McCLOUD . SHOW AND TELL 737

From Show and Tell

Scou McCroup

essay)

Scott McCloud (b. .l960)

decided to become o comics ortist when he wos in tenthgrode. After groduoting from Syrocuse University with o degree in illustrotion,McCloud worked in the production deportment of DC Comics until he begon pub-lishing his own comic series, "Zoll" ond "Destroy!!" McCloud is the outhor ofUnderstanding Comics: The lnvisible Art (1993) ond Reinventing Comics (2000).ln Understonding Comics, from which the following excerpts ore token, o corico-ture of McCloud guides the reoder through o study of whot he colls sequentiol ortby trocing the relotionship between words ond imoges.

(graphic

Exploring the Text

1. Scott McCloud begins with a series of sixteen panels of a boy demonstrating howhis toy robot turns into an airplane. Six of the panels have no words, /et thevignette manages to establish both pathos and ethos. How does McCloud accom-plish this? Consider the drawings and the words separately, and then considerthem together.

2. Why does McCloud use the show-and-tell vignette to open the piece? How does itsupport the piece's main idea?

3. On page 741, McCloud defines comics (although he says it isn't his definition) as

"words and pictures in combination." He suggests that this is essentially show-

and-tell. Tiace how he uses classification to expand and refine his definition. Howdoes he provide examples for each of his categories?

4. On pageT45,McCloud uses dance as a metaphor to explain the possibilities in the

relationship between words and images. Do you consider the words or the illustra-tions more powerful in illustrating that relationship? Can either stand alone?

5. What audience is McCloud addressing? In what ways does he acknowledge thataudience? How does he establish ethos?

6. McCloud uses comic-book conventiqns such as exaggerated facial expressions toshow emotion and a character walking left to right to create a sense of slowness

and difficulty. Find other examples of these conventions, and compare them to the

conventions of language he employs.

7. Charles McGrath, an editor of the New York Times Book Review, wrote in a 2004

essay "Not Funnies," that comic books are "what novels used to be - an accessi-

ble, ve-rnacular form with mass appeal." He says that if the "highbrows" are right,they are a "form perfectly suited to our dumbed-down culture and collective

attentiotr deficit." How might Scott McCloud respond to McGrath and the "high-brows"? How does McCloud address the gap between high and low culture?

8. How would you describe the tone of "Show and Tell" (p. 738)? How does McCloudcreate it? Are the words or images more instrumental in creating the tone? Are

there places where the words and images create different tones?

738 cHAPTER tt . PoPULAR cULTURE

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McCLOUD . SHOW AND TELL 739

THANK YOU, wg.AU srAKrFt ourLIKE THIs, P/DN'T W€ 7

USING WORDS AND IMAAcS/NT€RCI/ANGFAAIX

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740 cHAPTER T . PoPULAR cULTURE

TRADTTToNT\L THINKTNG HAs LoNG HELp rHAT TEU* GR&47WORKS OF ART AND LITFRATURE ARE ONLY POSSISLE WHEN THF

TWO ARE KEPT AT ARM's LENGTH.

AS CHILDREN,OURFIRST gOOKS HADP/CTARE'9 AA{ORF

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McCLOUD . SHOW AND TELL 741

WORDS AND PICTURES INCOMSINATION MAY NOT BT M7

DE/C7N/77ON OF cOMlcg EUTTHE COMEINATION HAs HAD

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A HUOE RANOEOFHUMAN EXPERIENCESCAN 8E PORTRA}'TDIN COMICS THROUoH

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McCLOUD . SHOW AND TELL 743

TYPE IS THE

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PARAII€LCOMEINATIONS,

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744 CHAPTER n . PoPULAR CULTURE

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McCLOUD . SHOW AND TELL 745

rN coMtcs AT rTS a€srWORDS AND PICTURTSARE LIKEMRTNERS IN A DANCE AND

EACH ONE TAKES TURN5WHEN AOTH PARTNERS TRY TO LEAD,rHe cdMrETrTroN cAN $uBl/FEr

THE OVERALL GOALS.,.

