Scott McCloud
Scott McCloud
Scott McCloudis an American cartoonist and comics theorist. He is best known for his non-fiction books about comics, Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics, and Making Comics...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCartoonist
Date of Birth10 June 1960
CityBoston, MA
CountryUnited States of America
careers drawing approach
It wasn't until I discovered comics that I actually began to approach drawing as a possible career.
looks kind difficult
I've always been very forward-looking, and it was actually kind of difficult to turn my gaze backwards to look at comics history.
opportunity done way
And what better way to reinvent the form than to toss virtually 99% of everything that's been done with it and start with a brand-new canvas, reinvent it from the ground up? Digital comics gave me the opportunity to do that, and producing things digitally gave me the opportunity to do that.
thinking nonfiction has-beens
I don't think the potential for comics in nonfiction has been exploited nearly as much as it could be.
always-trying careers trying
All through my comics career, I was always trying to reinvent the form.
bridges two mind
A medium is a bridge between two minds.
dad technology thinking
My dad was an inventor, and I think I've always had a rosy view of technology, or at least its potential.
territory explaining familiar
The notion of getting under the hood and explaining how something works, that's fairly familiar territory to me.
scene bigger
Webcomics are much bigger than any one scene can circumscribe.
toss want bigs
There's a very big part of me that just wants to take all of comics history and toss it on the bonfire. I'd sort of like to get on to the future.
writing thinking stories
If you just write the kinds of stories you think others will want to read, you'll be competing with cartoonists who are far more enthusiastic for that kind of comic than you are, and they'll kick your ass every time.
book ifs has-beens
I wouldn't necessarily have been making books about how to make comics if I'd really felt I knew how to make comics.
community brilliant scene
If a comic comes out on the scene and it's really knock-out brilliant, the community is pretty good about getting the word about good newcomers.
fun writing thinking
Nobody knows what will work until they try it. Some of comics' biggest success stories in recent years have explored subjects that no one was writing about at the time - stories no one had any reason to think would succeed. My advice? Write what you want to read. You'll have more fun doing it - and if all else fails, you'll always have at least one loyal reader.