This is an example of art over story, which in this particular case makes for better art than comics. Versus Bill Sienkiewicz’s seminally insane and incomprehensible masterpiece, STRAY TOASTERS. A good example below of David Mazzuchelli’s absolutely perfect GN, Paul Auster’s CITY OF GLASS:ĬITY OF GLASS by Paul Auster and David Mazuchelli the best argument for simplicity is that simple things are easier to absorb, digest, and move on from than more complex ones. Principally because of the notion unique to comics of a maintained level of movement through the story without breaking out from that flow. This is clearly not my school of thought, and I found I never quite fit with the kind of work I was surrounded by coming up in NYC in the 1990’s.
This is an ongoing idea I find a lot in whatever the hell we’re calling alternative comics this week. Some argue it points to the obvious artiface of the comic leaving the reader to look beyond that screen to a deeper purpose in the story. It’s closer to language, as the written word is also a string of symbols, so the brain processes the imagery more quickly. Coming up in the NYC arts scene in the 90’s there was, and perhaps remains, a staunch attitude against non cartoonish art based upon the idea that simple art tells a better story graphically. In comics there is a practical aspect of simplicity that is essential to moving the story along. Ultimately it’s subjective, but if you’re going to choose sides, know what you’re choosing, and choose towards your strengths, not against them. This doesn’t necessarily mean simplicity of character or has within it a point for more cartoony iconic comics, and the road to getting slimmed down to only what you need to show to tell the story are very different. I think no matter what kind of comics we make, we can all agree that efficiency is a common ideal. We’ll attack some of the other areas in a later post. So I’m going to try and more or less briefly discuss some of these examples in my favorite medium. In comics, where this rubber assuredly hits the road, we can find the merits of both.
complexity and flourish rages on and I still see the merits of both, but not always. Just a quick ramble like a stone skipping over murky water. The argument for simplicity and efficiency vs. It’s a struggle that we find in nearly every art form and we could delve forever into all the many examples that support the arguments for both sides, but I won’t torture you with that I promise. This post is on one of those subjects that can only barely be touched upon in something like this.
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