Because I spend quite a bit of time on the bus everyday I have found myself with lots of reading time (my mp3 player broke.) And one of the books that I’ve been wanting to take a look at for some time now is “Understanding Comics” by Scott McCloud. Many have recommended this book including Ernast Adams in 50 books for Everyone in the Game Industry and it shows up on many lists of ‘Game Designers Recommend’ collections, even though it’s not even about video games. “Understanding Comics” is a comic book about comic books.

Now, I’m not really into the whole graphic novel thing, Sure, I had a comic book collection when I was younger but I found this book both insightful into how comics and how art in general is percevied. And the creative process that goes on in graphic art. (To which Scott devotes a chapter.)

Scott has a nack for visual storytelling - He is a comic book artist after all And I chuckled out loud in a number of places. As you accompany him throughout the book he seeks to find answers to some of the more ‘important questions’ surrounding his art. And yes, that is one of the questions he pursues, can comics be considered ‘art’? - His answer is of course a resounding yes.

There has been quite a lot of debate recently about whether video games can be considered art or not. I’d like to stay 10 miles away from this argument (I once took a philosophy of art paper at university, and we failed to even define what art was, which is a bit of a problem if you ask me.) But Scotts treatment on comics as art surely aids those who wish to show that games can be art too, as they share alot of common ground. Both are visual mediums, both are additive just as much as they are subtractive when it comes to design - The huge growth in casual games shows the subtractive side of game design, ie how to we simplify, refine, remove and still get our intended meaning across, without limiting gameplay. And both involve a “reader” who can impose themselves apon the work. The chapter in Scotts book concerning reading-in-between-the-frames, as well as the treadment of icons and abstractions in comics show just how much the control the reader has over the story.

So if you even just a passing interest in comics, or art or videogames you should give “Understanding Comics” a try - it’s quite insightful.