Understanding Comics

The concept I found most striking in Understanding Comics was the premise of amplification through simplification within the comic medium. By simplifying an art style the reader is less likely to be absorbed in the artwork itself as opposed to the content presented in the work. The content can be watered down and overshadowed by the complexity or immaculate design work of the pages, the meaning or moral can be lost. This technique is accompanied by the ability to exaggerate your suspension of disbelief, by making a character less complex, bare even, the human mind seeks to fill a void we see in this character, often times with ourselves. We place ourselves into the comic, and live the story along with the characters. Having the main protagonist often the simplest character, and the others more detailed, so that the reader feels like they are the center of the action. The more simplified the character the more likely you are to see aspects of yourself in them. 

Children's comics and Japanese manga do this masterfully. Tackling social issues and rather mature themes with a simple and often fun art style so that readers hardly even realize what it is they've experienced, and in some cases may have even learned. 

This ties into the concept of why we create stories and comics, and why we do them the way that we do them. If your goal is to teach with a comic, to shape young minds and take adventures, this technique would be very valuable to you. However if you were seeking to create adventure stories where the reader may not place themselves into the characters lives, but rather be along for the ride, then perhaps a more illustrative path would be best for your stories. This makes being very self aware critical to the comic medium, if you aren't sure of your purpose, there may not be many other things you can be sure of in your stories.