Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

McCloud seeks to prove that comics share a number of qualities with other art forms and are, in fact, a legitimate art form. He elaborates on what he calls the two basic human instincts: survival and reproduction. His comic depicts a cave man tricking a saber-toothed tiger into falling off a cliff—survival. The relieved cave man sticks out his tongue to mock the tiger—which, McCloud says, is art. According to McCloud, art is the one thing people do when they are not pursuing their instincts: “It’s a happy fact of human existence that we simply can’t spend our every waking hour eating and having sex!” (165).

McCloud believes that art arises from the human need to stand against instinct. Art provides a way to break out of predetermined roles—with rudimentary forms such as drawing, dancing, and singing fostering growth. McCloud posits that the emergence of primitive art led to three important areas of human development: sports and games, self-expression, and the pursuit of truth. Some activities and professions possess more artistry than others depending on their relation to survival. Even then, one cannot say that something is art or not because everything has elements of it.

Artists across genres desire something out of their creations, even if it is simply art for art’s sake.