Chapter 1, Setting the Record Straight Summary and Analysis

As a child, Scott knows exactly what comics are. They are bright, colorful magazines filled with "bad art, stupid stories, and guys in tights." He prefers to read "real" books, considering himself far too old for comics. Scott becomes hooked on comics, however, when a friend convinces him to give comics a second chance. Scott becomes totally obsessed, and in the tenth grade, he begins practicing to be a comics artist.

Scott understands that comic books are usually "crude, poorly-drawn, semiliterate, cheap, disposable kiddie fare," but he believes they do not have to be. Scott thinks that comics contain some kind of hidden power. He feels that people fail to appreciate comics as an art form because they try to define them too narrowly. Scott insists that the potential of comics is "limitless...