To be honest, I didn't make it all through this book. I took it out from the library, renewed it once and still couldn't finish it.
Why? Well, because Wolk doesn't make it easy for readers to get involved in the book.
I wonder what Wolk's idea behind this book was. On the surface, it seems that Reading Comics was to be a guide to for new readers to the world of comics. But the way he writes it is so elitist that I could see it failing in that task.
The first part of the book is where Wolk explains what a comic book is. At times, it appears that he went through a dictionary with a highlighter, and decided to find a way to put the biggest and most obscure words into his text.
I think I know what he was going for. He was trying to show that this is an intelligent dissection of the comic book art form. That Cahmics are Ahrt Dahling! But you can be intelligent without being obtuse.
As you can see in this blog, I use a lot of "big" words too. But not as many as Wolf did. The language of Reading Comics is not inviting. And if you are trying to welcome the largest number of people into reading comics, inviting would be better than exclusive.
The second part of the book deals with critical essays about many different comic creators. Wolk seems to go out of his way to point out something negative about each of his subjects, be they Will Eisner or Alan Moore. I suppose this is in the interests of providing a balanced view to the reader. But, if you are trying to show the good points the medium has to offer, it really doesn't do much good to tear it down in the same paragraph.
This is just my personal opinion, and all based on the idea that Reading Comics is meant to entice new readers in. If it was marketed to fans, I probably wouldn't have as big a problem with it. But as a cheerleader for the "art form", I think it is lacking.
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