“A final observation. Comics is a river; many voices travel in it; comic after comic moves along in the exciting crests and falls of the river waves. None is timeless; each arrives in a new historical context; almost everything in the end, passes. But the desire to make a comic and the world’s willingness to receive it—indeed the world’s need of it—these never pass.
~
If it is all comics, not just one’s own accomplishment, that carries one from this green and mortal world—that lifts the latch and gives a glimpse into greater paradise—then perhaps one has the sensibility: gratitude apart from authorship, fervor and desire beyond the margins of the self.”

Adapted from Mary Oliver’s, A Poetry Handbook. Revised in 2019 for a presentation at SPX to replace “poetry” and “poem” with “comics” and “comic.”

I keep returning to this sentiment whenever I try to figure out why I’m drawn to making comics and teaching their creation, let alone caring about comics. The world of comics as a commodity form is heartbreaking when you know that a better world is possible…

In many ways, I think of this little bit of remixed writing as a manifesto on why I think comics making matters.

🎶 Currently listening to:
Four Tet - New Energy