Understanding Comics (3 points)

When i was younger i used to read a lot of novels and other books. I never touched comics until I was mid way through middle school. Comics in my household were seen as “not really reading” or just a bunch of pictures with some words here and there. So I kept on reading regular fantasy books and drawing my own pictures. I did try reading a few superhero comics but I felt they were boring and too formulaic. As well as, I didn't like how Superman was drawn. Luckily for me I had a friend who introduced me to manga and non superhero comics. We had to get her mom to drive us into Boston to find a newbury comic for some interesting indie comics.

I always thought that me liking comics was because it was easier to read than a regular book. But after reading Understanding Comics to understand comics, I truly understood why I did like comics/manga so much more than regular books (sometimes). Instead of me reading every action and emotion a character would have in a book. In a comic I could see that characters face or see how they react. While at the same time I could still read inbetween the panels and figure out for myself why a certain event occurred in between a panel. Also learning about why two panels might jump scene to scene instead of using action to action to describe an event that is/has happened was really interesting. Also learning about the differences in eastern manga and western comics was super interesting. The heavier usage of moment to monument and aspect to aspect paneling is what differentiates eastern and western comics to me. The book shows us different examples of the different styles and why each is equally important to storytelling. Comics don't have to spell out every little detail compared to what some books have to do. It's really interesting and honestly really cool to understand how comics are created and why i like them so much more than a regular book. 

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