Response to ‘Understanding Comics’

First, it’s a good book, undoubtedly. People love comics, it gives the reason why comics are popular, how comics evolved, what’s the comics characters, how makes it become a special piece of art. I agree most of the philosophies in this book, it makes me to think about comics. It gives all the aspects of comics’ speciality. Great book!

Comics is a story-telling graphic novel. When you read a novel, you are attacted by the character’s quaint or pitful life. It drives you to explore more about the story. Comics are like the same thing, however, cause the figure of charactor is simplized, and human are a self centered race, when people enter the world of the cartoonn, people see themselves. We become it. This simplized graphic are easier for people to recognize. This reminds me a chinese contemporary artist: Xu Bing. He once noticed the icons in airport can be accepted by people with different language. He is make a dictionary/book just use icons. The technique of drawing cartoon is like this. They amplify the important element of different things, which people often focused. As the author said, ‘each one sustians a constant awareness of his or her own face, but this mind picture is just a sketchy arrangement.’

The magic thing happened on comics is the time and space, it makes people to think and imagine during reading comics. Like the motion lines, which the characteristic of photography are successfully applied into comics. Also the spin of time through sound, you can even read the sound by seeing the graphic and time passed during your read. Large Long paintings existed in a very early age. However, when people read it, there is no timeline in their minds. However, when comics adds some dialogues, when you read in sequence, you are feeling a time space in this picture. You can quickly recognize which is dialogue, which is people’s thought.

In the charpter ‘ six steps’, he defned six steps of draw comics. He said it’s also can be applied to other art works. Actually, I’m not very agree with that. Comics can be seen as a practical arts. As for paintings, they are more abstract. When people paint, sometime they are not following a plan. They are as trying as painting. Sometime, the results are astonished.  For me, my mum always worried, I didn’t learn painting and drawing in the childhood, she thought I do not have a basis for doing art. I think computer can be seen as tool, a tool like brush for painting, a computer is a tool for creat new media arts. But computer is a special machine, there always are unexpected things happened. So sometimes, some art works are coming out without six steps.

Comics are unique, they have largely used into people’s life. Like games, even there many visual 3d  reality games, the comics game with only 2d can attracted more audience. Also like cartoon TV show or movies. Comics as a unique art forms, will not be replaced ever.