In all honesty I absolutely hated reading this book. I usually enjoy reading, and throughout my life I've made a good habit of doing so.
Here is a picture of my bookshelf back home in the Dominican Republic.
The only spaces that are there are the books I took with me to New York when I moved for ITP. I've read every single one of those books and enjoyed all, because the ones I didn't enjoy, I gave away. So when I was told that there was a reading assignment I wasn't very worried about it, because even though I mostly read fantasy, fiction and sci-fi I could tackle a technical book every once in a while.
Upon my getting the book I was absolutely horrified that it was in a comic format. While I appreciate the humor of a book praising comics that was also written in that format, I couldn't get past the organic shapes of the text. That typography that looks hand written-and it might be-but probably isn't THING is terrible and it gives me a headache. It is the only reason (besides how full it always is) that I hate going to Trader Joe's to shop. It is impossible for me to read the labels of things because they're all written in that script-y hipster typography that, in my opinion, is illegible.
I've loved cartoons since I was very young, and enjoy the Western vs Eastern styles and within those, all the nuances of each artist. When I attempted to transition to Mangas and Comics I found it extremely difficult. Although I enjoy the stories, the reading of the material is very hard for me. For some reason it takes me out of my "happy place" of being in the story and living the adventures and makes me very conscious of the act of reading something and the medium itself. It might be that I don't have enough practice in this but I still absolutely hate it.
Putting that aside, as it is a personal opinion, I think the content of the book itself was informative and concise. The author managed to give the information with straightforward examples and explain his point of view. As I read I started understanding the importance of this medium which I hadn't contemplated before and I ended up agreeing that it can very well be viewed as an art form and his point is very valid. It didn't change my mind at all about wanting to read comics or my experience with them, but I can appreciate the medium nonetheless.
I found the concept of "Closure" he presented to be very interesting. As graphic designers we've been taught about how the human mind tends to finish things (images) that are incomplete and we've been taught to play with this and create visual illusions using positive-negative space for more interesting compositions. It never occurred to me that comics also use this in order to have the reader "complete" the story. This gives the reader a very active roll in the storytelling (perhaps this, combined with the hand-written text is what I don't like about them). In fiction, specifically in fantasy, the reader also has to participate in the storytelling by "buying into" the world that they're being presented. Without this participation the illusion is shattered and the story can't take place in our imagination. However, the difference is that I, as the reader, am not asked to complete in-between scenes because everything is written down for me. So, although there is participation in fantasy novels and literature, it isn't as active or constant as it is with comics.
The chapter on lines was also a very engaging part for me. Mostly because one of the very first exercises we did in school to become designers was to try and represent emotions and sounds with only lines and color. The idea seems very simple but, having gone through it, I can understand the struggle of having to represent such complex things with a static image or an icon that is very simplistic. I also loved the references to some of my favorite art movements and how they moved from the standard realistic aspect of art to try to depict the intangible (light, sound, movement). Impressionism happens to be my favorite movement, not only because of the aesthetics but also because of the concept behind it.
I think that the most interesting part of the book was his explanation of why we see "faces" everywhere even if they're not really there. I had heard some explanations of us being a narcissistic race that projected they're image on non-living things (and he certainly mentions that) but what really drew me was his explanation of us not being able to see our own faces and therefore having an abstracted (cartoon-y) idea of ourselves that we then put onto other abstract face interpretations. I had never thought of that in that way before and it seemed rather an interesting notion.
The last two chapters were a little disappointing and also somewhat reassuring? I was kind of saddened to know that, like many other art forms, comics have also been affected by money and the development of technology related to the field. At the same time I was a little reassured because that means we're all in the same battlefield and also because since this book was written we've made some strides for the better in that department. It was also kind of sad the point he makes that all mediums are just humanity's way of trying to communicate mind-to-mind and it brought forward thoughts of how amazing things could be if we could actually do that and all the wonderful things we could accomplish.
I think I learned some new concepts with this book and it has made me appreciate comics in a new light. The fact that a frame shape could tell the reader the length of a scene was a pretty cool new thing to learn. I just wished there was a way to not use that hand-written typography...
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