Source: sequart.com

5. Understanding Comics

Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics is an absolute masterpiece unlike any other.

If you’ve ever read a comic book in your life, this is something you need to own. McCloud is a wonderful writer and artist, but his greatest function is as a professor. The book’s points are taught not with overt narration, but spouted by a cartoonish avatar of McCloud himself. It really is a guided tour of how comics work.

Also, this book actually blew my mind the first time I read it. There are tiny little things about how comics work that pass under your eye, and Understanding Comics likes to drag them out and rub your face in how cool they are. It’s truly special, and one of those things you need to read.

In addition, McCloud’s two follow ups, Reinventing Comics and Making Comics, are also good, although they fall short of the first. Reinventing Comics is a neat experiment, but it’s become dated since its inception. Making Comics is also good, but there are better tutorials out there, some of which are on this list.