The 2014-15 Wittenberg Series continues with author and comics artist Scott McCloud, presenting the Visual Arts Lecture “Comics and Visual Communication,” at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 16, in Bayley Auditorium in the Barbara Deer Kuss Science Center, 315 Bill Edwards Drive.
McCloud—an author, artist, cartoonist, and inventor— has been making comics professionally since 1984. An advocate for the use of comics as a valid literary form, McCloud is best known today for his book Understanding Comics (1993). Told in comic format, the book "represented a major step forward in developing a theoretical basis for understanding the comics medium” and has been translated into more than 16 languages.
Between 1984 and 1991, McCloud wrote and drew 36 issues of his first comics series, Zot!, a superhero story that features unorthodox storytelling and compositions, according to McCloud. His subsequent comics include Destroy!! and The New Adventures of Abraham Lincoln, as well as scripts for various Superman Adventures and Superman: Strength comics.
Described by Frank Miller (Sin City, 300) as "just about the smartest guy in comics," McCloud has shaped the modern art and study of comics with his inventions and innovations. He is the primary author of the 1988 “Creator’s Bill of Rights,” a document to protect the intellectual property of comics creators. In 1990, he invented the 24-Hour Comic, a challenge for comic creators to produce 24 pages of comics within a single 24-hour period.
In addition to his print and web comics, McCloud is also widely known for the Google Chrome Comic and his books Reinventing Comics (2000), which explores the comics revolution in arts, culture and technology, and Making Comics (2006), which delves into storytelling techniques and resulted in the Making Comics 50 State Tour.
McCloud is currently on a three-month book tour throughout the United States and Europe for his first full-length graphic novel, The Sculptor (2015). McCloud lives with his family in southern California. His online comics and inventions can be found at scottmccloud.com.
In addition to his lecture, McCloud will participate in a colloquium at 4 p.m. in Bayley Auditorium.
All Wittenberg Series events are free and open to the public. This event is sponsored by Gil Belles, Wittenberg class of 1962.
Now in its 32nd year, the Wittenberg Series brings distinguished lecturers and performing artists of national and international prominence to the Wittenberg campus and Springfield community. To make special arrangements, request a Series poster, or become a friend of the Wittenberg Series, contact Nuggie Libecap at libecapn@wittenberg.edu.
