I recently had the pleasure of debating the issues of "bad readers" and "authorial intent" with comic book scholar Douglas Wolk, author of Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean. Douglas is, along with Geoff Klock, one of the most important comic book theorists working today. What I love about Douglas (and Geoff) is that they read comics with passionate intensity, yet they write about comics with from an objective point of view, with style, charm, and intelligence. I had hoped to work with both of them on my upcoming Legion project, but Geoff's chapter was sabotaged by the botched finale of "The Lightning Saga," and he was forced to bow out of the project. I still have hopes that Douglas can find time to write his piece on the Giffen-era Legion, but, in the meantime, he and I had a chance to discuss my controversial interview comments from earlier this week. The entire text of our lengthy discussion, which is framed around our reading of New Avengers #32, can be found at Sequart.org, posted under the title "Good vs. Bad".Check it out!
(By the way, Douglas's Reading Comics book is a MUST-BUY! Read it now, before the other cool kids do.)
1 comment:
Nicely done, sir. After reading all of your arguments I have come to the conclusion that Bryan is a "bad reader" and his attitude makes comics readers look bad. The entire CGS forum is simply crying in their collective milk because you pointed it out. Their personal attacks on you were immature and absolutely uncalled for. Please keep up your work because there are readers that appreciate it.
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