UNDERSTANDING COMICS: The Invisible Art by...

UNDERSTANDING COMICS: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud (HarperPerennial: $20; 216 pp.). Despite their enormous popularity all over the world, comic strips and comic books have been the subject of remarkably little serious critical analysis. McCloud offer an unusually intelligent overview of the popular art form built on sequential visual images, usually juxtaposed with dialogue and/or verbal descriptions. Noting that this powerful medium has seldom been used for more than superficial entertainment in America, he stresses that its potential remains largely untapped. Readers may find themselves looking at familiar newspaper strips with new respect.