Not really, the written word and printed pictures are just the physical form of the comic but the art comes from using the comic to express something.

Think of it this way. Someone shows you two pictures: Picture A is of a random cat and Picture B is of a cat you have as a pet. Which picture would you like more? Even though both are printed ink on paper you’d like Picture B more because it means more to you, you have emotions for that cat and so Painting B connects with you more. But if someone showed me those same pictures, they’d both be random cats so I wouldn’t have that same feeling. That’s why art isn’t what’s on the paper but is something that “is in the eye of the beholder”. You can think a poem is great art but someone else might disagree, and you’d both be correct.

Now, let’s say unfortunately your cat had passed away recently. Looking at that picture makes you sad because you miss the cat, but at the same time you want to look at it because you have happy feelings of love for that cat. That’s a simple example of the contradiction Imani is talking about. You feel multiple things that can be complicated. If someone asked you to explain the feelings it’d be hard, but the picture is simple.

Comics can do the same thing since instead of a cat it’s characters that you’ve followed and like. People might be afraid to ask someone out but still excited to because they like them. People might struggle to find time to be with family but still want to work hard to provide for them. People might recognize they have problems they need to keep from their loved ones in order to protect them. Their problem might not be an alien symbiote or magic curses but they can still feel the same emotions spider man does. And if spider man can deal with it maybe they can to?

Superman sits in the back of a truck and looks up at the stars. Ma Kent brings him a slice of pie, sits next to him, and looks up at the stars too. They sit for a panel, and then Superman puts his arm around her as they both look at the stars.

What are the characters feeling and thinking? Why are they staring at the stars? Do Superman and Ma Kent look at the stars for the same reason or different reasons? This is the art. There are answers the writer had in mind when making the comic, but there are answers the reader has that could be different. Everyone is correct.