Understanding Comics

After reading the first 3 chapters of "Understanding Comics," I have a much greater perception of the meaning of comics. I had always thought that they were just novels where every paragraph or section of words was represented by a picture. I never thought that there were types of transitions between panels, that the artist just played everything by ear. Of course, I knew that things like composition and panels were set up a certain way, as well as the shape of the panels and shading style, etc. However, after reading this, I am just amazed, and a little intimidated, I admit, of all the different types of transitions, the complex definition of comics just blew me away, and made me feel stupid in a way, or at least made me feel like I was living under a rock all this time. I still am having some problems comprehending everything in all 3 chapters, but I see this as a challenge and a learning experience. I'll most likely be incorporating much of what I have read into my own comics. At the moment, I am studying storyboarding and animation, and have learned so much in those classes already. All of these rules and styles and types of ways to go about doing things are making my head hurt, haha.