Understanding Comics

Upon reading Scott McCloud book "Understanding Comics" i was pleasantly surprized at how tastfully the whole thing had been presented, which ironically turned out to be in comic form using illustrations to protray information. Which is exactly what he talks about when trying to narrow down what it is exactly "Comic" means.

" Com-ics (kom'iks)n. plural in form, used with a singular verb. 1. Juxaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer. "
I found this defination to be very accurate in my point of view and it definately helps break about stereotypical conceptions of what comic books are.
To my experience people generally associate the word comic with the graphic novels such as X-men, spiderman, superman etc. What i liked about this book is that it helps clearify a subject that has been the base of foggy speculations and assumptions.
Scotts idea that genres, subject matter, styles or tools used have no addition in weighing what it is that makes a comic. At first this was a little shocking as i thought that comic books did have a style, and thats what you typically see when you go to a news agency.

However, with further thought i did realise that Scott was right and that these charactistics shouldnt contribute to an overall conception of comics and that the defination "Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence" rings true.

Reading this book reminded me of a comic book i had to study in History and that was Art Spiegelman's MAUS which used comic form and illustration to present the events of the Holocaust during WWII. I remember being particularly absorbed into the story and the pictures, and its form really did help bring out a sense of empathy.