Are we glad to see that Rivera took the trouble to make sure we all grasped Mark’s rhetorical “Gotcha!” question in panel 4?

Or is she hinting that this is just the first volley of a week-long battle of the trolls? If Rivera lets Mark remain true to his nature, he will attempt to make his argument, instead of trading snarky comments with everybody all week long.

Of course, the audience could get involved and try to hound him off the stage, as it would be naïve to think that Rivera would not be making comparisons with our own contemporary politically-biased social and culture wars. I think it would be interesting to see how Rivera would handle Mark actually coming out on the wrong end of this panel discussion and getting humiliated, however unjustified. It would be a good opportunity to explore the depth of Mark’s character and his integrity.

Art Dept. As is all too common, with few exceptions, Rivera plays fast and loose with drawing, especially human anatomy. But contemporary standards in comics suggest that Rivera is not alone, that traditional views on space, proportion, and forms are not always necessary. This dismissal of conventional representation is nothing new, in fact, but has shown up in the arts several times.

There are several examples in Western art that immediately come to mind: The so-called “Mannerist” period (1500s) that developed during the time of the High Renaissance in Italy is one of the first. The painting on the right is popularly called “Madonna with the long neck”, to emphasize how the painter has deliberately distorted the normal classical proportions of the figures and the space for artistic, not religious, reasons. To modern eyes not used to the conventions of the time, this may not appear very revolutionary today. Even Impressionism, once scorned as profane and ugly, look fairly tame these days. Non-Western arts also went through revolutionary periods, but I don’t have the time or space to get into them here.

Now, there are those who make distinctions between “real” Art with a capital A and comic art. While there are differences, they are still similar in many ways. They are both mostly based on having a patron buy the work. Both are meant to communicate something to the viewer. Both can have embedded symbolism or meaning. Both can also be made and enjoyed for their own visual appeal.

Nevertheless, that is one ugly-looking body on Crypto Bro in panel 2!