Understanding Comics by artist McCloud now has an even more ambitious scholarly competitor. In Speaking in Pictures Cohn pushes his claim that visuals are languages to the limit. No theorist of visual communication, multimodality, and cognition can afford to ignore the challenging ideas in this ingenious, intelligent, and experiment-supported monograph

Charles Forceville, Dept. of Media Studies/ACLC, University of Amsterdam

A visually stunning tour de force that redefines what we mean by language itself - essential reading for linguists, cognitive scientists, and anyone fascinated by language and comics.

Prof. Bodo Winter

Cartoonists often say that "comics is a language." Neil Cohn brings rigor and clarity to this notion, arguing that comics are more precisely an instance of visual language whose rules function the same way as spoken or signed language. I can't wait to see how cartoonists incorporate Cohn's insights into their work in the future.

Matt Madden, author of 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style

Though I've been creating and editing comics for decades, every time I read Neil Cohn's insights into the comics medium, I gain valuable new knowledge. His latest work, “Speaking in Pictures,” is clear and comprehensive. Reading it will be time well spent for anyone who loves comics

Adjunct Professor, School of Visual Arts. Author of “The DC Comics Guide to Creating Comics: Inside the Art of Visual Storytelling”

This is a book of immense scope, in which Cohn takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of Peircean semiotics, sensory perception, Gestalt psychology, conceptual metaphor theory, blending theory, construction grammar, empirical neuro-cognition, and theories of grammar, all leading to his own particular take on multimodality and the essential position of a visual graphic mode within that. Although written in comicbook form and also, in part, concerning comics, this is no simple 'update' of McCloud. It is instead a major contribution to the theory of multimodality and visual language, relevant for students and advanced researchers alike. Just like the subtly growing audience depicted by Cohn as his lectures gather pace, this book can similarly be expected to broaden awareness and interest in multimodality across the board. A veritable tour de force.

John Bateman

Speaking With Pictures pushes boundaries of how we disseminate scientific content in unprecedented ways. Cohn's innovative use of the comic format to illustrate theory and research is truly unique. The format allows him to illustrate complex arguments as they are being made. It is a must read for cognitive scientists interested in the psychology of visual languages and anyone who loves comics.

Joe Magliano, Professor of Educational Psychology, Georgia State University.