Editing Understanding Comics (section)

{{short description|1993 non-fiction comic book by Scott McCloud}}
{{Infobox book
| name              = Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
| image             = UnderstandingComics.jpg
| caption           = Cover of the original [[Tundra Publishing]] edition of ''Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art''
| author            = [[Scott McCloud]]
| editor            = [[Mark Martin (cartoonist)|Mark Martin]]
| country           = United States
| language          = English
| subject           = [[Comics]]
| release_date      = 1993
| pages             = 215
| followed_by       = [[Reinventing Comics]]
}}
'''''Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art''''' is a 1993 non-fiction work of [[comics]] by American cartoonist [[Scott McCloud]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brooks |first1=Kevin |title=More 'Seriously Visible' Reading: McCloud, McLuhan, and the Visual Language of "The Medium Is the Massage" |journal=College Composition and Communication |year=2009 |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=W217–W237 |doi=10.58680/ccc20098320 |jstor=40593531}}</ref> It explores formal aspects of comics, the historical development of the medium, its fundamental vocabulary, and various ways in which these elements have been used.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Varnum |first1=Robin |last2=Gibbons |first2=Christina T |title=The Language of Comics: Word and Image |date=2007 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1578064144 |pages=xiii, xiv, 147 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j_S6QHAov1kC&pg=PR13 |access-date=23 June 2014}}</ref> It expounds theoretical ideas about comics as an art form and medium of communication, and is itself written in comic book form.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Manning |first1=A.D. |title=Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (article) |journal=IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication |date=March 1998 |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=66–69 |doi=10.1109/TPC.1998.661632 |s2cid=55872998 |url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1645&context=facpub|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

''Understanding Comics'' received praise from notable comic and [[graphic novel]] authors such as [[Art Spiegelman]], [[Will Eisner]], [[Alan Moore]], [[Neil Gaiman]], and [[Garry Trudeau]] (who reviewed the book for ''[[The New York Times]]'').<ref>Trudeau, Garry. "Understanding Comics—Scott McCloud", ''New York Times Book Review'' (Feb. 13, 1994), p. 13.</ref> Although the book has prompted debate over many of McCloud's conclusions,<ref>[[Dylan Horrocks|Horrocks, Dylan]]. [http://www.hicksville.co.nz/Inventing%20Comics%206.htm "Inventing Comics: Scott McCloud's Definition of Comics"] ''The Comics Journal'' #234 (June 2001).</ref> its discussions of "iconic" art and the concept of "closure" between panels have become common reference points in discussions of the medium.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brenner |first1=Robin |title=Graphic novels 101: where to start. |journal=The Horn Book Guide |date=March–April 2006 |volume=82 |issue=2 |page=240 |url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,url,cookie,uid&db=ehh&AN=20001403&site=ehost-live&scope=site |access-date=23 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Magnussen |first1=Anne |last2=Christiansen |first2=Hans-Christian |title=Comics & Culture: Analytical and Theoretical Approaches to Comics |date=2000 |publisher=Museum Tusculanum Press |isbn=9788772895802 |pages=13, 14, 23, 49 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cil7WbXg8BkC&pg=PA13 |access-date=23 June 2014}}</ref>

The title of ''Understanding Comics'' is an homage to [[Marshall McLuhan]]'s seminal 1964 work ''[[Understanding Media]]''.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}