I have a confession. I create comics. Well, not fully and completely, but I do write storyboards for short and longer comics. Maia draws them. We have filled quite some comic books together and we can even be found at the occasional comic convention.

Dorky, aren’t we? Fortunately, we are girls, in which case writing and drawing comics is thought of as rather cute. Especially by male dorks.

Last weekend Maia and I painted our equally dorky and cute smiles on our faces again at another comic event. And there, whilst sitting behind our stall and watching all the other comic artists and stalls, it dawned to me… I never read anyone else’s comics…

It’s a typical case of not practicing what you preach. I have so many more examples of discrepancies between preaching and practicing in my life.

I love listening to music, but I can’t play any instrument. Not even a bit.
I love cooking food, but I hardly ever go out to eat in a restaurant.
I love modern and contemporary art, but do I ever paint myself? Nope.
And yes, of course I love shopping for fashion, but I can hardly sow a button to a jacket.

Looking at it this way not practicing what you preach is quite logical with these kind of things. Or not preaching what you practice, for that matter.

However, I’ve come to experience it’s still a strong assumption by many that one and the other can’t be separated.
“So you write reviews about pop music albums?”
“Yes, I do. Quite a lot actually.”
“Wow, so are you in a band yourself?”
“Hell no! Haha.”
“But… Hmm… But you do play an instrument?”
“Nope, not at all.”

At this point one or even two eyebrows will have been raised by my conversation partner. As if being able to critically listen to music of others requires to also be able to make your own. I’m sure it would add a certain dimension to one’s point of view, but necessary? No.

I think I can conclude the same applies to creating comics. I’m sure it would inspire me if I did read a comic by another artist more than occasionally. But in the end, doesn’t it all come down to my own creativity and experience?

A similar sequence of thoughts I had four months ago. Maia and I were heading for another convention by train. I don’t know why the gods have such a cruel sense of humour, but of course comic lover Evil Ex was seated in the exact same train. As if that wasn’t annoying enough, he started a conversation.

“So what comics have you read lately, Cecile?”
“None, I don’t really read comics by others…”
“Oh, that is soooo arrogant!”

Well, thank you for your comment, mister bastard who has invented the concept of arrogance himself, I thought. If you think that it makes me soooo arrogant, then you are soooo stupid! And wrong! But that’s not what I said of course. Instead I spent 3 hours of train in angry silence, while texting Matt about what a fool I’d been to even remotely like this annoying humanoid.

Now I come to think of it. Evil Ex has even once tried to make comics himself. They were awful. Yes, he may love reading comics, but he can’t create them properly. He’s just like me, but the other way around. What a twat. I think I’ll tell him “at least I CAN create comics” next time he opens up his mouth to me. If he thinks I’m soooo arrogant, I’ll better start practicing what he’s preaching…

Column published by Cecile on Monday, September 29th, 2008.

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