Robin Tomens : Vispo: You Know Something? / My lethal weapon is my mind? Art knowledge is useless! / Jim Steranko art

You Know Something? RTomens, 2026

Yes, I know some things. At times I think I know less now than I did twenty years ago. Funny that, ain't it? Perhaps knowledge is overrated and ignorance really is bliss. I've met a few Clever People. They never impressed me. Knowledge can be intimidating, can't it? Anyway, like the supposedly fastest gun in the West, there's always someone who's actually faster or, in relation to knowledge, more knowledgeable.

Men love to brandish knowledge as a weapon to 'defeat' other men. It's all we have instead of clubs. Some men still use clubs. Or their fists. We're always trying to outdo each other. Even the meekest of us take pleasure in Knowing More about something. To do this, you have to find someone who wants to discuss a subject but doesn't know much. You can then assume the role of 'teacher' and feel good about it.

There isn't much I can claim to know a lot about except, perhaps, Jazz. My position in this area though is not in the premier league...more third division. That said, knowing quite a bit about Jazz puts me in a specialist league anyway, so in relation to the average person I'm very knowledgeable. It would be more impressive to most people to demonstrate great knowledge of...biology? At least everyone can relate to the body. Most of us have one, except inhabitants of the spirit world.

Art knowledge is useless, unless engaged in conversation with an art student, in which case I might say that having looked at and read hundreds of Art books I could teach them a thing or two. There I go, falling into a trap. They would shrug and make noises like a young person, totally dismissing my knowledge as old-fashioned nonsense because you don't need to know Art history to make art. You don't need to know Art to make art! Just make stuff! Or don't. Just think up stuff and present yourself, saying "All my Art is in my head." You'd get a top grade, I think.

Regulars will know I've been looking at a lot of comic books recently. Reading the stories isn't necessary. The great art in some of them is enough to more than satisfy...it actually thrills! It thrills me, anyway. The snobbery about comic art still prevails, I think. Not that it should be taken seriously either, necessarily. Considering the deadline pressure comic book artists were under in their heyday, what some of them drew is incredible. Here's a double page by one of the best, Jim Steranko, for Captain America (1969).