The Future is a Trilogy; The Past is a Series

Full Title: Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels

This book did not immediately catch my eye. It’s done in comic format and when I initially flipped through it (something I’m in the habit of doing with reference books) it seemed both too busy and flip. Since it was at the library, borrowing costs nothing and I brought it home.

Wow!

Once I started reading it in the manner intended, I realized this book divulges in entertaining detail the innermost secrets of the graphic novel world. This is not a beginners art book, it will not teach you how to draw; it will teach you how to tell stories in words and pictures. How to express emotions through changes in facial expressions and body language, how to slow down time with wordless frames and how draw the reader into a created world with a panoramic scene. I would tell you more, but I’m breathless with wonder. All these secrets are revealed with fully realized examples in every panel, and detailed, but fun explanatory breakdowns so that even the most technical phrases are simple and memorable. If you are an artist, this book is a treasure, if you are a comics fan, this is a fascinating read. I’d buy it if I had too, but I’ll just keep borrowing. Don’t expect to find it in the Whitchurch Stouffville Library any time soon–it’s with me.