Rall Nerve

Mr. Spiegelman is thus at fault (one assumes) for recommending artwork with which he esthetically sympathizes—he should also apparently be faulted for offering support and encouragement to artists who have attempted to bring to comic strips a richer sense of humanity and a wider spectrum of emotion. But perhaps the traditional "cartoon as political comment" should best be left as is; after all, it is much easier to sum up the human soul as a globe-straddling businessman sporting a top hat, a cigar, and a fistful of money. It is also much easier to caricature a man who has struggled with his own artistic frustrations and self-doubt as a bejewelled king receiving subjects in his chamber than as the generous artist he actually is.

Mr. Rall seems to suggest (and I may be wrong here) that human beings are, at base, always out to "get something" from life, and the "work" we do is only secondary to this bloodshot quest for power and recognition. Such a philosophy must certainly be attractive to a politically-minded cartoonist like Mr. Rall—who wastes valuable time writing prevaricated, hateful diatribes against one who has done him no harm and who offers no competition.

Life is not a competition, and art is not a competition. And you are no competitor to Art, Mr. Rall.

Chris Ware
Chicago, Illinois