Meet Scott McCloud

Because I had not yet commented on Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, I will begin by introducing you to Scott McCloud himself and his works. Understanding Comics is a fun read, no doubt! It explains everything about comics-from sequential art to different mediums, and careers-in the "comic" medium it uses to explain comics!

McCloud graduated with a degree in graphic design from the University of Sycamore in 1982. He worked for DC Comics a short while before turning to Eclipse Comics for his proposal of Zot!, a character driven comic about a superhero who transports a thirteen year old girl into his crime-free world. McCloud also created Destroy!!, a superhero parody about two highly muscled superheroes beating up each other and Mahattan. McCloud also pioneered the "24 hour Comic," which is creating twenty four pages of comics in twenty four hours. The Creator's Bill of Rights, Story Machine, Five Card Nancy and Big Triangle are inventions credited to McCloud.

So what's the reason for McCloud's inventive nature? I was reading this interview from The Comics Journal and found out McCloud's father was an inventor who designed the guidance system for the Patriot missle among other inventions. As the old saying goes, the apple did not fall far from the tree!

McCloud is aware of his acclaim as a comics artist, inventor and comics scholar. Doonesbury creator Garry Truedeau deeming him the "...Baedaker of the toons:"

"Depending on who you ask, I'm either comics' leading theorist or a deranged lunatic, but life continues to be very interesting for me and the ideas that I've raised continue to provoke reactions throughout the comics community and -- increasingly -- beyond it."

I'm sure we all would like to thank him very much for it!

- Kristopher