Starred Review for Publishers Weekly (Thu Apr 28 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

Every medium should be lucky enough to have a taxonomist as brilliant as McCloud. The follow-up to his pioneering <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Understanding Comics (and its flawed sequel <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Reinventing Comics) isn't really about how to draw comics: it's about how to make drawings become a story and how cartooning choices communicate meaning to readers. ("There are no rules," he says, "and here they are.") McCloud's cartoon analogue, now a little gray at the temples, walks us through a series of dazzlingly clear, witty explanations (in comics form) of character design, storytelling, words and their physical manifestation on the page, body language and other ideas cartoonists have to grapple with, with illustrative examples drawn from the history of the medium. If parts of his chapter on "Tools, Techniques and Technology" don't look like they'll age well, most of the rest of the book will be timelessly useful to aspiring cartoonists. McCloud likes to boil down complicated topics to a few neatly balanced principles; his claim that all facial expressions come from degrees and combinations of six universal basic emotions is weirdly reductive and unnerving, but it's also pretty convincing. And even the little ideas that he tosses off—like classifying cartoonists into four types—will be sparking productive arguments for years to come. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Sept.)

ALA Booklist (Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2006)

To his earlier comics primers, Understanding Comics (1993) and Reinventing Comics (2000), McCloud adds an equally enlightening book demonstrating to aspiring comics artists "how words and pictures can combine to create effects that neither could create separately." Whereas similar instruction manuals focus on honing illustration techniques and give only a nod to storytelling basics, McCloud's systematic approach encompasses every aspect of comics creation, from character design and facial expression to the effective use of words and of tools, including computer technology. McCloud illustrates points with his own clear drawings as well as panels by dozens of the medium's esteemed artists. Three concluding essays on comics styles discuss Japanese manga, genres ranging from superhero tales to autobiography, and comics culture. The volume covers a lot of ground and always in comic-strip format that McCloud's mastery makes easy going. There's plenty of practical value here for neophyte and veteran artists alike; meanwhile, those content to just read other peoples' comics will have their appreciation of the medium enhanced.

School Library Journal (Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 2006)

Adult/High School A follow-up to the author's Understanding Comics (Kitchen Sink, 1993) and Reinventing Comics (DC Comics, 2000), this volume uses the same graphic style and narrator to explain the technical aspects of creating comics. From the layout of each frame and the placement of words and characters to creating facial expressions, symbolism, and more, this highly detailed resource is for serious artists wishing to gain further technical knowledge. Every concept is broken down into its individual elements and thus is probably more than most casual readers would want to know. The book is well organized with a specific table of contents and an annotated bibliography and suggested reading list. Corinda J. Humphrey, Los Angeles Public Library