Lab+4+Response

Do you agree with McLuhan when states comics are an extension of photographic media? Why or why not?
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McLuhan suggests that comics are an extension of photographic media. Following his laws of media this suggests that comics retrieve photographic media while simultaneously enhancing it. He believed what he called "hot media" (like film) turned people into "passive consumers", and calls comics "cool media" because they require more effort from the readers (Guy Leshinski 2005, 1). I believe that McLuhan considers comics to be an extension of photographic media because of their visual power; he states that comics "provide very little data about any particular moment in time," and mentions the role of the reader in "completing and interpreting the few hints provided" (1). This is much the same as photographic media, where little information is given aside from the visual aspects. Therefore, I agree with McLuhan's statement that comics are an extension (not the same as) of photographic media. The dominating form of information is visual in comics, and the role of the reader in interpretation is very important.