Skip to main content

4 Panel Comic Artists Take Selves Too Seriously


Overblown, rhetorical shit storm ensues.

If all you're doing is churning out petty entertainment, that's cool. But, seriously, if you're writing gag strips, and people are paying you for this, even when you're late, even when your material is lousy, even though its supposed to be free, you ought to at least be able to calmly resign yourself to having some unknown dudes putting down their take on webcomics as a whole (including your work in specific). Even when one of those guys spouting off happens to be getting his thoughts published by some small-time press, you ought to be happy just to be paid for doing comedic work. Shoot, you get a sense of humour and maybe a dose of humility while you're at it.

Don't get me wrong, now. Anger over petty nonsense is an understandable response to being a humourist. If everything you do professionally is absurd, why not apply the same approach to the rest of your public life? I can respect it if that's what's driving this silly-ass blogging I've had the unfortunate happenstance to stumble onto out there (and, which I am now sharing for God knows what foolish reason). I am down with ridiculous, pointless, and frivolous action. I dig it. But, somehow, I can't help thinking a lot of these cats are downright serious.

Should that make the whole thing funnier? Probably, but I was laughing already.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Magical Unrealism

The same men who say global warming is a hoax, Obamacare has been failing for eight years, and abstinence-only sex-ed works are also convinced even basic gun control is an impossible and useless approach which would only make us less safe. These are also the dudes most likely to tell you black and brown folk have it too good, Obama is a secret Muslim born in Kenya, and Sharia law is being forced on American legal systems. I wonder if there's some sort of overarching thread or theme to all this.

An introduction to a book that doesn't exist:

Prose and verse are generally accepted as distinct writing formats with their own rules, styles, and grammars.  Though their borders are somewhat vague, they have come to be seen as something of a dichotomy in the eyes of the general public.  There are, however, at least 3 other popular approaches to writing as exhibited in picture-books, comicbooks, and plays.  Though sometimes given short shrift, these styles are accepted as literature.  They are included in libraries, book stores, and academic study.  Most importantly, they are read. In the general case, there is clearly writing being done in the creation of any one of these.  But what of the wordless comic or silent play?  Should we consider scripts written, but fully realized plays, comics, and picture-books, to be performance, art, or some other kind of non-literature?  These worries of theory are kinks to be worked out, surely, but they are not of immediate practical concern to the writer...

The summer's demi-apocalypse has to wind down at some point.

It's the end of summer, once again. I could not be any more ready for cool weather, rain, and a chance for the forests to recover from the flames. After travelling near fires in Colorado and Oregon's Columbia river gorge, I am back wondering about north Seattle, under a red sun and painterly clouds, not far enough from the source of the drifting smoke. It seems like the world is burning, but that can only last so long.