Ethos Without Words

Ethos is an appeal to ethics as means to convince a reader of an author’s credibility.  Scott McCloud, best known for his work in the production department of DC Comics and his many own comic series, establishes ethos in one of his most famous works, “Understanding Comics”.  In this series, a caricature of himself explains and traces the relationship between the use of words and pictures in a comic strip.

Of the first sixteen panels of this comic, six without words at all, McCloud is able to portray a very clear depiction of his young self during his class’ Show and Tell.  He stands at the front of the room, introducing his toy robot to his teacher and classmates.  He stumbles trying to explain the functions of his toy aloud but has a very easy time showing them.  In the fourth frame, his teacher insists that the boy TELL the class about his robot, not demonstrate.

This can be related to the idea of the combination of and harmony between words and pictures in comics.  An author/artist must choose between illustrating their comic through words, pictures, or both.  For many people, if they are given an image, they either want the exact words to know how to feel or they like to make their own dialogue.

I especially remember last year when my mother told me to listen to my baby sister read me a book for school.  I had read the book to her probably close to fifteen times and it was one of her favorites.  As she started reading, I realized that she wasn’t actually reading at all.  She would look directly at the pictures that accompanied it and would make up her own story.  There were times when she “read” to me and it would have absolutely nothing to do with the actual plot; her imagination would run wild.  Not only did I find this entertaining but I almost admired her for it.  She was able to look at a picture and explain exactly how it made her feel.  She could come up with a page worth of words for just one scene.  The pictures simply weren’t enough for her to be satisfied with.

McCloud tries to explain this exact theory through his comic.  He wants readers to see all of the variations of comics.  By portraying one of his childhood memories, he is able to help guide us to understand this.  He is able to establish ethos through this memory.

Also, the seventeenth frame interrupts the Show and Tell scene.  His older, more experienced self-caricature talks about how we have all been in a situation like this; where we “use words and images interchangeably.”  He is able to establish ethos in this way as well because he is proving to his audience that he has dealt with this for much of his life and is experienced in his opinions.