Writing about Comics as described by Scott McCloud

Scott McCloud' 1993 book, "Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art", uses comic style drawings and frames to help readers understand comics. He traces the history of what he defines as comics from ancient times to 1993. McCloud's definition of comics is "Juxtaposed (side-by-side) pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer" (20). Scott McCloud's book is interesting because he helps us to under the difference between cartoons and comics. Comics must be more than one drawing in a frame and must be sequential. He also makes it clear that comics need not be funny to quality (in fact most are not). He talks about icons which are representational drawings or symbols that stand for various ideals, concepts or even words. Icons figure prominently in comics.

Scott McCloud also explains that all comics can be explained in the term of a triangle. At the left point is "reality" and at the right point is "language/meaning" and at the top point is "The Picture Plane". This triangle "represents the total Pictorial Vocabulary" of comics..." (51)
Some other important points are how time and space are the same in comics and how wide or how many frames there are in a comic can represent time.

I chose a comic strip called "Jumpstart". Here is the link:

http://www.comics.com/comics/jumpstart/archive/jumpstart-20081003.html


"Jumpstart" is about a middle-class black family: dad is a cop, mom a nurse and they have a son and daughter. The comic strip author, Robb Armstrong, uses his comic strip to portray blacks more accurately. He says "Many readers see themselves reflected in Jump Start's scenario. I'm thrilled that people say that. I'm drawing about my life; about a black couple because I'm black. Nearly every married couple I know is like Joe and Marcy. The image of young blacks is so skewed, so false. I don't know anybody who's carjacking, playing basketball, rapping. Joe and Marcy and the characters I've developed are deep and based on real life."

The comic strip covers the family in all aspects of their lives: school, work, social situations, other family members, political activity, etc. It also features several white characters who interact with the family. This comic strip fits the definition of comics as found in Scott McCloud's book on page 20. Also, each strip has no less than 4 frames concentrating on a particular subject to make a point.

Style Rules Essay Peer Reviews

Only two people reviewed my style rules essay. One didn't critique it at all. This person just noted that our papers have the same format! The other person gave some good advice about not repeating the same phrase over and over.

The peer review process was better for me with the Writing Technology project. I sensed more overall class involvment in the project. For the Style Rules Essay, I would have preferred if someone said if my writing made any sense or was useful. Overall, I don't really find peer reviews to be a useful tool.

What other's are saying

I seems that most of my classmates prefer Strunk and White because it is short and punchy. Like me, they view it as a reference book with a few writing guides. Many students appear to prefer a short, to-the-point read. Others don't want a reference book. They find Joseph Williams's book a tough, dry read, but much more useful. Those that are striving to be professional writers, prefer Williams.

Most students found the peer review process for the Writing Technology project to not be truly useful. They didn't feel that got a "true" critique. I think we should all remember that it's not easy to criticize one's classmates.

Strunk & White vs. Williams

I like "The Elements of Style" by Strunk & White and "Style: Toward Clarity and Grace" by Joseph Williams. However, they differ in significant ways.

The Strunk & White book is a vocabulary/grammar book. However, it goes a bit further than the usual vocabulary or grammar book, because it gives readers tips on using vocabulary and grammar properly to write well. It is an easy-to-read, accessible book. Students and professional writers and editors will find this book very useful.

Williams' book goes much deeper. To me it's a syntax/writing book. Even those who are well-read and have studied English grammar and taken many writing classes will find this book an eye-opener. It was a daunting read at first for me, but on the second reading it became much more accessible. It is a grammar book that guides writers on using grammar to write strong, clear, effective sentences and paragraphs. Williams clearly diagrams a sentence should begin and end. He also diagrams how a paragraph should flow. It is a great tool for professional editors who have to make a non-writer's (e.g. scientist) work into something very readable and accessible.