My feeling is that "art" is something that expresses something, and to me that has a component of fun or at least the excitement of seeing a way of doing things you might not have thought of. And I can enjoy both BLACKEST NIGHT and MAUS and see no contradiction there. The alt people have a tendency to define themselves more by what they exclude than what they include, and I think there's good stuff in all genres or non-genres, even if some genres are capable of more than others are.
So among the alt hipsters, I'm neither fish nor fowl. It's a puzzle. But again, it tells me something about comics fans that's heartening, and thanks again.