Tear down the ivory towers, obliterate the false differences between experts and hobbyists. End proscriptive grammar and let descriptive grammar reign. Accept that knowledge is a journey and usurp the title of “expert” from the dinosaurs who seek comfort from a chaotic world by telling everyone “how it is.”

I’ll save the full manifesto for some other time but in that spirit I’d like to praise a line from Ebert’s review of The Dark Knight

They realize, as some comic-book readers instinctively do, that these stories touch on deep fears, traumas, fantasies and hopes.

Movie critics frequently refer to comic books in dismissive terms. This despite the fact that between movies, television and comic books that modern comic books are the least compromised by the baser instincts of commerce.

Last modified on 2008-07-18