Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

Directions: Using your book, notes and in small groups, discuss and arrive at conclusions to these discussion questions.

Chapter 1 – Setting The Record Straight – pp. 2

• What is McCloud’s dilemma regarding comics as the book begins?
• What’s the difference between pictures and comics?
• According to McCloud, why isn’t it easy to define comics?
• To what definition does he eventually arrive?
• List the ancient civilizations that had some form of comics.

Chapter 2 – Vocabulary of Comics – pp. 24

• What is an icon?
• How does knowing what an icon help you “get” the author’s point about the “Treachery of Images”?
• Discuss the concept of the universality of the cartoon. How/why does this concept help readers of comics?

Chapter 3 – Blood in the Gutter – pp. 60

• In comics, what is “the gutter?”
• Discuss the concept of closure as it relates to comics.
• Of the six types of transitions in comics, choose one that you find most interesting and tell why.
• What’s the point of the three stories about Carl that are shown on pages 84-85?

Chapter 4 – Time Frames – pp. 94

• Is each frame in a comic a single moment in time? Why or why not?
• How does adding words change the length/time of a panel?
• In comics, time and space are “one and the same.” How so?
• On page 101, how does changing a panel’s shape affect its time?
• In comics, motion is usually reduced to what?

Chapter 5 – Living in Line – pp. 118

• How are emotions made visible using different cartooning styles?
• Describe how lines are used to represent both visible and invisible phenomena (pp 128-129)
• What can backgrounds help show?
• How can word balloons and lettering help show emotion? Cite specific examples.

Chapter 6 – Show and Tell – pp. 138

• According to McCloud, children are expected to “combine words and pictures” as long as they do what?
• Throughout history, what happened between words and images?
• Of the seven types of picture-word combinations, choose one and tell which is the most interesting to you and why?

 Chapter 7 – The Six Steps – pp. 162

• Does McCloud considers comics to be art? Why or why not?
• List the path of creating art (Six Steps)
• Of the Six Steps of creating Art, which step does the artist decide if it will be a book or painting or song or movie or comic?
• What is the question that is found at the core of all art?

 Chapter 8 – A Word About Color – pp. 185

• What are the three colors that when put together reproduce every color on the spectrum?
• As color was added to newspaper, what two things increased?
• What types of colors were superheroes printed in?
• What is communicated more clearly in black and white?
• Do you think color help add “reality” to comics?

Chapter 9 – Putting It All Together – pp. 195

• Using the last panel on page 195, describe the process that comics use to transmit ideas from one person to another.
• In this chapter, McCloud summarizes all of the concepts presented in his book. Choose one and describe why it is interesting to you, or why it still confuses you.
• What is one major idea that you learned about comics after reading this book?
• Do you see comics differently now? Why or why not?