Eng. 658 – Week 6 Blog 2

McCloud’s terrific comic stands out as a groundbreaking piece of theoretical imagery. His assumption and theory that we connect with cartoon characters because we can see ourselves in them versus life-like images within whom we cannot view ourselves seems revolutionary. To date, I have not heard of, although it may exist, a similar theory into this element of our psyche…

Scott McCloud, in “The Vocabulary of Comics” (1994), asserts the new historicist notion that if “who I am matters less, maybe what I say will matter more” (208). McCloud brilliantly supports his claim through an excellent and fascinating comic strip that utilizes McCloud himself as a cartoon character exploring the rhetorical discourse and rhetorical ramifications visual icons and cartoon characters have on their audiences. McCloud’s purpose is to educate his audience concerning the influence of rhetorical visual imagery and rhetorical writing in order to make his audience more critical thinkers. McCloud successfully connects with his audience of graduate students and scholars interested in the rhetorical uses of visual imagery.