McCloud Reading

I found the reading on McCloud to be very interesting and unique. I can honestly say it is my favorite reading so far. I loved the comic style, I feel it made the reading much more enjoyable. It was also easier to read because there were demonstrations or examples on every page to go along with everything the author was saying. My favorite part I'd have to say was just reading along with the animated author. I greatly enjoyed how his expressions could change from panel to panel. 

Though I did find the reading extremely unique it did remind me of our reading on The Sticky Embrace of Beauty. The ideas of form and content being connected were also mentioned there, but I think McCloud goes a step further in identifying the separation of literature and art. The first thing that came to my mind was manga (and/or graphic novels). I know many people, myself included, who love reading manga and graphic novels. The stories are often complex and thought provoking, as well as artistically inspiring. Yet most people wouldn't consider graphic novels , comics or mangas to be a mature form of reading, despite its mature content.  My example for this is the graphic novel, Watchmen written in the 1980s. Despite the fact that the novel has a deeply intellectual plot, it did not gain popular recognition until it was turned into a movie this year. It is my theory that if one were to try and promote the story as a graphic novel, success would be minimal. But as a movie, the ideas and story is easily attracts an audience. Perhaps though this is simply a cultural issue. In Japan manga is accepted and respected as leisure and intellectual reading. 

The reading has also made me see a greater importance in multimedia. Just as I found McClouds reading to be more engaging through his expressions on the page, the internet is more engaging and more enjoyable to read with multimedia.