Letters to the Editor
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Hipsters Ahoy!
Mr. Wolk, I salute you for your insightful review. This is exactly the kind of psedo-art that gets gobbled up in Borders or B&N by young, urban, quasi-intellectual hipster kids who won't really understand what the cartoonists were trying to accomplish, but will spill lavish praise for the book in order to keep their street cred. Meanwhile the line will ever be blurred between solid storytellers who use a more rough-hewn art style, and those who tell couldn't tell a coherent story with a GPS and a spotlight.
There'll be the inevitable rebuttals of, "Hey, a coherent story doesn't *have* to linear, you know." That's very true, but just because Los Bros. Hernadez and Alan Moore can pull it off doesn't make one the Next Great Comics Genius after a few readings. Slapping random images in a disconnected pastiche is just an exercise in pretention, and it's okay to say so.
Dan Clowes once mocked art schools as overpriced daycare centers; oh, how I wish that weren't so accurate.
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Another great news flash from Salon:
Young artists callow! Film at 11pm. It’s great coverage like this that keeps me yawning.
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easy, tigers!
while i find mr. wolk's essay insightful, and not just because i've noticed that there's a lot of young graphic talent and not enough good storytelling in the indie-comics world today, i'm amused and a little dismayed by the responses posted so far. i've got to wonder if people who are so quick to dogpile on comics artists are spending any time in comics stores or (gasp!) comics conventions. perhaps growing up in public can be unnattractive, but it's exciting to watch artists hone their craft. i worry that people want to see refined, polished products from mature artists, and are not so interested in witnessing artistic discovery and young talent in development. (though mr. wolk levels some harsh critique, he also clearly appreciates independent comics.) i enjoy indie comics because of the range of talent on display. i know that if i go over to the superhero section at a comics store, i'll find expert renderings and solid storytelling chops (not across the board, of course), but if i want to see young artists pushing themselves beyond what they're comfortable doing, beyond even what they know how to do, i head for the indie racks. i'll probably find lots of incompetent storytelling, but i'll also find artists enthralled with their craft, and over time i'll get to watch them become better artists.
writing these folks off as superficial hipsters is an unfair generalization.
your
ray gonne
r--------*
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The Hipster Problem
While I adore Belle and Sebastion, I can't imagine why I need a comic visualization of stories they've already created in my head. It's a byproduct of Rick Moody and Nick Hornby and the Mcsweeney's gang who secetly clamor to be rock stars, which explains their overinfatuation with the effects of pop music on their writing. Now artists are climbing onto this shaky bandwagon overloaded with hommage. peace.