Go, Read: Dan White’s 21 Statements About Comics Criticism

A couple of people sent this link to me about creator/commentator Dan White's statements about comics criticism. I don't have a response. It's more thoughts than I have about criticism that engages with comics, that's for sure.

The thing is, I don't have an elaborate set of expectations for what criticism is or should be. That includes criticism aimed at comics. I think at its most effective and its most useful to me comics criticism is simply writing in reaction to comics work. It's writing, and most of the rules for writing apply. Like all kinds of writing, most of what we generally call criticism about comics is bad, but some of it's good. Perhaps more importantly, much of it is not useful to me, but some of it is and has been. I've learned from a variety of critical writers over the years for whom comics is a topic of interest, from Donald Phelps to Sarah Horrocks to Patrick Rosenkranz to Qiana J. Whitted to Bob Levin. I still do. There are probably 20 or so more out there that have had a positive effect on my outlook and the way I see that art form. That's only a drop in the bucket if you consider everyone writing in reaction to comics work. We all build our own pantheons.

I'm one of those people that writes about comics occasionally that lacks a sophisticated grounding in criticism. I realize that limitation but I still like doing that kind of writing because it helps me figure out some things. I've made comics, too. I've made other art. They're different creative exercises. So is list-making.
 
posted 3:25 pm PST | Permalink
 

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