Scott McCloud

Scott McCloud
McCloud, RISD, March 2007.
Born Scott McLeod
(1960-06-10) June 10, 1960
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Nationality American
Area(s)
Notable works
Awards
www.scottmccloud.com

Scott McCloud (born Scott McLeod on June 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist, artist and comics theorist. He is best known for his non-fiction books about comics, Understanding Comics (1993), Reinventing Comics (2000), and Making Comics (2006).

Early life

McCloud on the Making Comics Tour in Louisville, Kentucky

McCloud was born in 1960[1] in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Willard Wise (an inventor and engineer) and Patricia Beatrice McLeod,[2][3] and spent most of his childhood in Lexington, Massachusetts.[4] He decided he wanted to be a comics artist in 1975, during his junior year in high school.

Syracuse University's Illustration program was closest to his career goals. He selected that school and major,[1][4] and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1982.[5]

Career

Artist and theorist

McCloud created the light-hearted science fiction/superhero comic book series Zot! in 1984, in part as a reaction to the increasingly grim direction that superhero comics were taking in the 1980s.

His other print comics include Destroy!! (a deliberately over-the-top, oversized single-issue comic book, intended as a parody of formulaic superhero fights), the graphic novel The New Adventures of Abraham Lincoln (done with a mixture of computer-generated and manually drawn digital images), 12 issues writing DC Comics' Superman Adventures, the three-issue limited series Superman: Strength,[6] and his 2015 graphic novel The Sculptor.[7]

He is best known as a comics theorist or, as some say, the "Aristotle of comics",[8] following the publication in 1993 of Understanding Comics, a wide-ranging exploration of the definition, history, vocabulary, and methods of the medium of comics, itself in comics form.[9] He followed in 2000 with Reinventing Comics (also in comics form), in which he outlined twelve "revolutions" that he argued would be keys to the growth and success of comics as a popular and creative medium. Finally, in 2006, he released Making Comics. Following publication, he went on a tour with his family that included all 50 U.S. states and parts of Europe.[10]

He was one of the earliest vocal supporters of micropayments.[11] He was also an adviser to BitPass, a company that provided an online micropayment system, which he helped launch with the publication of The Right Number, an online graphic novella priced at US$0.25 for each chapter. McCloud maintains an active online presence on his web site where he publishes many of his ongoing experiments with comics produced specifically for the web. Among the techniques he explores is the "infinite canvas" permitted by a web browser, allowing panels to be spatially arranged in ways not possible in the finite, two-dimensional, paged format of a physical book.[9]

He created a comic book that formed the press release introducing Google's web browser, Google Chrome, which was published on September 1, 2008.[12]

In 2009, McCloud was featured in The Cartoonist, a documentary film on the life and work of Jeff Smith, creator of Bone.[13]

He also authored a comic strip explaining Kubernetes [14]

Creator's Bill of Rights

McCloud was the principal author of the Creator's Bill of Rights, a 1988 document with the stated aim of protecting the rights of comic book creators and help aid against the exploitation of comic artists and writers by corporate work-for-hire practices.[15] The group that adopted the Bill also included artists Kevin Eastman, Dave Sim, and Stephen R. Bissette.[16] The Bill included twelve rights such as "The right to full ownership of what we fully create," and "The right to prompt payment of a fair and equitable share of profits derived from all of our creative work."[17]

24-hour comic

In 1990, McCloud coined the idea of a 24-hour comic, a complete 24-page comic created by a single cartoonist in 24 consecutive hours. It was a mutual challenge with cartoonist Steve Bissette, intended to compel creative output with a minimum of self-restraining contemplation.[18] Thousands of cartoonists have since taken up the challenge, including Neil Gaiman; Kevin Eastman, co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Dave Sim, who published some of his work from this challenge in Cerebus the Aardvark;[19] and Rick Veitch who used it as a springboard for his comic Rarebit Fiends.[20]

