Comics

Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
$22.99
From front to back, this book is informative and helpful. Anyone interested in visual literacy should read this.

Keep an eye out for what McCloud shows you about "the invisible art." That's what happens in the empty space between comics frames.

Star Wars Dark Horse Comic Pack Number 8 with Darth Kryat and Sigel Dare 3-3/4 Inch Figures
$24.98
I am going to have to agree with Andy on this one. While the Sigel Dare figure is cool Darth Krayt comes up a little short. This should have been a figure that Hasbro went all out on but they cheaped their way out of, again. Darth Krayt's biggest disapointing feature are his two lightsabers. The blades are not the dark, "Sith blood" red that they should be. And on my figure the red paint is bleeding through the silver on both the lightsaber hilts. It's disapointing because these comic packs are mainly made for the older Star Wars fan collectors because we are the ones reading the books and comics that these characters are portrayed in. Also, Darth Krayt's armor should be a little darker and more metallic like on the photo. Sigel Dare's armor is metallic just like it is in the photo, so why screw up Darth Krayt which is the main reason that I wanted and purchased this comic pack in the first place. What really irks me is the way that Hasbro teases it's consumers like you and me with the outstanding early prototype photos but the end result that we buy ends up looking like crap. You have plenty of money Hasbro so quit taking advantage of the collectors like us that are keeping you going. Ever hear the term "Don't bite the hand that feeds ya'" Hasbro?

DC Versus Marvel Comics
$17.99
Well, this is what you get when you leave storylines to popular votes. I recall years back in the mid-90s some low IQ marketer had voting controls installed on the theatre seats at the Emerville Century Cinema theatre. It was an experiment designed to see if people wanted to dictate the outcome of a movie. It was "interactive entertainment".

It was something not done with a true vision of heart. Not done with any soul. Not done with the intent that someone had a great idea and wanted to share it with the world, but done for the sake of placating to the masses to earn a buck. Result; a dismal failure, as it should have been.

Ditto with this graphic novel title. However, I suppose it had to happen sooner or later. My personal feeling? There's no story here. Just a plot cobbled and kludged around the wandering desires of comic book fans who want to see their favorite heros pitted against one another.

There is no attempt to resolve anything. The one fight that both audience and writers got write was the Hulk-Superman brawl, and even then it was sketchy at best because of a complete lack of story.

The other matchups? Juvenile at best. Tragic drek at worst.

Yes, I bought a copy just to have. I regret it in that I actually blew dollars on this thing, but, someday, some acne faced teenage comic book nerd is going to shell out good cash for my copy. Not sure if that's of any consolence to me or not, but it's the best I got I guess.

Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels
$22.95
The difference between reading comics and creating comics is the same divide that exists between understanding Norwegian and speaking Norwegian. You might pick up a few things through some exposure, and you might understand the rhythms and know how to ask where the bathrooms are, but it's almost impossible to really hold a complex conversation without hammering out a few fundamental rules and immersing yourself in it. Scott McCloud is here to teach us how to speak the language of comics, and to reveal the subconscious cues that those sneaky artists slip into their pages to make us think and feel different things.

I don't want to say that McCloud's various published analyses into the world of comics are beyond reproach, but I will anyhow. As both a skilled writer and a skilled artist, McCloud has an organic sense of what goes where and why, as well as the ability to explain the subtleties of these things. McCloud's strength lies in the idea that while he expertly instructs us how to create a powerful visual narrative, he also acknowledges creativity and encourages the readers to punch holes in his lessons and redefine the language of comics. Nothing is presented as an absolute, and that's the best kind of creative teaching.

I spent a year teaching comics at a private school before I decided that it wasn't for me, but Making Comics was a constant crutch for me, since it provides many examples for the daily lessons that are appropriate for every age group. Making Comics is divided up into an obsessively detailed table of contents, arranged by the traditional order of steps in the comic creating process. One might think that a thick, analytical tome about how to make comics would be a bore, but McCloud's signature "thing" is to instruct about comics using comics--and because McCloud is explaining the diversity of ways that comics can be expressed, every page is absolutely full of variety and amazingly interesting layouts and ideas. Open to any page and be visually arrested. Each chapter is recapped with exercises to try and a verbal summary of what had just been conveyed--but don't worry, it's still mostly pictures. Every nuanced line can have books written about it, but McCloud simplifies just enough.

I also appreciate the fact that McCloud, though a talented artist, accepts his own limitations when providing examples of comic techniques. McCloud made the effort to reprint exact examples from the material that he's referencing, whereas the authors of some other books in the same genre of "teaching comics" try to emulate these examples--often unsuccessfully. If McCloud is talking about Frank Miller's use of inks, he shows a Frank Miller panel, which is far more valuable than someone sloppily mimicking Miller.

Making Comics is the No. 1, absolutely essential resource for anyone who might be interested in making comics or anyone who'd like an insight into what those crazy artist guys are thinking when they're tossing panels and angles around. Aspiring artists might think they know exactly what they're doing, but there are always ways to do it even better, and a few more Norwegian words to bulk up the lexicon with.

-- Collin David