Week+4

Do you agree with McLuhan when states comics are an extension of photographic media? Why or why not?
I agree with McLuhan that comics are an extension of photographic media. In the past, when letters and printing methods were not invented yet, our ancestors carved pictures on stones and walls to spread messages. Children started reading story books filled with mainly pictures to learn about meanings and things in life. Pictures play an important role in conveying messages, sometimes even more powerful than words since pictures show the real thing, compare the words that can only describe the object.

Like photos, comics allow us to put our imagination into the story line. The minimal of words in comics allow readers to interpret their own thoughts into the story and complete the missing details between the frames. Just like photographs, where viewers are able to integrate their own thoughts and experiences to give their own meanings to the pictures.This also explains McLuhan's idea of comic as a "cool" media since readers are able to fill in the details in comics. Compare to "hot" media such as movies, audiences are forced to decode and accept all the meanings without having a chance to put a second thought in them since the motions are going too fast.

Even though comics do not contain as much words or details as other media such as television, movies, books etc... comics still act as a medium that conveys messages to readers, just like story books that children read or carved pictures that our ancestors drew. In comics, there's a plot that flows like movies or television shows, albeit short and simple. Time passes, characters keep developing and conversations exist in comics. All these are demonstrated by pictures and texts within the frames in comic books. As a result, comics can be seen as a photographic media that convey messages to the public.