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), and was called �one of the most
insightful books about designing graphic user interfaces ever written� by Apple
Macintosh co-creator Andy Hertzfeld [1]. Although the book has prompted debate over
many of McCloud�s conclusions, its discussions of �iconic� art and the concept of
�closure� between panels have become common reference points in discussions of the
medium.

In the book's seventh chapter, "The Six Steps,"[2] McCloud outlines a six-part
process of artistic creation (Idea/Purpose, Form, Idiom, Structure, Craft,
Surface). He also notes that artists tend to fall into two classes, depending on
which of the first two steps they emphasize more. Those who emphasize the second
step "are often pioneers and revolutionaries--artists who want to shake things
up,"[3] while those who emphasize the first are "great storytellers, creators
who...devote all their energies to controlling their medium...to convey messages
effectively."[4] With these ideas, McCloud anticipates the artistic theory of David
Galenson, which divides all artists into two groups with qualities similar to those
McCloud notes.

Understanding Comics was first published by Tundra Publishing; reprintings have

been released by Kitchen Sink Press, DC Comics� Paradox Press, DC�s Vertigo line,
and HarperPerennial.