Critics are also, by their nature, verbally-oriented. They’re writers, so words are their medium. The problem that Zack faces is that A) he’s a visual storyteller and verbally-oriented critics do not know how to evaluate visual storytelling. It’s the same way with music critics who celebrate musical acts who prioritize lyrics over music. Words are something critics are fundamentally more comfortable with, and visual storytelling exposes their weakness, so they attack that which they do not understand; and B) Zack is a very intelligent person, but he’s not verbally articulate, and the critics who feel threatened by their ignorance of his visual storytelling methods, use that verbal inarticulation as an opening to mock him and position him as someone who’s not serious. He’s not an erudite speaker, so let’s exploit that and use it as evidence of his unintelligence. It’s an insecurity on their part, so they lash out at him where they think he’s vulnerable in order to mask that insecurity.