Comics is more than just pretty drawings (or may be it has nothing to do with prettiness), it involves writing, planning, pacing, placement of graphic element to show action, flow of time, locations, moods and many other things. I was actually a little hesitant to create my own comics, because I knew the most I could offer were a few cute vegetable characters.

So I went to my local bookstores and searched for books on comics. There are many, to my surprise, dedicated to a huge variety of related topics, from drawing big eyes Japanese-style cute girls to American-style super heroes and fantasy monsters. To me, the book that really stood out was Scott McCloud’s “Making Comics”.

“Making Comics” doesn’t particularly teach how to draw, but it offers you very valuable insights. For example, some book might teach you how to draw a super hero standing up straight, but “Making Comics” shows you how you position your eye level on a subject to suggest to your reader the possibility of authority or weakness. How you combine different basic emotions to create subtler and more believable emotions - for example, how do you draw a “pity” looking face? The book shows you by combining a face that shows mild joy and a face that shows mild sadness could get you that non-black-and-white emotion.

The book is a joy to read, because it is created in a comic book format. If the book is purely text, it will make no dents in my head after finish reading it - I would remember nothing. Because it’s in comics format, when I suddenly feel like I could reuse some advice from the book, I can quickly flip through the pages and find the right topic. The book has offered so many insights, now that I am eager to try them all. I am more confident, and your comics would definitely improve if you follow Scott McCloud’s advice.