Technique and materials

Although McCloud sketches his layouts in pencil, the remainder of his work is done digitally, explaining in his 2006 book Making Comics that he had not used traditional materials like Bristol board, pens or brushes in years. After sketching layouts, which he says are "pretty tight", and include the full script, he scans them into an 18-inch computer tablet/monitor to use them as a guide for lettering them in Adobe Illustrator. After completing the lettering, he exports the files to Photoshop, where he fully renders the art at a resolution of 1,200 dpi, creating between five and fifty layers of finished art before flattening it into a single black and white bitmap, plus a greyscale page, if needed.[21]

Views of Different Types of Comics

In Scott McCloud’s book, Understanding Comics, he gives an explanation on what he believes are comics. He sees Mayan manuscripts, Tapestry, Egyptian Hieroglyphics, Lynd Wards’ “Woodcut Novels” and of course, Manga. Even though he lists these as being comics, he says that many do not receive the recognition of comics. However he states that “comics” have had a bad reputation and has even made some comic book artists want to change their title to “Illustrators”, “Commercial Artists”, or at best “Cartoonists”. The reason that some innovative and inspirational comics are not viewed as comics because of their superior qualities. People do not want these great works of art as “comics”, so they do not give it the title even though that is what they are. Though the different types of comics that had McCloud the most intrigued were the Japanese comics “Manga.[2]

Scott McCloud talked about the first time he was introduced to Manga. He said that he was working in DC at the time during the 1980s. He said that a friend from Syracuse was the one that introduced him to manga. He said the friend arrived with two manga that were un-translated. One of the books was called Phoenix, by Osamu Tezuka, and the other comic could not be remembered. McCloud was instantly intrigued and the first thing he wanted to do was find some more Japanese Manga, however he also shares that his interest in Manga was not shared by everyone. He still recalls that even though he was in the few, he would spend his lunch break reading manga. He says that he would eat lunch and “stand-read” manga. The manga he read was still un-translated and was learning from the books. He states “Of course, I didn’t know a word of Japanese. But I knew to read right-to-left. I knew how to read comics. They were such good visual storytellers that I was learning their storytelling techniques and I was soaking in the stories.” He said that he wanted other Americans to also learn from Manga and wanted them to understand it more.[22]

McCloud also states that Tezuka, the man who created the first manga that he was introduced to, was his favorite cartoonists for many years. He states that he had a bookcase that was filled with Tezuka’s work, even though the work was still un-translated. He said that he studied the manga “like the Torah for hours on end.” He would randomly choose a page from a manga and immediately be amazed by the page that he landed on. He also added a tribute to his favorite cartoonist in Zot!, a comic book written by McCloud. A reader of McClouds’ comic book showed Tezuka the tribute of himself in McClouds’ comic and his message back to McCloud was “to emphasize ‘quality over quantity.’” McCloud finds joy in newer cartoonists and readers discovering Tezuka and enjoying the manga that he used to read.[23]

Throughout his time reading Manga, he learned to deconstruct and assess the comics. McCloud learned to “systematically deconstruct the elements” of manga “into visual segments for his audience.” He asses the style of storytelling because of the immersive techniques that Manga hold. He also said that through his assessment of manga and deconstructing it, that he can even analytically criticize comic classics such as Garfield and Archie. From his experience and depth, McCloud has learned to blend word and image together. He bettered his skills in developing comic book by learning from Manga and dissecting its’ techniques.[24]

Scott McCloud continues to say a lot of positive things to say about Manga. During Comic-con in 2009, McCloud stated how graphic novels, which include manga, were “doing pretty good”. He was referring to the outcome of the comic-con event even during the rough patch the economy took during that gap. During the Comic-con Viz Media, known for its’ manga and anime, had a booth lined up that received a lot of attention during the event. Viz Media was announcing many new publishing and even a manga adaption of Twilight that was gathering and impressing everyone who attended the events. McCloud was right to believe that the graphic novels were “doing pretty good” because the manga industry in the United States only continues to grow and has changed the views of many people across the United States. The Manga and Anime industry continue to reinforce each other in gaining more and more popularity and acceptance by new generations, and older ones as well.[25]

