on comics

well this is cool, behind ridiculously behind schedule on the blog front... but if kfitz says i can catch up, then so be it.

my thoughts on understanding comics? well, let's just see. i enjoyed this book immensely, but i did not see some clear definite ties with authorship. ?? i really dug how the content format matched what mccloud was talking about - we talked about that in 147 with reinventing comics - but the bigger question of why doesn't that happen more frequently has piqued my curiosity a bit. (not to mention that entire "what IS art?" that we started on last night, but that's a whole other can of worms)

and last night's presenting group - nice job, y'all. but i'm curious: what was behind that part of the presentation? and in general i was wondering what everyone thought of the comic portion we had to draw, since for some of us that was the first time creating a comic (i mean, after that sweet two-panel lil guy we made at the start...). and is there a chance that some of those sweet sweet comic works could be posted online? i's like to think that types like mr mccloud might dig seeing that up on the web, or maybe it's just me who wants to show off "saga of smelly box"

i think where the whole "work/art in the format of what it is critiquing" becomes muddied is by the fact the intent behind it is mostly didactic. and that worked ridiculously well (in my opinion) with understanding comics, and it was evident in "reinventing comics"... but in other instances, it seems that this self-reflexiveness is more of a joke or parody within itself. I couldn't think of more examples in other mediums where the format was used so effectively in demonstrating the critical theory behind it, and i wonder: is it only comics where this can work? the knock-out combo of words and pictures, is that the winning formula where this whole concept works best? because i feel that in our society, words are necessary to explain - a song (such as Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" - check it out at blogmusik.net if you are not familiar) uses lyrics to make it's point about the musical workings behind it, and i would think visual art or dance would also use words as a primary means of getting ideas across. but i feel that my understanding of this has become a bit too narrow... any thoughts?

and i don't know if it is just the genius of scott mccloud or not, but even though i read this comic a year ago i still found a lot of the ideas within these pages fascinating, and really cool to think about. although i'm still wrapping my head around whether or not all of our sense are used to make the leap over the gutter between the panels, i was happy to see that a lot of the big ideas really stuck with me over time - i guess it could just be due to the fact i learn visually.

ok that's all i have to say for now, but instead of coming up with some cool conclusiony ending of my own, i'll leave you with a joke

what do you call cheese that doesn't belong to you?

not-yo' cheese.