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''Comics & Sequential Art'' is based on a series of essays that appeared in ''The Spirit'' magazine, themselves based on Eisner's experience teaching a course in sequential art at The School Of Visual Arts , New York City. However, it is not presented as a teaching guide, but as demonstrations of the principles and methods Eisner highlights. The book is well-regarded in the community of comics professionals, garnering praise from the likes of Michael Chabon , Neil Gaiman , Jeff Smith , and referenced and expanded on by Scott McCloud in '' Understanding Comics ''. BOOK CONTENTS Foreword "Traditionally, most practitioners with whom I worked and talked produced their art viscerally. Few ever had the time or inclination to diagnose the form itself... As I began to dismantle the complex components... I found that I was involved with an 'art of communication' more than simply an application of art." Chapter 1: 'Comics' as reading In the first chapter Eisner demonstrates that comics have a vocabulary and grammar in both prose and illustration. (He refers to an article by Tom Wolfe in the Harvard Educational Review (August 1977), expanding the term "reading" to mean more than just "reading words".) Chapter 2: Imagery This chapter includes the complete Spirit story, ''Hoagy the Yogi, Part 2'', originally published March 23, 1947, demonstrating the use of pure imagery (visual pantomime with only incidental text) to tell the story of Ebony's adventures with Hoagy the Yogi . Chapter 3: "Timing" Compositional and internal timing are demonstrated in the complete Spirit story, ''Foul Play'', originally published March 27, 1949. Compositional timing is used to determine when to reveal events in the story for maximum effect (eg, surprise), whereas internal timing is used to suggest short or long periods of time within a panel (eg, using a dripping faucet). This establishes a "time rhythm". Chapter 4: The Frame This is an extensive chapter devoted to the use of one of the basic tools of the comics artist: the frame. As well as many extracts, including examples of splash pages (an Eisner trademark), this chapter includes several complete stories and chapters:
Chapter 5: Expressive Anatomy This chapter covers gesture, posture and the face. ''Hamlet On A Rooftop'', originally published June 1981, demonstrates the use of all three, casting Shakespeare's famous Soliloquy from '' Hamlet '' in a modern urban context. External link Chapter 6: Writing & Sequential Art Eisner considers the relationship between text and image, and writer and artist, including the use of scripts and dummies. Chapter 7: Application (The Use of Sequential Art) Eisner divides sequential art into two broad categories: instruction and entertainment. (His further subdivisions are Entertainment Comics, The Graphic Novel , Technical Instruction Comics, Attitudinal Instruction Comics and Story Boards .) See also Chapter 8: Teaching/Learning Sequential Art for Comics in the print and computer era This chapter gives an overview of skills required for successful sequential art, including drawing skills (eg, perspective), general knowledge (eg, how everyday devices work) and comics-specific techniques (eg, balloons). It also covers the printing process, the use of computers to create print comics, and electronic comics. (The latter is covered in more depth by McCloud in '' Reinventing Comics '', including electronic publishing and payment.) See also
Index SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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