 The notable critic Alfred Kerr praised him as a "Wortzerklauberer", or someone who tears apart words and language to forcefully extract and dissect its inherent meaning.His sketches often parodied and derided "shopkeepers, firemen, military band players, professionals with small roles in the economy and the defence of society".Many contemporary artists, including film-maker Herbert Achternbusch and Christoph Schlingensief ("Valentin is one of the greatest for me!