Making Comics

Scott McCloud’s Making Comics is the third in his trilogy of nonfiction comics about comics, following Understanding Comics and Reinventing Comics. Published in 2006, it functions as a practical studio manual while continuing McCloud’s argument that comics are a distinct visual language with its own grammar. The book is itself drawn as a comic, with McCloud appearing as a cartoon narrator guiding readers through techniques and decisions. Its core framework is organized around five “choices” that creators make: choice of moment, frame, image, word, and flow. Choice of moment concerns selecting which moments to depict and how to bridge them through transitions. Choice of frame covers panel shape, size, and placement. Choice of image addresses clarity, expression, and character design. Choice of word examines how text and pictures combine, including word balloons and captions. Choice of flow deals with guiding the reader’s eye and creating page layouts. McCloud also introduces concepts such as the “four tribes” of comics creators—classicists, animists, formalists, and iconoclasts—to describe different artistic priorities, and he discusses the “invisible art” of storytelling and the importance of facial expressions, body language, and setting. Throughout, he uses side-by-side examples, exercises, and comparisons to show how different choices produce different effects. The book’s setting is the page itself, and its protagonist is the working cartoonist’s decision-making process. Making Comics is widely used in comics and illustration courses for its systematic vocabulary and its emphasis on storytelling clarity. It does not promise success or inspiration; instead it maps the practical and aesthetic decisions that shape every panel and page.