Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud (3 points)

 This book did a great job of breaking down why we as people enjoy consuming comic books. When I read the title "Understanding Comics", I was expecting something historical and informational about the timeline of comics. But this particular book explains the psychology behind why humans enjoy comics and cartoons. I was pleasantly surprised and I learned some interesting things about design. The book talks about the importance of 2-D design and icons and how they quickly can capture the attention of someone. When a design of something realistic is simplified into recognizable shapes and lines, people are able to identify with the design and sympathize faster than that of a photograph. We are able to identify a human face with simply two dots and a line. The book also talks about the illusion of passing of time from panel to panel or even across one long panel. Time isn't really passing, but the way the images and words are delivered to the viewer make it easy to follow along reading from one point to another, which creates the feeling of time passing in the story. I thought this was interesting because it supports the point that comics are almost like a film continuing on through one image at a time supported by dialoged words and "sounds" that aren't really sounds, that take us into the world we are reading about. It really helped me realize that there are endless ways to tell a story and so many ways to form a successful comic. I was left quite inspired after reading this piece and the book itself was entertaining and easy to follow along so I believe it was a great example of what it was trying to teach. 

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