In “Understanding Comics”, the intent of McCloud is evident in which the comics are generally degraded compared to its true integrity. It is interesting how he tried to redefine or clarify the definition of comics to break the deep-rooted stereotype of society.
I personally agree that the word “comics” itself contains negative connotation nowadays. For example, we can easily encounter a situation when parents scolding at their children not to read comics. Also, at least the schools that I went did not highly encourage the students to comics but rather recommended reading novels or poetries. This incident already demonstrates that people think that comics are not educational and it is a waste of time reading it.
However, we cannot generalize that all the comics are not worth reading. Even though some of them merely focus on amusement, I think that specific purpose itself is meaningful enough. Furthermore, comics allow readers with infinite imagination. It is eventually up to the readers to interpret certain images or contents portrayed in comics. Therefore, that would give more room for the creator as well. Also, the part where McCloud mentions that we actually “become” the character in the comics was interesting in a sense that I can hear the voice of the characters in my head although it is a mere drawing inside the book. After reading this, I realized that comics should be recognized as one of the significant mediums which is comprehensive and allows open interpretation than others.