Kani Manogaran
Art 215: Paper 1
Professor Mark Durant
February 27, 2018
The Complexities of Comics
Looks can be deceiving is a very well-known idiom that embodies the meaning behind
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud. This graphic novel has a much
larger story to tell about the depths and thought process behind developing a good comic book.
There are so many elements in play that simultaneously work together to create one panel of the
thousands in each comic book. Although the authors themselves may or may not have put as
much work into making any given panel, but there is a lot of analysis that can be done based on
elements he/she uses. Understanding Comics dives into numerous techniques that artists use to
convey their messages through images rather than just the speech bubbles. Before reading this
graphic novel, I knew some aspects of comic development from my analysis of Marjane
Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis back from high school English class. However, this novel
explicitly teaches you every piece of the puzzle in layman’s terms. I learned about the many
elements involved into comic creation and would like to expand upon McCloud’s understanding
of the use of gutters, lines, and color to convey his ideas.
The use of gutters in comics can have a much more profound meaning rather than just the
sole purpose of translation between panels. McCloud makes a beautiful observation about
humanity right when he starts off the Blood in the Gutter chapter. He says, “our perception of
‘reality’ is an act of faith based on mere fragments” (62). Once I took the time to let that sink it,
it made perfect sense. First off, I am impressed that the author talks about philosophy in a comic
book. Secondly, his theory can explain how people think and deduce information. For example,
if you saw a basketball in my room, then you would probably automatically deduce that I like to
play basketball. Just the image of the ball lets you to connect that to my personal preferences.
The fragment of the ball creates your perception of my reality. His theory also relates to
sociology because people make snap judgements of another person’s personality based off of
their appearance.
Going back to the gutters in comics, McCloud states, “the gutter plays host to much of
the magic and mystery that are at the heart of comics” (66). It is interesting that the blank space
in between panels can be used to connect ideas that are essentially in different stages. For
example, one panel shows a guy screaming, and the following can be a bloody knife. The reader
then automatically concluded that a murder has taken place. This is the idea of closure that the
author talks about a lot. Gutters can be used to separate panels and provide the reader with
closure. There are a few types of transitions that McCloud talks about such as, “moment to
moment, action to action, subject to subject, scene to scene, aspect to aspect, and non-sequitur”.
Even though the panels may not have all the direct connections, the author usually makes it so
that there is a “continuous unified reality” (67). I believe this use of empty space relates a lot to
music. There are times in music that there are pauses; they can be just as meaningful as the notes
themselves.
Another major idea I learned is that emotions and feelings can be portrayed through the
use of lines. The lines themselves can have a variety of attributes such as line intensity, line
concentration, and even the shapes and patterns made by the lines as well. Of course, these lines
are what make up the images in comics, but from a more primitive or basic image, the lines can
connect with mental ideas which brings back the topic of closure. Lines are what make the
difference between a stick figure and a vivid sketch. This idea called expressionism is referenced
in the graphic novel, which essentially is when the artist wants to express their internal emotions
through art. This is not only used in comics, but primarily in paintings. This relates to other art
forms because, just like how people can express their emotions thorough images, this can be
done through writing as well. Colors and lines can become emotions such “angry reds, placid
blues, anxious textures, loud shapes, quiet lines, cold greens”. People used to say that these types
of expressions were “STRANGE IDEAS in 1912” (123). For some reason a vertical straight line
can correlate with proud and strong, and a horizontal line can represent passiveness as well as
timelessness. These kinds of ideas are really bizarre when analyzed but they make sense to me
when I just accept them. Backgrounds can be another asset for artists to convey messages about
the emotions of the characters in the panels. They can also be used to, “create a physiological
effect in the viewer” (132). This almost feels like a science more than art at this point. It makes
you realize how much thought can actually be put into a comic books on any given page. This
takes me to the idea of Synaesthetics, which is the ability to unite the senses though different
kinds of art forms. Shapes and colors are the basis of our visual universe, but they can for sure be
used to connect all the senses.
Lastly, color can be used to invoke emotion and ideas, and I believe it is the strongest
among the other elements discussed previously. I thought it was interesting when McCloud
explains, “these colors objectify their subjects. We become more aware of the physical form of
objects than in black and white” (189). This is extremely meaningful when it comes to the
transition between black and white movies to full color movies. The people must have been
exhilarated when they started watching color film after years of black and white. I agree that
color defines objects and makes them more realistic. With all that said, money is the primary
reason why color is not used as much in mass produced graphic novels. So much more can be
felt in a color book versus a plain graphic novel. This idea occurred to me when I noticed the
huge change while reading the chapter that seeped color into the pages. It added so much more
depth into the panels that made the chapter more interesting than the others. I think these ideas
are really useful because when creating a presentation, the usage of color is very important to
attract the audience. McCloud notes, “and through more expressive colors, comics can become
and intoxicating environment of sensations that only color can give” (192). The phrase
“intoxicating environment” is paradoxical to me because we already live in a world of color.
Then I realized that the world of black and white comics, can definitely feel intoxicated when
color is introduced.
Overall, the usage of different artistic elements can create profound effects on readers. I
found gutters, lines, and color to be the most effective in my analysis. Gutters can be used to
provide a sense of closure between transitions. Lines can be used to portray complex emotions
with the simplest of strokes. And finally, color can add depth and bring the images to life.