As all good card-carrying comic-book fans know, their sheer passion will never overcome narrow-minded critics and their baying cries of derision. There is far more to this perpetually underrated medium than a mix of art and prose. With this indispensable, spellbinding tome, writer/artist Scott McCloud rises to the challenge of dissecting what remains the most enigmatic of art forms. After all, says McCloud, "No other art form gives so much to its audience while asking so much from them as well". Over the course of 215 impeccably formed pages, McCloud joyously exposes and deconstructs a hidden world of icons in a most literate and valid manner. His charming guidance finds a place where Time and Space is effortlessly malleable and the reader is both a willing accomplice and necessary vessel for comics' singular magic. Cunningly presented in comic form, McCloud (or his comic equivalent) conducts a journey that spans thousands of years, taking in art from Prehistoric Man to the Egyptians to Van Gogh to Jack Kirby. Never has psychological and cultural analysis been so understandably clear, beautifully aided by clever visuals and his truly infectious love for the medium. By the end of this funny, charming, rare and exciting book, you'll not doubt the notion that a comic book "...is a vacuum into which our identity and awareness are pulled ... an empty shell that we inhabit which enables us to travel to another realm". A fine exchange for a little faith and a world of imagination. --Danny Graydon

"A landmark dissection and intellectual consideration of comics as a valid medium."-- Will Eisner "McCloud is the McLuhan of comics."-- James Gurney, "Dinotopia"

斯科特·麦克劳德（Scott McCloud）于1960年出生在美国波士顿，15岁就立志成为职业漫画家。1984年以漫画《Zot!》出道。他除了发表一些独立作品如《林肯新冒险》等等之外，也为DC漫画公司创作了一些超人系列漫画。他是最先尝试电脑漫画创作和在线漫画的人之一。但比起漫画家的身份，斯科特·麦克劳德更以漫画理论家闻名——他从事教学和演讲多年，编绘的《理解漫画》(Understanding Comics)系统的介绍了漫画的发展沿革、艺术语言、表现手法，是一本向大众普及漫画艺术的入门作品 ——它用简单的画面告诉人们，漫画不是宅男的读物，而是一种拥有强烈表现力的艺术形式。这部作品浅显易懂，成为深受平面设计、游戏设计和网页设计人士欢迎的经典教材。后来他推出的两本续集《再造漫画》(Reinventing Comics)和《漫画制作》(Making Comics)也沿用这种形式。斯科特·麦克劳德曾经12次获得美国漫画两大奖项——艾森纳奖和哈维奖的提名。其中《理解漫画》获得艾森纳奖和哈维奖，并被翻译成13种语言在全球发行。