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It’s a wretched business, that comics criticism is so often regarded as, at best, a sad & superfluous indulgence useful only for pull quotes & adoring applause from the peanut gallery, while, at worst, being seen as inherently hostile & ignorant demagoguery.
I don’t want to appear to be trying to speak for anyone but myself, but I know the popular culture I’ve long loved has always, at its most interesting & fun, been co-created by artists & critics alike, with the point at which one role ends & the other begins often being blurred.
To argue that comics criticism should always be polite & positive is to argue for popular culture bereft of ideas and conflict. Each to their own, of course, but I struggle to imagine the point of a neutered pop culture that’s been reduced to cheering sections & loyal consumers.
That’s not pop culture at its most fascinating. That’s naked self-interest being sold under the guise of spurious good manners & fraternal solidarity by wanna-be gatekeepers who don’t want the hoi pollio to do anything but pay out & smile adoringly.
May I suggest: frak that.
May I suggest: frak that.
“Why don’t you turn that frown upside down? Why don’t you ignore the problematical & focus on the unquestionably adorable?”
It’s hard to imagine too many other aspects of society where that would make sense. Sewers? Politicians? Traffic lights? The balderdash of it all.
It’s hard to imagine too many other aspects of society where that would make sense. Sewers? Politicians? Traffic lights? The balderdash of it all.
There is often such a contempt, both for the worth of the form and the value of those who write about, expressed by those who want criticism to be a matter of Play Nicely Children And Don’t Make A Mess.
There are times for not playing nicely and for making great big messes.
There are times for not playing nicely and for making great big messes.
For myself, I firmly believe anyone who regards the very idea of criticism as uncouth and unwelcome, as by its very nature self-aggrandising and destructive, is not to be respected or trusted. That’s power speaking in service of power’s ends.
Let a thousand flowers bloom etc etc
Let a thousand flowers bloom etc etc
Thank you and good night :)
