''Reinventing Comics: How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form'' (2000) is a book written by
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
writer
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...
and
artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...
Scott McCloud
Scott McCloud (born Scott McLeod; June 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist and comics theorist. He is best known for his non-fiction books about comics: ''Understanding Comics'' (1993), '' Reinventing Comics'' (2000), and ''Making Comics'' (200 ...
. It was a thematic sequel to his critically acclaimed ''
Understanding Comics
''Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art'' is a 1993 non-fiction work of comics by American cartoonist Scott McCloud. It explores formal aspects of comics, the historical development of the medium, its fundamental vocabulary, and various ways in ...
'', and was followed by ''
Making Comics
''Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga, and Graphic Novels'' is a book by comic book writer and artist Scott McCloud, published by William Morrow Paperbacks in 2006. A study of methods of constructing comics, it is a thematic sequ ...
''.
Publication history
''Reinventing Comics'' was released in 2000 in separate editions published by
Paradox Press
Paradox Press was a division of DC Comics formed in 1993 after editor Mark Nevelow departed from Piranha Press. Under the initial editorship of Andrew Helfer and Bronwyn Carlton the imprint was renamed. It is best known for graphic novels like '' ...
and
William Morrow Paperbacks
William Morrow and Company is an American publishing company founded by William Morrow in 1926. The company was acquired by Scott Foresman in 1967, sold to Hearst Corporation in 1981, and sold to News Corporation (now News Corp) in 1999. Th ...
. Paradox Press, formerly an imprint of
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
, is now defunct; and William Morrow is now a division of
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...
, so subsequent printings of the book have been released by HarperCollins.
Summary
''Reinventing Comics'' explains twelve "revolutions" which McCloud predicts are necessary for the comic book to survive as a medium, focusing especially on
online comics. The book caused considerable controversy in the comics industry, McCloud famously noting that it had been described as "dangerous".
As promised in the book, McCloud has offered
annotation
An annotation is extra information associated with a particular point in a document or other piece of information. It can be a note that includes a comment or explanation. Annotations are sometimes presented in the margin of book pages. For anno ...
s,
addenda
An addendum or appendix, in general, is an addition required to be made to a document by its author subsequent to its printing or publication. It comes from the gerundive , plural , "that which is to be added," from (, compare with memorandum, ...
and his further-developing thoughts about the future of comics on his web site. In particular, he considers his web comic
I Can't Stop Thinking' to be a continuation of ''Reinventing Comics'', though he has continued to write about the future of comics in many different forms, as he acknowledges ''Reinventing Comics'' is "a product of its time".
Development
McCloud drew ''Reinventing Comics'' digitally, using a small
Wacom
() is a Japanese company headquartered in Kazo, Saitama, Japan, that specializes in manufacturing graphics tablets and related products.
Headquarters locations
The main headquarters are located in Kazo, Saitama, Japan. Its office in the USA ...
tablet. Because of the low power of the machine he was using, McCloud had a difficult time working on the book. In an interview with
Joe Zabel
Joe Zabel (born July 7, 1953)[Zabel entry](_blank)
Who's Who of Amer ...
, McCloud stated that he was so eager to get to the second half of the book that he rushed through the first portion.
A revised version of ''Reinventing Comics'' was released in 2009. Here, McCloud cited various successful webcomics that pushed the envelope, such as
Daniel Merlin Goodbrey
Daniel Merlin Goodbrey is an English writer known for his work in webcomics and the British small press.
Biography
Goodbrey became known as a creator of experimental digital comics and hypercomics.
He is the inventor of the Tarquin engine, an ...
's work with the "Tarquin Engine" and
Drew Weing's ''Pup Contemplates the Heat Death of the Universe''.
Fantagraphics Books Inc. editor and publisher
Gary Groth
Gary Groth (born September 18, 1954) is an American comic book editor, publisher and critic. He is editor-in-chief of ''The Comics Journal'', a co-founder of Fantagraphics Books, and founder of the Harvey Awards.
Early life
Groth is the son of ...
wrote a critique of ''Reinventing Comics'' in 2001.
See also
*
Comics studies
Comics studies (also comic art studies, sequential art studies or graphic narrative studies) is an academic field that focuses on comics and sequential art. Although comics and graphic novels have been generally dismissed as less relevant pop c ...
References
Books by Scott McCloud
2000 non-fiction books
Books of literary criticism
Books about comics
Comics about comics
Paradox Press titles
Non-fiction graphic novels
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