In the first two chapters of Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud attempts to define “comics” in a sense that encompasses the many faces of the broad art form, as well as explain their broad appeal in societies across national boundaries. McCloud, through his comic representation, comes to “nutshell” definition that Comics are “Juxtaposed Pictorial and Other Images In Deliberate Sequence”. He then adds on that they are “intended to convey information and / or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer”(p.9). After applying his new definition to comics in a historical context, going as far back as the 1300’s with the Egyptian hieroglyphics, McCloud goes on to examine comics in terms of their relationship to “Icons”, and how there is method to the apparent simplification of reality and abstraction of figures in comics. A conclusion is drawn that as a result of the abstraction, we, the viewers / readers (depending on whether you want to say your looking at a piece of art or writing, a distinction that McCloud suggests must be blurred), are able to project abstract images of ourselves upon the characters, standing as the primary attraction. This is made possible, as McCloud expatiates, by our inability to see ourselves in a natural, or realistic, representation, but rather in a more abstract form, allowing for easy displacement onto the page.
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