New Brevoort Formspring

The place where this argument falls down is that everybody considers themselves a part of the elite, and holds their own tastes to be superior to everybody else’s. 

There are things that can be measured–the technical accuracy of reproducing something that exists in three dimensions on paper using lines–and then there are things that cannot be measured–the feeling that is elicited when a beloved character dies.

Like it or not, comics are a populist medium. We live and die by our sales, as do other similar forms (film, television, etc.) And that means that quality of experience is going to trump quality of expression. In other words, we make the basic and essential assumption that good, well-done comics will sell better, will more readily connect with an audience, than poorly done comics. That doesn’t mean that every great comic is going to be successful, nor does it mean that every best-selling comic book is great. But it does give you a baseline to analyze what connects with the audience and what does not.

What we do isn’t science or math where the answers are consistent each and every time. It’s alchemy, it’s magic, it’s storytelling, it’s art.

And don’t get me started on comic book criticism. These days, the level of critical discourse in terms of reviewers is that of a chimpanzee most of the time. Critical acclaim is only worthwhile when the opinions of the critic are informed and applied with critical acumen. By and large, we don’t have critics anymore, we have bloggers.