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EUT WHEN THFSE PARTNEIASEACH /(NOW THEIR ROLFS--

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746 cHAPTER T . PoPULAR CULTURE

WHEN HCTAEES CARRY THE WEICHTOF CLARITY IN A SCENE, THEY FREEWORDS TO EXPLORE A WIDER AREA.

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157

LET,S SAY T SHOW YOU AWOITAN WALK'N6 ACROSS THE

STR.EET IN THE RAIN, SUYIN€ APINT OF ICE CRTAM AND EATING

IT IN HER ATARTMENT-.

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McCLOUD . SHOW AND TELL 747

WHEN A SCENE SHCIWS YOU ALLvou 'NEED" TO KNOW, L|KE 7///S OEe,

THE LATITUDE FOR SCRrPT4NO\ GRowS ENOR/WOUSLY -/

IT COULDEECOME ANlN7E"KNAL/woMoLoGae

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MAYSE IT,$ ALL JUST A 6IGAPYERT/AEil?ENT/

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PFRHAPS SOMETHINO WILDLY/NCONC,<UOU'9

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'A4185/OM CONTROL, tn/$g/O/VCONTROL, DO YOU READ /WE7'

OR A CHANCE'IO RUMINATE ONSKAADFF TOP|C,9.

Tllls lS THE 1ll t IWAY THEWORLD 6'NDS..,

-IHIS IS TH€wAv rt-lE\,VORID FNDS...

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158

748 cHAPTER T . PoPULAR cULTURE

oN THE Or7nIR HAND IF THE WOEDSLOCK IN THE'ilIEANINO" OF A SEQUENCE.THEN TI.IE PICTURFS CAN RFALIY TAKE OFF,

I CROSSED THESTRFET'TO THECONVENIENCE STORE.THF RAIN SOAKFDINTO MY BOOTS.

I FOUND THELAST flNT OFCHOCOLATECHOCOLATE CHIPtN THE FREEZ;ER..

THE CLERK TRIFD TO PICK ME UP. I SAIDNO WANK'9. HE OAVEMETHIScRFFPy LOOK...

I WFNT BACK TO THEAPARTMENT--

--AND FINTSHED IT ALL ]N AN HOUR.

t59

McCLOUD . SHOW AND TELL 749

NOW ONE COULDJUST COMAIN€ 1HE

PICTUR€g FROM PAGE157 w|TH THE WORDS

FROM PAOE I5? -.

IF THEARTISTWANTS TO,HE/SHECAN NOWSHOW ONLYFRAaIU€NTgOFASCFNE.

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PER}.IAPS THE ARTIST CAN 6IVE USsOME IMPORTANT EINOT|ONA LINFORMATION.

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OK MOVE TOWARD GREATFR.LEYEL$ OF ASSTzACT|ON OREXPRTSIAN.

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OR SHIFT AHEAD ORFACKWARDS IN TIME.

..AND FINISHED IT AtL IN AN HOUR.

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160

750 cHAPTER tt . PoPULAR cULTURE

THE MIXINGOF WORDS AND

PICTURE*5 I' MOREALCHEMY THAN

r€MUCH WE MAY '

C/IAKT THESETH'N6S, THNIREALL AffllwArElySFST LFFT TOTIIE CREATORS

tilgftn/cTs.

SOME OF THE SECRETS OF THOSE FlK\rfALCHFMISTS MAY HAVT 6EEN LOST

IN THE ANCIENT PAST.

.. WHEN TO TELL WAg-ro SHow--

--AND TO SHOWWAS TO TELL.

rHrS rs AN FXCtrfiffiTIIilETA 8E MAKINGCOMICS, AND INMANY WAYS 1. FEFLYERY IU€I<Y TOHAVE SEEN BORN

WHEN I WAS.