Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga, and Graphic Novels
Scott McCloud
Great Graphic Novels for Teens Winner
Booklist Editors’ Choice: Adult Books for Young Adults Winner for 2009
To his earlier comics primers, Understanding Comics (1993) and Reinventing Comics (2000), McCloud adds an equally enlightening book demonstrating to aspiring comics artists “how words and pictures can combine to create effects that neither could create separately.” Whereas similar instruction manuals focus on honing illustration techniques and give only a nod to storytelling basics, McCloud’s systematic approach encompasses every aspect of comics creation, from character design and facial expression to the effective use of words and of tools, including computer technology. McCloud illustrates points with his own clear drawings as well as panels by dozens of the medium’s esteemed artists. Three concluding essays on comics styles discuss Japanese manga, genres ranging from superhero tales to autobiography, and comics culture. The volume covers a lot of ground and always in comic-strip format that McCloud’s mastery makes easy going. There’s plenty of practical value here for neophyte and veteran artists alike; meanwhile, those content to just read other peoples’ comics will have their appreciation of the medium enhanced. — Gordon Flagg