure out why I loved comics, but I did. It could have been the story plots, the simple yet complicated images, the heroes and villains, or maybe that it was more pictures than words. It definitely was not that last one. I always loved thick books better. But still, whatever it was about them, they captivated me.

McCloud mentions how he decided to become a comics artist and practiced his drawings over and over. This activity is a good thing to practice when passionate about an activity. I’d have to agree that that was the best first step that he could have taken, and I like where it has taken him. McCloud’s comic is informative, but in a fun way.