Show This, Tell That

Comics get a bad rap. Most of the time they're seen as trashy or just a waste of an opportunity to read a book. While comics use pictures, that does not mean they're not as in depth as books. Graphic novels are getting some respect, which is great. However, some people still do not see the mix of words and art as real literature or real art. McCloud, however, the author of Understanding Comics, and the comic "Show and Tell" is able to convince even the most stubborn reader that putting words and pictures together has some merit, all through his use of ethos.
Ethos is using authority to add credibility to a piece. McCloud, as a comic book artist, has experience creating stories with pictures and words. He worked as an artist for DC Comics, created his own series, and written several books. His experience with creating visual literature gives him the credibility to explain why comics and graphic novels are pretty great, even for the oldest reader.
On the first two pages, McCloud draws himself as a child, connecting the reader (every reader was once a child) to the act of interchanging words with symbols and pictures.
On the fourth page, he explains how pictures and words go so well together. Words and pictures work together to get an idea across that would have been hard to understand otherwise. Clearly, as an artist, he understands how important putting words and images together to create one unique idea is. He lists seven different ways words and images interact: word specific (pictures add a point), picture specific (words create sounds), duo-specific (both words and images put the same idea across), additive (one concept enhances another), parallel (words and images work together but seem to go down different paths, so to speak), montage (words are pictures and pictures are words), and interdependent (both words and pictures needed to get the idea across). McCloud's knowledge on the subject and his clear concise explanation of each type of interaction shows that he clearly knows what he's talking about. The examples he provides allows the reader to clearly see where each interaction would be used.
In the next few pages, he draws a short comic about a girl getting ice cream. It's raining, she's crying, and then she eats the ice cream. The next set of panels is only words. Together, it creates a visual story. However, the words for the images do not have to match perfectly:
An image of a girl crying may be seen as sad, but by using words, she can say that she's happy about say, a surprise or a birthday. Using words and pictures is simply another way to delve into creating stories. It is not simple, and McCloud says that finding a balance can be hard. But clearly, with his experience, he's figured it out.