The Art in Reading

Someone I knew had collections of comic books and to my surprise, they were quite expensive. I remember how he used to tell me about is negotiations with the comic book seller. Of course, I thought this person was wasting his time reading these books full of pictures and few words, because words are what really matters. 

Or not?

First time I was exposed to a comic book was this past week in the “Special Topics in Composition” class. When the professor introduced the assigned reading, I was confused. An assignment on a comic book in my final college semester was not was not what I was expecting. Just when I felt I had learned and applied a good amount of knowledge and material to obtain my Bachelor’s degree, I now had to get out of my comfort zone of knowledge and explore a new genre in “writing.”

“But where is the writing and what is there to read?” I asked.

After reading “The Vocabulary of Comics,” by Scott McCloud and meeting with my classmates this past week, I realized that printed text is not the only mediums of reading and communication. In fact, I learned that viewing and interpreting images is a sharp analytical skill. I think that this skill is more difficult to apply in the image form of language than in written texts. Written texts provide the reader with more details and information than an image. An image is open to a higher range of interpretation.

In the reading, McCloud uses literary elements to write this chapter (Chapter 2). The image he uses expresses the art of composition, but also creates a story. In class, we discussed how McCloud used mimesis. This was prevalent in the first couple of pages, as the author presents multiple views and interpretations of one item. At first, I questioned why the author was repeating the same point so many times; but then I realized that McCloud was offering different interpretations of one thing, all which were reality, but also proven wrong.

Another interesting aspect found in the art of writing discussed in class is “photographic essays.” This form of reading interpretation is used to tell a story. Photographic essays can also be used to evoke a series of emotions. So, my next goal is to read at least one complete comic book of my liking or one that I find appealing.