cartooning musings

[johncomic]

I just finished reading Meanwhile, a thick biography of comics legend Milton Caniff. (Well, finished but for the appendices, but I quibble.) In several places, Caniff was asked how he evaluated himself and his work in the Grander Scheme of Comics -- he has almost unfailingly been proclaimed one of The All-Time Greats by his audience, critics, and peers. He was willing to say things like “I am good at what I do. And, in some respects, I am the best at what I do.” And this got me thinking about how I would answer such a question....

I recall that, earlier this year, I was asked if I recognized that my work was good. And I said, “My work is okay. It will do.” But this book has got me thinking about the matter a bit farther:

I recognize that, over the last decade, I have deliberately focused on what are called storytelling skills. Meaning that I am more concerned with creating a clear and smooth reading experience than with dazzling people visually... and I realize that to some people this can give my work a modest appearance. Not to mention that there is some question about my ability to dazzle people visually if I chose to do so. And I'm okay with that. But tonight, this is how I see myself and my work in the Grander Scheme of Comics:

I still think my work is okay, that it will do -- but that's not nothing. That is an achievement of sorts.
I don't think my sutff is Great, certainly not Great Art. I don't think people come away from it with any profound insights into the human condition, and I will never be held up as an example of How Comics Are Done [as Caniff was and is]. But I do think that, now and even after I am gone, if people can find my work, and take it in the spirit it is offered, some of them will enjoy it.

I create work that some people enjoy. And tonight I realize that, really, that is all I ever wanted. So, in my heart of hearts, I feel that my work is a success.

Comments

[johncomic.livejournal.com]

Since I posted this, I remembered one time when I was held up as an example of How Comics Are Done: a few years back, a teacher chose to show some of my pages to a cluster of raw newbies during a class on comics storytelling. [Apparently she told them, "This guy gets it."] So there is that.

But I think that, in the larger sense, my evaluation still holds.