Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Note: Due to the nature of McCloud’s book, visually impaired students may not be able to answer some of these reading questions. Each set of 6 questions (both Reading Check and Short Answer) contains at least 5 questions entirely based on the text portion of this book. Any questions likely to present an obstacle to the visually impaired are tagged [visual question] so that you can easily identify and remove them before presenting the questions to blind or low-vision students.

Introduction-Chapter 2

Reading Check

1. Who are the two people who are talking to each other in the book’s introduction?

2. In his introduction, how does McCloud indicate to the reader which words and phrases are key ideas and terms? [visual question]

3. When did McCloud decide to become a comic artist?

4. What important technique does McCloud say comics use but animated film does not?

5. What does McCloud call representational images?

6. What word does McCloud use to mean simplifying an image to focus on specific details?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. In his introduction, what does McCloud say his new project will be?

2. In his introduction, what does McCloud say the book will offer a new theory about?

3. When McCloud first encountered comic books, why did he think they were not for him?

4. What is McCloud’s definition of comics?

5. What idea is McCloud representing with the images of the man’s face that become more and more abstract? [visual question]

6. What two “realms” does McCloud say all experience can be divided into?

Paired Resources

“You Are Fluent in This Language (and Don't Even Know It)”

• This 13-minute TED talk by artist and animator Christoph Niemann offers insight into the power of the human mind to interpret the meaning of even simple images.
• This resource relates to the theme of Comics as an Underappreciated Fine Art.
• What point is Niemann making about the power of even simple images? How does this relate to McCloud’s ideas in Chapter 2? How does Niemann’s analysis support McCloud’s point that comic art is not too simplistic to have real artistic value?

“List of Terms for Comics Studies”

• This list of terms was compiled for comicsforum.org by an art history professor named Andrei Molotiu.
• This resource relates to the theme of Comics as Reflective of the History of Art and Literature.
• Read Molotiu’s definition of cartooning under the heading “Graphic Style, Rendering, and Visual Symbolism.” The definition echoes the point made by McCloud in Chapter 2 that comic artists study the techniques of the great masters of western art and choose a range of styles, including degree of abstraction versus reality, to express their ideas.
• How are the choices made by comic artists similar to those of fine artists? How are they different? Why might McCloud conclude that comics need both abstraction and reality?

Chapters 3-6

Reading Check

1. What mental process is illustrated in Chapter 3 by the images of minds perceiving parts of the world through their senses? [visual question]

2. In comics, what are the blank spaces between panels called?

3. What is another word for the panels in comics?

4. What kind of speech do word boxes convey?

5. What does McCloud call the kind of storytelling where words and images send the same message?

6. Which form of storytelling does McCloud think creates the best comics?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What characteristic of Japanese culture does McCloud say is reflected in the heavy use of aspect-to-aspect transitions in their comics?

2. In Chapter 4, what does McCloud use the panels depicting family activities to demonstrate? [visual question]

3. What temporal effects does McCloud say a borderless panel can create?

4. What is McCloud’s purpose in discussing various artistic movements in Chapter 5?

5. In Chapter 5, why does McCloud choose the Sumerian alphabet to illustrate how written languages come about when images “drift” from their visual context into the “invisible” world of symbols?

6. What does McCloud think contributes to people abandoning books as they get older?

Paired Resources

“The Characteristics of Japanese Manga”

• This scholarly essay by Natsume Fusanosuke explains and illustrates key characteristics of manga.
• This resource relates to the theme of Comics as an Underappreciated Fine Art and Comics as Reflective of the History of Art and Literature.
• According to Natsume, what are the key characteristics of manga? How does his discussion of manga agree or disagree with the points McCloud makes in his more general discussion of Asian comics? How does Natsume’s analysis demonstrate that comics are a form of art best understood within the context of the history and culture that produced them?

“Quimps, Plewds, And Grawlixes: The Secret Language Of Comic Strips”

• This entertaining article by John Brownlee discusses the origins of several types of comic symbols and briefly argues for the significance of the design language of comics.
• This resource relates to the theme of Prejudice Against Comics.
• Which is your favorite type of comic symbol discussed in Brownlee’s article? Why? What argument does Brownlee make about comic symbols and international communication? How is this similar to parts of Christoph Niemann’s TED talk? How does this article relate to McCloud’s arguments in Chapters 5 and 6?

“How to Make Comics: What Are the Elements of a Comic?”

• This article, hosted by moma.org, explores the design elements of comics and offers advice for aspiring comic artists.
• This resource relates to the theme of Comics as an Underappreciated Fine Art.
• This article comes from the MOMA website. What is MOMA? What does this article’s existence on such a site imply about comics as fine art? How does this article’s analysis compare with McCloud’s explanations of what comics are and how they are designed? Are the illustrations this article includes as helpful as the comic format McCloud has chosen? Why or why not?

Chapters 7-9

Reading Check

1. What does McCloud claim are the two basic human instincts?

2. What does McCloud say is the thing people do when they are not working to satisfy their basic, instinctive needs?

3. What process allows for mass reproduction of color in modern comics?

4. What does McCloud say flat, unshaded colors emphasize about objects?

5. What does McCloud view as the most important task of media?

6. At the end of the book, what does McCloud hope that the reader will be inspired to do?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What three human pursuits does McCloud claim developed from “primitive” forms of art?

2. What does McCloud say is the problem with artistic works created by those who are merely imitating the works that actually originate new styles?

3. What caused American comics to become reliant on bright primary colors?

4. What are the three additive primary colors and the three subtractive colors?

5. Why does McCloud think that comics offer more opportunities to bridge the gaps between people than many other forms of mass media do?

6. Why does McCloud urge his readers to learn about the work of scholars like Rodolphe Töpffer?

Recommended Next Reads

Reinventing Comics by Scott McCloud

• In McCloud’s follow-up to Understanding Comics, also in comic format, he offers arguments about the future development of comics.
• Shared themes include Comics as an Underappreciated Fine Art, Prejudice Against Comics, and Comics as Reflective of the History of Art and Literature.
• Shared topics include the business side of creating comics and the unique role of comics in mass communication.

Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels by Scott McCloud

• Making Comics is McCloud’s primer, in comic format, on the specific techniques used to create great comic art.
• A shared theme includes Comics as an Underappreciated Fine Art.
• A shared topic includes techniques used to create comic art.

MetaMaus: A Look Inside a Modern Classic, Maus by Art Spiegelman

• Spiegelman uses a comic format to explain his process for creating the classic graphic novel Maus.
• Shared themes include Comics as an Underappreciated Fine Art and Prejudice Against Comics.
• Shared topics include the unique powers of comic art and the ability of comics to contribute to humans’ understanding of one another.
• MetaMaus: A Look Inside a Modern Classic on SuperSummary