In Scott McCloud’s comic book “Understanding Comics”, he explains how comics are created through simplification of shapes and symbols. This is a comic book about comics. It very interesting how the author adopted this form to allow readers to not only know about the concept but also visualize it as we read. After reading this, I’ve become more appreciative about comics and understand the meaningful purpose it can have on transmitting information.
Although the creation of comics can be controversial and unliked by many people for its dull and simple form. The history of comics can be traced back to the first creation of language and to a large degree, the language itself is a human creation of symbols for us to interpret. Ancient languages such as Egyptian and Chinese take on the form of simplified images of a real object. For example, the character 人 meaning people has characteristics of two legs. Comics are merely a progression of language. Icons and emojis are very similar in a way in that we are creating a new type of “language” in the same method in the way we create a language based on the real object. Anyone can actually create their own on their computer, some of these can be: “:3” for cuteness, “:)” smile, “:/” unhappy, or even more complicated one: “( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)” which symbolizes for kappa face. These are very often used on the internet and popular among teenagers. It is the fastest way to express their feelings. It’s interesting how the author mentions us as the self-centered creature in which we see and mimic ourselves everywhere. For example, we can found human characteristic in cars where it has two lights on the side and an air vent in the center. It really reminds us of a human face. These characters really appeal to us and we can even see that in outlets. Since we tend to mimic ourselves, icon and emoji can interpret differently.
At last, McCloud allows us to explore the secret world between the panels, through the lines, and within the hidden symbols of a powerful but misunderstood art form.