Understanding comics

Scott McCloud does a cool thing by writing a book about comics (that looks like a comic strip) I found it a little odd yet compelling at the same time! It is interesting to note the various ways that the human mind makes sense of the world. What if the world were one big giant cartoon strip? Maybe it is and we are all the characters...hmmm

What makes this media so unique is the way it works with the human mind to convey whatever message the creator sees fit to send. I think back and remember the comics that I read as a kid, Snuffy Smith, Beetle Baily, Family Circus, Grin and Bear it, Peanuts, all of which use the concept of amplification through simplification and realize now why they were so compelling. In some small way I saw myself in them. But at the same time, they served as an escape from the real world of detailed faces and completely drawn humans. We will talk more about this in class this afternoon.