Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

In Chapter 2, Scott McCloud distinguishes between three icons: language notations (i.e., the dollar sign), symbolic images with set meanings (i.e., a peace symbol), and images meant to resemble something else (i.e., a face represents a person) (27). McCloud does not use the word “symbol” to refer to comic art—instead, he uses the word “icon.” He repeatedly stresses that, as icons, comic images have the power to convey specific meanings (like dollar signs and peace symbols stand in for different concepts). He attributes the iconic power of comic art to their simplicity. The more basic a drawing—the more cartoonish—the more universal it is and the greater its appeal.

In Chapter 5, McCloud discusses how comic art continues to add new iconic images to the shared public consciousness (i.e., jagged lines drawn near a character’s joints signify pain; 129). This is particularly significant in that most of these new icons represent invisible states or sensations.