Art & Creativity Quote by Robert Kirkman

Kirkman is telling you, bluntly, where the power is supposed to sit in comics: in narrative momentum, not in formal virtuosity. The opening clause, "above all else", is a tiny act of provocation in a medium that still loves to litigate whether art or writing matters more. He is staking out a populist hierarchy: plot, character, and the itch-to-turn-the-page come first; everything else is support staff.

The phrasing is revealing. "Good stories" sounds almost anti-prestige, like he is allergic to preciousness. Then he pivots to "kickin' art", a phrase that reads like a clubhouse password rather than a theory of aesthetics. That casual slang isn't accidental; it frames craft as visceral and immediate. Comics, in his view, succeed when they feel alive, when the drawings don't just illustrate the script but weaponize it with pacing, mood, and impact. Art "goes the final stretch" because it supplies the last mile of clarity and adrenaline: the beat that lands, the horror that lingers, the joke that actually hits.

Context matters: Kirkman built a career on high-concept serial storytelling (The Walking Dead, Invincible) that treats comics like bingeable television, engineered for hooks and escalation. His quote doubles as a defense of accessibility. He's not dismissing artistry; he's insisting that art earns its keep by serving the story's propulsion. The subtext is an argument about the medium's identity: comics aren't a gallery wall, they're a delivery system for narrative obsession, and great visuals are the accelerant, not the destination.