#$&%@

Okay, I'm now officially in the echo chamber of the blogosphere.  I had a conversation with a friend, which used to be a simple enough activity.  But then he blogged about it, and now, because others have emailed and blogged about his blog, I'm going to respond to his blog post in my blog.

So here it is:  As reported on his blog (scroll to 2/4/09), "Pain" cartoonist Tim Kreider and I did have a conversation about the use of certain epithets in art, and whether they could/should/might be used in a work of fiction (such as our comics), when in the voice of a character.  Tim wrote that I'd said that "it's never okay to use such words."

I've gotten some feedback on this, so I've got to set the record, such as it is, straight.  I only said that I decided early on in my career that it doesn't feel right for me to use those epithets.  This is a purely personal choice/idiosyncrasy, and I have absolutely no problem with any artist using them in many circumstances, including, as Tim puts it, "in vox personae," or ironically, or with good or mediocre intentions, or for a cheap laugh etc. etc. 

Now, I'm sure that Tim did not intend to imply that I was making a statement about others' use of epithets in art -- he knew I was talking about my own inclinations.  But now he can feel free to blog about this post, and then I can blog about his response, and we can all revel in what a wonderful new world this internet is, raising the level of communication to a far higher plane.