Chapters 1 & 2
Our course text is Understanding Comics By Scott McCloud. It is a comic book about comic books. McCloud, in an incredibly accessible style, explains the details of how comics work: how they’re composed, read, and understood.
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?
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