McCloud also gives the credit of bringing girls in to the comic book world. He says that the “Manga invasion”, which occurred in the 1990s, is when girls began to pick up the Japanese comics. He believed that the comics were so influential that the children who were reading the books were going to be the inspiration of the new kids who joined art schools and wanted to be comic book artists, and he was right. He also goes on to believe that within the new eight years “we may see a majority female industry and readership”. The “Manga Invasion” changed the game for American teens that were interested in comics and wanted to join the industry. It completely changed the demographics of an all boy activity, to a boy and girl activity, to possibly even an activity that would be ruled by all women. They were ultimately, inspired, like McCloud said, and changed the “face of comics”.[26]

Personal life

McCloud lives in Newbury Park, California.[27] He has been married to Ivy Ratafia since 1988,[28] and they have two daughters, Sky and Winter.[29]

Reception and legacy

McCloud has been called the "Marshall McLuhan of comics".[3]

Awards

Nominations

  • 1988 Harvey Award for Best Cartoonist for Zot![37]
  • 1988 Eisner Award for Best Single Issue for Zot! #14[38]
  • 1988 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series for Zot![38]
  • 1988 Eisner Award for Best Black-and-White Series for Zot![38]
  • 1988 Eisner Award for Best Writer/Artist for Zot![38]
  • 1991 Harvey Award for Best Writer for Zot![39]
  • 1991 Harvey Award for Best Single Issue or Story for Zot! #33[39]
  • 1991 Eisner Award for Best Story or Single Issue for Zot! #33[40]
  • 1991 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series for Zot![40]
  • 1991 Eisner Award for Best Black-and-White Series for Zot![40]
  • 1991 Eisner Award for Best Writer for Zot![40]
  • 1992 Harvey Award for Best Single Issue or Story for Zot! #35[41]
  • 1993 Harvey Award for Best Biographical, Historical or Journalistic Presentation for Understanding Comics: The Slideshow![42]
  • 1998 Eisner Award for Best Single Issue for Superman Adventures #3 ("Distant Thunder"; with Rick Burchett and Terry Austin)[43]
  • 1998 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story for Superman Adventures #11-12 ("The War Within"; with Rick Burchett and Terry Austin)[43]
  • 1998 Eisner Award for Best Writer for Superman Adventures[43]
  • 2007 Harvey Award for Best Biographical, Historical or Journalistic Presentation for Making Comics[44]

Bibliography

  • Zot!
    • Zot!: Book One (Eclipse Books, 1991) ISBN 978-0-913035-04-7
    • Zot!: Book Two (Issues 11-15 & 17-18) (Kitchen Sink Press, 1998) ISBN 978-0-87816-428-8
    • Zot!: The Complete Black and White Collection: 1987-1991 (Harper Paperbacks, 2008) ISBN 0-06-153727-6
  • comics scholarship
    • Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (1993, ISBN 0-613-02782-5)
    • Reinventing Comics: How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form (2000, ISBN 0-06-095350-0)
    • Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels (2006, ISBN 0-06-078094-0)
  • The New Adventures of Abraham Lincoln (Image Comics, 1998) ISBN 978-1-887279-87-1
  • 24 Hour Comics (editor) (About Comics, 2004) ISBN 978-0-9716338-4-1
  • Destroy!! (Oversized Edition) (Eclipse Books, 1986)
  • The Sculptor (First Second, 2015) 978-1-59643-573-5

