In her latest Comics Wrap-Up, disappointed RevSF Comics Editor offered some unflattering opinions of Nate Neal’s Sanctuary.
| Quote: |
| I really, really wanted to like this book. The art is well done for an emerging artist. But by the end, I strongly recommend that Neal sticks to the art side of comics and not the writing. For someone who once ran a comic anthology, I hoped Mr. Neal would’ve produced a better story.
Reading his bio in the back, the stereotype of the Brooklyn hipster jumps to mind and puts a bad taste in my mouth. The story at first is intriguing. I love that we get a few words of gibberish to go off as dialogue and actions are the true telling of the story. It almost has a Shakespearean feel with the three old wise women who are sages for the small community and the feud between the old ruler and the younger. But then he jumps the freaking shark. And in the most horrible of horrible ways. The three sages which have been directing the community as they see fit? They’re ALIENS! One of the most over-used tropes in all of comics comes and hits us in the face in the last five pages. All of the wonderful characterization and plot is now ruined. This is one to yell at in the store. |
I have no opinion on the book since I have yet to read it, but even if I found it to be brilliant, I would honor and respect her views. Apparently Mr. Neal doesn’t feel the same way and took great offense by Sarah’s commentary. So much so that he fired of this missive which found it’s way to former RevSF Comics Editor Jay Wilson (which he shared with the other RevSF editors).
| Quote: |
| This message is for Sarah Arnold:
Why don’t you labor over your own goddamn book for years (and get it published) instead of trying to take the bread out of working artist’s mouths with your ill-informed, unjustified, confused and caustic little comments. Your observations border on the arcane–what in my completely sparse author bio would conjure up any kind of hipster stereotype? Jesus. And if you’re so dense of a reader that you perceive the presence of "aliens" as literal and a gimmick, that’s your loss–your lack of insight. But I suppose you have a deeper perspective than publisher’s weekly or booklist–two organizations that praised the book. Not that I need any praise from any critic to justify the fact that the book is indeed an generally unrecognized masterpiece. I can take negative criticism–sometimes I prefer it–it’s more useful–but not when it’s an ignorant and badly thought out blurb. Sincerely, Nate Neal "A critic is someone who never actually goes to the battle, yet who afterwards comes out shooting the wounded." "Critics are like horse-flies which hinder the horses in their ploughing of the soil. The muscles of the horse are as taut as fiddle-strings, and suddenly a horse-fly alights on its croup, buzzing and stinging. The horse’s skin quivers, it waves its tail. What is the fly buzzing about? It probably doesn’t know itself. It simply has a restless nature and wants to make itself felt "I’m alive, too, you know!" it seems to say. "Look, I know how to buzz, there’s nothing I can’t buzz about!" |
Art by Nate Neal
For all you burgeoning professionals out there, this is NOT how you respond to a negative review. I don’t care if previously Moses, himself, came down from the mountain and anointed you as a genius. When you reply to a negative review you disagree with, no matter the perceived quality of the reviewer, I guarantee the only one who will look bad is you. There is no other option.
Of course, Mr. Neal doesn’t agree with her. It’s his baby. And perhaps he’s correct about Sarah’s "ill-informed, unjustified, confused and caustic little comments." (though I doubt it. A comics pro and reviewer for several venues, Sarah displays some keen insights). Regardless, this is the wrong tact.
We’ve all had our share of negative (or less favorable) reviews. Hell, RevSF, where I serve as an editor-at-large and who hosts this blog, gave my book Geek Confidential a less than glowing review, probably the worst one it received. Was I disappointed. Perhaps a little, but did I squawk? Of course not. Not everyone is going to enjoy everything I produce. That’d be absurd. And awfully boring.
Yes, Mr. Neal, I realize you worked hard on this book and it was a labor of love (aren’t they all?), but get over yourself. There is no such thing as a universally beloved creation. All of them have received a negative review or two. The best thing to do when someone writes a negative review of your work, is to shrug and move one. Same with the good ones. If you have confidence in what you’ve created, it doesn’t matter what others think.
Joe R. Lansdale, in his infinite wisdom, sums it up best: If you believe the good ones than you have to believe the bad ones, too. That’s no way to be. Just do the work.*
*(Or some such. Joe’ll say it with a lot more color and panache. But you get the idea.)