Scott McCloud, a cartoonist and comic theorist, wrote "Understanding Comics," a comic book that gives the reader a detailed approach on understanding the vocabulary and tools of comics. The main focus of this essay will be specifically on chapter 2, the vocabulary of comics. In this chapter, McCloud, uses an animated version of himself as the narrator. He teaches the reader how to understand comic's combination of both words and art to get across their overall message. He uses different artist's styles to explain how comics work. Throughout the chapter, the reader discovers that different authors use different combinations of the elements of comics to deliver their message. Scott McCloud's "Picture Plane", from his comic "Understanding Comics", is a perfect image to explain how a comic artist creates their own style through their use of realistic and abstract art, direct and detailed language, and the meaning that derives from the combination of both art and language in relevance to the comic. 

Later in the chapter, McCloud unveils his creation that he calls the Picture Plane. The Picture Plane graphs artist's use of art, language and meaning according to reality and abstractness. The higher on the plane you travel the less iconic the cartoon looks; the farther left one travels on the plane the more realistic the cartoon looks; the farther right on the plane one moves the more simplistic the cartoon looks. On the other side of the plane is the comic's language. How does the artist draw their words? Which words catch the reader's attention? The higher on the plane one travels the more and more detailed the words become. For example, if an artist uses extremely iconic characters and environments with simple and direct language, that artist's comic is found on the far right of the art plane and the far left of the language plane. For each author the combination is different, yet some artists, especially in Japanese cartoons, give certain characters or objects more realistic or abstract depictions according to what the author is trying to focus the reader's attention. McCloud explains this style in two panels. In the first panel he draws his character holding a cartoony sword with very little detail, so the reader sees the sword as an extension of the character. However, in the second panel McCloud depicts the same sword in vivid detail with certain inscriptions and patterns. This detail gives the sword the identity of an object, something with weight texture and physical complexity. This shifts the view of the sword from an extension of the character to the sword having almost an identity of its own. Artist's ability to strike feelings from their audience through detailed markings on a surface is truly amazing. An artist's style dictates how they depict an image; some artist's works were so powerful or so unique that they will be remember and cherished throughout history.

 

Art is a huge part of our society and has been since the beginning of our people. Art is so powerful because it is so open ended. It allows the artist to depict something in their own way using different techniques. Art, or picture in the world of comics, is received information. We do not need any formal education to get the message it is trying to deliver. The message is instantaneous and right in front of the viewer. When an object is more abstract or farther from reality, the viewer has to be more perceptive to understand the message. Pictures that are more abstract closer resemble that of words. This plays into the artist's combination of both language and art. Usually, the more realistic an image is, the more detailed the language will be and vise versa. Artists must decide how to deliver their message through the combination of both art, which is received information, and written language, which is perceived information.

The written language is perceived information. It takes the reader time to understand and grasp what the author is trying to say, and sometimes it takes specialized knowledge of a subject to fully comprehend the message. The more abstract language is, the harder it is to interpret. However, in comics some artists use tools to focus the reader's attention. For example, some artists use bolder, more direct words that require lower levels of perception to depict their message. These words are received faster and act more like pictures. For example, in most panels that contain just McCloud's character the text bubble usually has two or three bolded words that are key in understanding the concepts he is talking about. His use of bold words allows the reader to understand what he is talking about and what he will be explaining in the panels that precede those certain words. Language is a powerful thing, and cartoon artists use it in certain ways that direct the reader's attention to the key concepts.

Considering how much thought goes into every single aspect of the creation of a comic book, comic artists deserve a lot respect. McCloud's "Picture Plane" displays an image from an artist's comic, and it is able to explain to the reader why each comic is unique. There are thousands of cartoon artists in the world, and what separates them is their style. Their style derives from the combination of both art and language. An artist has to combine these two elements in a certain way in order for the reader to fully understand what the artist is talking about and more importantly why they are talking about it. Some artists use strong or bold language with realistic images, and others use abstract images with abstract language, it just depends on who is creating the comic. However, according to the Picture Plane an artist has thousands upon thousands of options on how to create their work. The infinite possibilities of combinations give comics a unique image and allows for more creativity. The word of comics is a beautiful place and it will continue to grow and evolve due to its ability to allow artists to create their comics in their own way.

