How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form

As we near the end of the year, I’m starting to look back on all the books I’ve read and things I’ve learned, trying to recognize the cream that’s risen to the top. Although I read this book later in the year (and although it cost me just $1 at Goodwill), Reinventing Comics by Scott McCloud might just be my favorite book of them all.

While this is definitely a comic book, it’s not just a comic book. Better yet, although this is a non-fiction work done in a graphic-novel style, it’s definitely not just an ordinary graphic novel. The more I look into Scott McCloud, the more I get that he’s “just about the smartest guy in comics” (Frank Miller) and that his other non-fiction book, Understanding Comics, is reported to even more insightful than this. That’s shocking to me (because this book is amazing) and I certainly need to keep my eyes peeled for that one too!

Reinventing Comics apparently takes over where Understanding Comics left off, taking the discussion into a new direction of why comics are true art, why they touch nerves the way that they do, and how they’ll adapt to a new and changing digital-online world. That he published this book way back in 2000 when the internet was slow and clunky doesn’t dampen his insight into the possibilities of comics-turned-digital.

What I really liked about this book, too, beyond its style and engagement, was the sheer breadth of topics he discusses from that singular vantagepoint of comics. From art and its history, to human language, to economics and business, to human relationships and diversity, to the imagination and possibilities of the future, Scott McCloud educates his readers through a world of topics, and all from the black-and-white pages of his carefully drawn comic. It’s pretty spectacular and not at all what I expected when I first picked it up.

This book has revived in me an interest in graphic novels that’s come and gone over the years. I’ve tried comic books before—most recently Fables by Bill Willingham—and just can’t stomach too much of it. Superheroes…ugh. Not my thing. For that reason over the coming year, I’ll probably dabble more in what graphic novels I can access from my local library (as my schedule allows) that seeking out any of the more traditional “comics.”

McCloud includes many carefully articulated thoughts in this book, but some are more difficult to quote than others without the broader context (or; without the illustrations), so in lieu of jotting down all my marginalia, I’ll just note a few of the easier standout moments (merely in chronological order):

“Our modern conception of artistic integrity…is that an artist may hope for success but will never alter his work to obtain it.” (49)

“In 1987, I proposed a Creators’ Bill of Rights… 1. The right to know what can be bought and why to buy it. 2. The right to buy what we want when we know that we want it. 3. The right to a fair price.” (79)

“All readers want to be transported by fiction in the end, even if the journey is through a mirror of the world we already know—and as long as no one gave us a choice of the world we were born into, a little escape seems a reasonable request, and one of the many that comics can fulfill.” (125)

“If necessity is the mother of invention, then invention is the mother of desire.” (132)

Take those statements for what they’re worth, but I find them all incredibly thought-provoking—especially p.125 about escapism. This has long been a topic in my Christian circles and is something I obviously support as a gift from our creative God! Still escapism ought to have its limits, lest we distract ourselves so successfully that we become useless turds like the fat humans in Wall-E.

I can’t praise this book enough and am so happy it fell into my lap. I’m already into another book by Scott McCloud and can’t wait to find out what other fascinating reads he has on the market!

©2022 E.T.

Read More from Scott McCloud:

• Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud (1993)
• Reinventing Comics by Scott McCloud (2000)
• The Sculptor by Scott McCloud (2015)

Read More about Comics:

• “Dilbert: The First Year” by Scott Adams (1989)
• “Dilbert, the Second Year” by Scott Adams (1990)
• Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud (1993)
• Reinventing Comics by Scott McCloud (2000)
• Sparky by Beverly Gherman (2010)
• Big Nate: From the Top by Lincoln Pierce (2010)