Understanding Comics

Understanding Comics is really something that any skeptic about comics being an art or think they are 'just for kids' should read. It delves into a ton of ways that comics connect with the audience, create emotional storytelling, and even touches on the act of creation all while using the actual art form to explain it's points. It makes it very clear that just like literature comics have their own devices to communicate complex ideas and create a meaningful message.

The concept of the mask and simplification versus realism proposed by McCloud was particularly intriguing to me. Our thoughts and ideas aren't photo realistic, for most, so it would make sense that we also see ourselves in our own thoughts as simplified versions. So the more simplified the drawing, the more we are able to relate because we are able to easily identify with that character. While if they had very distinguishing features we would feel distanced because that is not how we look and the more detail the more it feels like an other or an object. An interesting anecdote that supports this idea is that when celebrities faces are scanned to be in video games and they see there faces in 3D they often say it doesn't look like them, even though it is an exact replication. However, once artists go in and simplify it and take out small detail they see themselves in it more clearly and feel it is more accurate. This supports the fact that we see ourselves in much more simplified terms and it is hard to even identify with our own image if it is not simplified.

McCloud talks about how even objects can be given life and identity by simplification. This explains why we don't think it so odd if inanimate objects get up and talk in cartoons and comics. They are simple and so feel as if they can still be given and filled with identity. While using realism in comics does the opposite and gives the reader objects and places to admire. The most interesting example of this was objectifying a character intentionally by drawing them realistically. This makes the reader feel a totally different kind of emotion to them. However, the use of realism in comics seems most prevalent in backgrounds giving the reader an area to immerse themselves in and make them feel like in the world. This makes a lot of sense that something which is more cartoony that is inanimate when it comes to life feels natural and can take on many personalities. However, when something that looks very realistic that is inanimate comes to life it usually just feels creepy or out of place and often disturbing.

To me simplification as a means of deeper relatability is a really insightful observation and a technique that seems deeply seated in psychology and plays on how we think. A very complex train of thought which is all about simplification.