Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

With Understanding Comics, McCloud seeks to frame comics as a form of fine art: “Even today, there are those who ask the question, ‘Can comics be art?’ It is—I’m sorry—a really stupid question. But if we must answer it, the answer is yes” (163).

McCloud justifies the artistic credibility of comics by demonstrating their ability to communicate invisible concepts and philosophy, convey data about the passing of time, and retain information for centuries. While McCloud doesn’t actively criticize other media, he does indicate that comic art has strengths not possessed by all art forms. In Chapter 4, he describes fine artists’ failed attempts to capture motion in painting; comics artists went on to develop different ways to illustrate motion with nuance. Comics also have strengths that animation does not: They occupy juxtaposed space, the series of panels allowing pace to be up to the reader. With animation, the story occupies the space of a given screen and only a single image can be viewed at a time. Overall, McCloud seldom discusses comics without mentioning them requiring more study in general.