McCloud, Sousanis, and Mitchell on Comics

Comics are a seemingly lighthearted representation of concepts, jokes, and ideas. They often include pictures that vary in detail and even sometimes a few words to better symbolize what it is that's going on in a scene. This withstanding after reading the excerpts by McCloud, Sousanis, and Mitchell it has become prevalent that much more goes into creating a successful comic than meets the I. In this discussion we will delve into what comprises a comic as well as the ways in which pictures and words distinguish themselves from one another, but also aid in each other's reception. 

Both McCloud and Sousanis used a comic template to transcend their arguments to their audiences. I found some success in this because it made it clear what exactly they were referencing and also what type of prototype comics follow (useful to those who are unfamiliar with comics). Nevertheless, their comics were wordy and I often found myself focusing mostly on the writing and tuning out the pictures. I personally found McClouds illustrations more helpful and useful because they would often illustrate a claim that was being made in a very understandable way.

This image is one of many included in McCloud's piece, and I think it successfully depicts a crucial idea. On page 41 on McCloud, he states that "By de-emphasizing the appearance of the physical world in favor of form, the cartoon places itself in the world of concepts." This graphic shows the flow of how detail can effect our understanding. The detailed face is easily received by its audience for what it is while as it becomes more and more simplistic the more room there is for an audience AND writer/artist to engage their own perception. Finally as things become even less visually detailed, there comes a demand for words, which acts sort of like guidelines for the abstract.  

 "Two Of A Kind"

It's obvious that two 'asses' are the focus of the picture and this could probably be determined even without the words, however the three simple words help guide the audience and make an automatic association between the woman and the donkey. This comic highlights the duality of a word through illustration and comedy. If this graphic wasn't so detailed, it would be more abstract and potentially need more words to explain the point of it. The image and words work as context clues to lead the reader to its meaning. 

In Sousanis' comic, there is reference to a 'third space'. He views comics as very multidimensional and that this quality is very important in order to be successful. McCloud also kind of touched on this when he mentioned how successful comics must master both illustrations(art) and diction(writing). Just how many people stress that to be a good writer, you must read a lot, in order to create a good comic, the creator must be experienced with the craft. This craft is multidimensional, there is more than one component that goes into it. 

"Mom and Pop's Vacation" 

I think this graphic displays multiple dimensions. We have the picture which clearly depicts a elderly woman focusing on out houses while her husband is gazing at two young and attractive women. Based solely on societal constructs, its easy to blame the male character of sexualizing these women just based on how they are scandalously dressed and because we frequently accuse men of having a wandering eye more so than women. An audience can then fill in this "third space" that connects the picture with the dialogue. The woman is obviously innocently talking about the out houses while her husband is naively referring to the young women in bathing suits. Without spelling this out to us, Dublin Core has successfully implanted an idea into our heads without explicitly describing the scene. 

Sousanis 'third space' intertwines the use of imagination as an aid. Imaginations are individualistic but somewhat predictable if we have pictures and words to guide us.   

Greetings From Florida "The Sunshine State"

I think this 'map' of Florida is a great depiction of imagination as it illustrates different regions of the state with images that could 'imaginably' come from each of these locations. These events included in these graphics may have never happened, but it is common knowledge that they could based upon the particular area being represented. 

Who In WWW Can You Trust?

Sousanis elaborated on the concept that stories are multidimensional by offering the idea that stories in comics often contain more stories. Stories tend to build on one another so that they pertain to more depth. In all honesty, I don't know if I am understanding him in the way he anticipated, but I see multiple stories in this illustration on Nixon above. The comedic exhibit is entitles "Who In WWW Can You Trust", this is one story and it can be assumed that the artist is poking fun at dishonest presidents. The second story or dimension of this picture is his elongated nose. This story aids in proving a point. From prior tales, long noses are associated with dishonesty. So here, what I beleive is happening, is the use of multiple stories in one illustration helps send the intended message to viewers. 

Naggin'

On page 107, Sousanis states "We walk in paths worn by those who came before us", which I think is a way of stating that we use our own and other imprinted experiences to derive meaning from images as wells as create images that illustrate exactly what we're trying to say. From prior experience, from hearing people complain, it is common knowledge that 'nagging' is not favorable. Nevertheless, in this picture the husband is requesting his wife to 'nag' because he is bored. We have been down that road and know that car rides can be tedious. This is how we make sense of these types of comics.