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Underground > Comic Books >

Masters and Masterworks

10:12 / 25.08.03

I've posted a new article called MASTERS AND MASTERWORKS at Comic Book Galaxy.

Take a look if you're interested.

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ONLY NICE THINGS

10:20 / 25.08.03

And this is not spam because...

11:17 / 25.08.03

Because it relates to comics and this is a comics message board?

Because this thread is meant for readers to discuss their ideas about masters and masterworks?

Because eggplant is unremittingly delicious?

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Ex

11:56 / 25.08.03

Well, this isn't a comics discussion board, it's a discussion board. This is a comics forum within a discussion board. Also, you haven't discussed anything. You have attempted to bump up the reader numbers of your article. It doesn't take much to treat people as interlocutors rather than a potential audience to make your stats at CBG more impressive. A few questions following on from the article, a call for opinions rather than attention, even that is something. As it is, I'm thinking maybe we should create a "plugs" thread, whack stuff like this in along with the very latest Alan Moore interviews, and delete individual threads.

Just this once, however...

So, those are Alan's favourite comics being produced by current creators. There are two questions here to my tiny mind. The less interesting one is "who are the masters of comics and what are their masterworks?", that is "what are your favourite comics?", which has been discussed at length here and elsewhere. The other question is "what is the purpose of the construction of a list of 'masterworks'?" Is its function archival, to suggest which comics should go into the Library of Congress or similar, or evangelical, to provide recommendations to new readers (a bit of a hot topic at present). Or is it just useful to have a checklist handy to save time when you meet somebody and don't know whether you should like them or not?

12:57 / 25.08.03

"...by any rational, intelligent standard, it is without question that Alan Moore is the most gifted writer ever to work in the comics industry."

One paragraph in and you lost me. Read any Bil Keane lately?

14:01 / 25.08.03

Don't forget that guy that does Marmaduke.

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ONLY NICE THINGS

15:22 / 25.08.03

So, Alan isn't interested in contributing usefully to the discussion he claims to have wanted to start. How very surprising.

That's one question - whether Bill Keane counts for the purposes of "comic master". Another is whether one can indeed rationally determine that Alan Moore is the best comics writer working today. This is known as the strong objectivist aesthetic principle, and assumes that certain characteristics can be identified and measured, in order to provide an exact measurement of a work's worth. Thus, if somebody disagrees with your opinion of a work, they can be viewed as insufficientlty educated and their opinion discarded. The Capalert system for reviewing films is a good example of a strong objectivist aesthetic review system. How would you go about establishing one for comics?

Matthew Fluxington

17:47 / 25.08.03

Alan, it is very bad form to leave a url (not even with a link, for shame) and expect that to be the start of a thread.

Anyway, isn't this just another extension of the obnoxious Daniel Clowes Vs. Alan Moore Vs. Apples Vs. Oranges thread from last week?

To answer this question The other question is "what is the purpose of the construction of a list of 'masterworks'?" with another:

What hack journalist doesn't love a canon, especially when they can choose who is in it?

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

18:18 / 25.08.03

Masters of comics?

You restrict it to people who are still working, but with all the collections available, I find this a silly restriction...but ok..

Will Eisner, who is still working and shows on EVERY PAGE that he is a master of the medium, creating page lawyouts and figure work that at once stunningly brilliant and insteantly readable.\

Serigo Aragones, who has prolly been read and seen by more people than any other artist and can work utterly without words and STILL tell great stories.

Mort Drucker, whose charactures are the standard everyone needs to measure up to.

Dave Sim...but not for the reasons you think: He is the only person in comics who understands the use of lettering integrated with his art and giving every aspect of his work a story driven quality.

Mike Mignola, one of the few creators who knows that inking can create moods, rather than just get the art ready to be printed.

The Rumiko Takahashi Studio (prolly spelled wrong, but the team that does Ranma 1/2 and Maison Ikokku) for showing that light sit com work can mix with fantastic elements AND be entertaining on a comic page.

08:17 / 26.08.03

You make a great point about Dave Sim's skill at integrating lettering with artwork. A great deal of today's comics, especially by inexperienced creators, are very difficult to read because of a poor understanding of lettering and how it relates to the rest of the elements on the page. Unfortunately, computers seem to exacerbate the problem, while deceiving the creators into thinking they have a "professional" look to their lettering.

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