Notes

  1. 1 2 McCloud, Scott. (2000), Reinventing Comics. Paradox Press. p. 92
  2. 1 2 Understanding Comics
  3. 1 2 Warren, James (June 17, 2011). "A New Therapeutic Tool in the Doctor's Bag: Comic Strips". The New York Times. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
  4. 1 2 Albert Boime and David Dodd (August 22, 2000), "PROFILE INTERVIEW: Scott McCloud". PopImage. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  5. ↑ Harvey, R.C. (August 1979), "Scott McCloud" Archived 2012-03-19 at the Wayback Machine.. The Comics Journal #179. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  6. ↑ Toko Buku Online.
  7. ↑ McCloud, Scott (Feb 2015). The Sculptor. New York: First Second.
  8. ↑ Wardrip-Fruin, Noah & Montfort, Nick (2003). The New Media Reader. The MIT Press.
  9. 1 2 http://www2.und.nodak.edu/our/uletter/print_article.php?uletterID=2163
  10. ↑ MIT news (September 20, 2006). "'Making Comics' author decodes cartoons". Archived from the original on November 28, 2007.
  11. ↑ Ben Hammersley (August 7, 2003). "Making the web pay". The Guardian.
  12. ↑ McCloud, Scott (2008-09-01). "Google Chrome, behind the Open Source Browser Product". Google. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
  13. ↑ The Cartoonist Movie. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
  14. ↑ [https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/kubernetes-comic/ Kubernetes Comic
  15. ↑ Coogan, Pete (September, 1990). "Creator's Rights". The Comics Journal p. 65-71
  16. ↑ McCloud, Scott (2000). Reinventing Comics, New York: Paradox Press. Pg. 62
  17. ↑ "Creator's Bill of Rights". 2006-10-13.
  18. ↑ Brattleboro Museum. "The 24-Hour Comic Book Challenge". Archived from the original on 2007-06-07.
  19. ↑ Cerebus #142 (Aardvark/Vanaheim, January 1991).
  20. ↑ McCloud, Scott. The 24-Hour Comics Index. scottmccloud.com. Retrieved October, 2013.
  21. ↑ McCloud, Scott (2006), Making Comics. William Morrow Paperbacks. pp 196-197
  22. ↑ Vollmar, Rob (September–October 2008). [ezproxy.lib.umb.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=34365979&site=ehost-live ""Manga In Manhattan, Scott McCloud's Twelve Revolutions, and Comics' Perfect Storm.""] Check |url= value (help). World Literature Today. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  23. ↑ "Scott McCloud | Journal » Manga". scottmccloud.com. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  24. ↑ Rosemary, Johnsen (October 2007). "Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels". Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Manga Keeps Growing in a Tough Economy". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  26. ↑ "Scott McCloud: Girls Are Taking the Comic Book World By Storm". Time. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  27. ↑ McCloud, Scott "About". Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  28. ↑ McCloud, Scott. Postscript to The Sculptor (First Second, 2015).
  29. ↑ Ratafia, Ivy. "What I did on my summer vacation," Ivy Ratafia's journal (Apr. 16, 2016).
  30. ↑ 1985 "Jack Kirby Awards". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac]. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  31. ↑ Kees Kousemaker. "Scott McCloud". Kees Kousemaker's Lambiek Comiclopedia. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  32. ↑ "The Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award" Archived 2011-11-01 at the Wayback Machine.. San Diego Comic-Con International. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  33. ↑ "The Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  34. ↑ "1994 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. November 16, 2011.
  35. 1 2 3 "1994 Harvey Award Nominees and Winners". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  36. ↑ "2001 Harvey Award Nominees and Winners". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  37. ↑ "1988 Harvey Award Nominees and Winners". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  38. 1 2 3 4 "1988 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. November 16, 2011.
  39. 1 2 "1991 Harvey Award Nominees and Winners". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  40. 1 2 3 4 "1991 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. November 16, 2011.
  41. ↑ "1992 Harvey Award Nominees and Winners". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  42. ↑ "1993 Harvey Award Nominees and Winners". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  43. 1 2 3 "1998 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. November 16, 2011.
  44. ↑ "2007 Harvey Award Nominees and Winners". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved November 16, 2011.

References

Interviews

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