For years comics have been considered the bastard children of art
and literature, and like Edmund in Lear, there was no virtue, only corruption and
degradation. Recently, we have seen a change in attitudes towards comics and their place
in the arts. Work by artists and writers like Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman, Art Spiegleman
and Daniel Clowes have forced us to reexamine comics outside the context of our
parents’ basements. Scott McCloud in particular has championed the cause of comics to
the uninitiated and argued for their proper place in bookstores and libraries. He’s
particularly excited (and we are too) by the possibilities that the Internet and new
technologies promise for comic production and distribution.
It is no longer a question of whether or not comics are a valid art form. We should no
longer feel the need to justify our love of comics to the more serious disciplines.
Instead, we need to create and further a discourse about the strengths of comics to tell
stories in increasingly unique ways. We hope this website is one step in that direction.
