Scott McCloud, "Understanding Comics"

Let’s talk about Scott McCloud shall we. Scott McCloud was a modern comic visionary in his day, of the late nineties through the early two-thousands. He made it his goal to make comics understandable to all who use the medium, to utilize the art of the comic to the best to a person’s extent. One key element that he brings to light and emphasizes is the important use of iconography, using images to explain an ideas, which is essential to basic comic storytelling. McCloud argues the idea that the more simplistic an image the easier it is to be taken out of one's life and to be transported into the comic. When the image is so simplistic the image in question could have many meanings, its fluid. While the more realistic an image is the reader focuses on the features and details rather than being involved in the story. There’s also an argument that more a simplistic an image and the more fantastical the plot is the more the audience believes in the situation. He also explains the concept of closure when it comes to comic framing. He explains the concept of the “gutter”, the gaping white space between two panels and its a place where the imagination takes reign and imagines the time between those two images. A person guesses what happens in that blank space based on their human experience and fills in the story, which differentiates comics from other mediums like tv and movies. Tv and movies show each and every action leaving less to the imagination because it shows you most extraneous detail.