Understanding Comics (Amazon link) is a 215-page comic book about comics that explains the inner workings of the medium. We recently chatted about it and how the concepts relate to online visual communication too (e.g. choosing what to include and what to leave out, guiding the reader’s eye, combining text and images for maximum impact, etc.).

Some excerpts we discussed:

understanding comics
Creating meaningful differences with “sequential art.” McCloud writes, “Taken individually the pictures [above] are merely that—pictures. However when part of a sequence, even a sequence of only two, the art of the images is transformed into something more: the art of comics!”

understanding comics
The first letter in each sentence is bolded to help separate statements.

understanding comics
It’s interesting how the placement of the “True Lighting” headline is unconventional yet works like a charm.

There’s a related thread on cartoons, comics, and information design at Edward Tufte’s site. Some of the interesting links mentioned there:

Related:
Making Comics (McCloud’s new book)
“Forget the detail” and other animation-inspired lessons [SvN]