Are comics artists getting shorted critically
As a reviewer I found this piece to be interesting because I know that I have a tendency to focus on the writing rather then the art in my reviews. The most time I spent on the art was probably my review of the first volume of Scalped and even that wasn’t much.
“The critical malfunction regarding comic art is apparent in the recent New York Times review of Asterios Polyp, The Hunter and a Gaiman/Kubert Batman thing [Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?]. The Batman review is obviously about Gaiman, except that Kubert is the ‘geek icing on the cake.’ While the writer makes a stab at describing Darwyn Cooke’s visual style he falls short with Mazzucchelli, focusing on the events of the story; to describe David’s mastery of comics syntax, complex diagrammatical approach and emotional nuance communicated by spare lines he gives us: ‘diverse visual conceits and effects’… Critics and audience take their cue from the publisher’s promotion and packaging. If the writer is the main creator by virtue of font size and cover ranking then I can absolutely guarantee that the artist is going to get short critical shrift in the long run.”
I think, for me, even though I am a comics lifer I don’t really possess the tools to analyze and critically observe. It doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try and jump in with both feet and flail around a bit possibly creating my terms and language in the process just that I don’t. My failure really. But it also IS NOT indicative of following the lead of publicity material especially in my case because I can count the number of comic Arc’s I’ve received on one hand.
Food for thought as a reviewer certainly but also as a reader. I think as I’ve gotten older I read comic a lot faster then I used to and don’t spend enough time with the art and the synthesis of the two.
September 9th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
I’ve done a bit of flailing on my own along these lines during my recent return to comics (for which you are in large part responsible). I noticed the art in West Coast Blues because it added an element to the story that was not present in the novel. It helped here, of course, that I had read the novel already.
I have also lamented that comics take too little time to read. Perhaps I’ll make it a practice to “read” them twice — the second time just for the art. And then there’s something like PUNISHER: FORCE OF NATURE #1, on whose first page the art is inseprable from the story because it is virtually the sole means of telling the story.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
“Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home”
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