Understanding Comics 3pts

I don’t entirely agree with the definition for comics given in this book. Therefore, I’m still not entirely sure what a comic actually is. Sequential art has existed since the dawn of time. Even cave paintings show progressions of events. Do these count as comics by Will Eisner’s definition described on the first page? Scott McCloud addresses this a couple of pages later by acknowledging that meaning’s shortcomings when defining what qualifies as a comic. “Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence” could still refer to certain languages, like Egyptian hieroglyphics or ancient Chinese kanji, which use pictures for words. Even today we have the use of emojis. Some could say the same about certain fine arts paintings, like the Aino Tragedy triptych, but no one would classify those as comics. Adding the phrase “intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer” still doesn’t clarify the definition’s vagueness. Words, pictures, and icons are not strictly the vocabulary of the language of comics either. The visual vocabulary for comics can and should extend beyond the world of comics. Otherwise, we’d not have several other forms of media. Messages in pictures aren’t always instantaneous either. Visual symbolism like metaphorical images, color theory, and shape language can all give more subtle meanings that the viewer has to decipher. Pictures are worth at least 1000 words. Words and pictures are already two sides of the same coin even outside of comics. They’re used together in so many ways in every medium. McCloud tries to use these as things that distinguish comics from other art forms, but they already exist outside of just comics, so I disagree with his definition and still don’t have clarity about what sets comics apart as a medium. 

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