Scott McCloud - Understanding Comics, The Invisible Art

Scott McCloud - Understanding Comics, The Invisible Art

From The Game Developers' Library by Indie Game Clinic

February 16, 2026 · 1h 21m · Episode 6

About this episode

The episode explores Scott McCloud's 'Understanding Comics' and its implications for indie game developers.

In this episode we attempt to verbally describe a comic book. But not just any comic book. Scott McCloud's 1993 "Understanding Comics" is a comic about comics; not necessarily how to make them, but how they "work" for readers. Your librarians Tom and Joe jump about the book in no particular order, picking apart what they personally got from the book, and highlighting areas where we think there's something interesting in there for an indie dev.  TOPICS INCLUDE: > how videogames are interactive cartoons > semiotics and the psychology of images > how "gaps" and "holes" in stories create engagement > nonlinear narrative in different media > starting projects with "ideas" vs starting with craft TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 intro  01:45 why this book 06:15 overview 11:35 indie games and cartoon aesthetics 14:02 two mediums with the same status issue 16:22 iconic representation and identification 18:55 history and definition of comics 23:02 the semiotics of comics 30:12 the three types of image 41:00 gamers love a ruined city 44:48 time is weird in comics 49:45 "closure" in media psychology 52:33 non-linear moments in comics 57:29 the meaning of lines and colours 59:20…

People in this episode

Hosts: Tom, Joe

Topics covered

  • comics
  • video games
  • semiotics
  • nonlinear narrative
  • engagement in storytelling
  • interactive media

Keywords

  • comics
  • video games
  • semiotics
  • narrative
  • engagement
  • interactive cartoons
  • creativity

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Understanding Comics

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