Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

The Vocabulary of

Comics: Icons

THE PREMISE In order for comics to work, illustrators use a visual vocabulary called “icons” to represent information that can be, but is not necessarily visual. Instead, it can appeal to other senses, or it can bring us into the realm of abstract thought and feeling. Although we are aware on some level that we are being manipulated by the visuals, our brain allows us to be “fooled.” We hear, smell, touch, taste, and we acknowledge concepts like time, speed, and emotion by processing what are, often, highly simplified drawings or marks on a page.

EXAMPLE: FACES AS ICON

Awareness of Others versus Awareness of Self: 1. Close your eyes. 2. Smile. 3. What did you see when you smiled? 4. How do you know you smiled?

We see a detailed image of others’ faces, but we hold a constant, if sketchy awareness of our own faces (and, to a lesser degree, our bodies).

“Face Pareidolia”: We are programmed to see faces, even in inanimate objects https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsxIJ32Eg2A.

Icons amplify meaning.

Icons universalize application.

Icons can personalize comics.

IDENTIFICATION THEORY: We project ourselves into the

more abstract faces and identify more easily with the subject

presented.