The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent
vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums
here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules
document is now in effect.
Comics News Thread V: All The News Unfit to Print
Posts
http://allofthefeelings.tumblr.com/post/80575370717/publishers-weekly-has-a-yearly-comic-retailers
Hopefully this will be a wake-up call to companies to cut back on the skeeviness.
Thank you Kelly Sue and Kieron
More Than Meets the Eye has had letter pages consisting only of female writers
A while back, I talked about how a lot of low and middle-tier books had been taken by guys that had been Marvel or DC exclusive, or otherwise had some significant cache in the industry. The net result of which was fewer new creators getting their foot in the door with paying work, through work on books that had traditionally served that role.
At the time, my best example was guys like Mark Waid writing Archie comics, or Greg Pak doing stuff for Dynamite.
But, I think a dude like Jeff Parker writing a comic, based on a game where the sole objective is hurling birds at green pigs, has signaled a new nadir for the comics industry.
Tumblr Twitter
The funny thing, this being comics, is that there is a decent chance of it being good. This is the only medium where a Planet of the Apes tie-in series can also be one of the best comics in a given year.
Oh, sure. I mean, it's Parker, and I'll always give him the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure it'll be about as entertaining as it could be.
I just think it's weird to look at the comics industry of today, and contrast it with the one of just a few years ago. I feel like exclusive contracts have basically evaporated, and there's much more of a free-for-all environment among creators.
Which is great for readers, because you get guys like Fred Van Lente writing Archer and Armstrong, Mark Waid and Dean Haspiel doing The Fox, and Christopher Hastings writing a Longshot mini-series.
But, I feel like it's probably a bad thing for the creators themselves. I can't imagine it's easy to produce your best work, while you're coordinating with multiple editorial offices.
Tumblr Twitter
In the days of exclusives you wouldn't get Uber and Iron Man by Gillen at the same time, but these days you do, and that's cool
And it's Marvel who have led that loosening up, once again they are far ahead of DC in the race between the big two. Marvel also seem to be realising much sooner than DC that image is going to become the third estate.
Carol Danvers with a middle finger raised.
One difference between this and the DC chart is that I included miniseries and they didn't.
nah, that's not bad luck
that's bad decisions. "Luck" implies that DC didn't bring this on themselves.
But there's no simple "Cancel Order" button like there is on most competent websites. I've e-mailed two different contact addresses and made a comment on their facebook page and I've yet to hear back from anybody. Here's hoping they cancel it (and refund my money) before the damn thing ships. And I'm not placing the new order until the old one is cancelled/refunded.
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
So I managed to get the order canceled shortly after my previous post. I then placed a new order for a six-issue subscription of Bee & Puppycat along with the Adventure Time Annual 2014 #1. That was on the 15th.
The order arrived today. My girlfriend called me up to ask me if I intentionally sent her two of the same issue.
Fuck. There goes that surprised ruined.
They sent her two cover variants of Bee & Puppycat #1 with no Adventure Time issue to be found. Ugggghh. Looks like I'm sending off another e-mail.
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
To recap: Valerie D'Orazio, former DC Editor/Occasional Superheroine blogger/former Friends of Lulu president, learned that Chris Sims was co-writing X-Men '92, one of the many upcoming Secret Wars tie-ins, and pointed out that Sims used to harass her online.
She took to Twitter to deride Sims and Marvel, which prompted Sims to write a blog post where he apologized, prompting a blog post from D'Orazio.
And basically, Twitter's been weird ever since. Lot of people carefully trying not to name names, or couch things in language that doesn't put the blame solely on one party. And some people misappropriating the issue, to push their misogynist agenda, because Twitter can be a real fuckin' cesspool, sometimes.
The whole thing is interesting to me. I've been a fan of Sims for a long time. I really enjoyed D'Orazio's scathing inside-look at DC, around the time of Identity Crisis.
A couple weeks ago, I actually looked up D'Orazio, because after being such a polarizing figure in comics for a few years, she'd basically seemed to vanish. I found her Twitter had a low follower count (it's exploded, with the recent news), she was doing freelance editing for a work that looked pretty amateurish, and she'd recently Kickstarted a horror comic. She seemed to have stuff going on, but it was nothing like the stuff she was doing, just a few years ago, writing commentary that was seen as very influential, and getting hired to pen Punisher books.
And it was certainly nothing like the success Sims had in the intervening years, writing an OGN for Oni that recently won an ALA award, being one of the most important people in the landscape of comics criticism, and getting a gig writing a Marvel mini-series.
So, I'd wondered when the guy who championed diversity and social justice, would wind up being taken to task for bullying one of the leading feminist voices in comics, at the time. Note that a lot of what he wrote about D'Orazio, came out within a year or so of the linked Comics Alliance article. So, it's not like he didn't know better.
You can read a bit about his interactions with D'Orazio here. Read his review of her four-page Punisher short, in Girl Comics. Read the comments. Listen to him discuss the review on this episode of War Rocket Ajax (from 1:48:30 to 1:53:0), where even his longtime collaborator, Rusty Shackles, tells him the review read like a hit piece.
And what strikes me, is that even back then, he's saying the same thing he's saying now, about how he's only reviewing the work, and not trying to make it personal. And even he doesn't seem convinced.
On the other hand?
I'm a guy who's said dumb, shitty stuff online. Dig deep enough into my post history here, and I have no idea what you'll find. Probably a lot of stuff from a dude in his early twenties, who took comics way too seriously.
So, I'd like to believe that people are wholly capable of change. And I know that the way someone represents themselves online, is not always a reflection of their true character. My brother sometimes says things online, that make me raise my eyebrows. But, I know no kinder, more thoughtful human being. Sims' friend and fellow comics pro, Rachel Edidin, talks about the Chris she knows, right here.
All that aside, I do feel like Sims probably hurt D'Orazio's career, in a way it didn't recover from. The comics internet of a few years ago, pre-Tumblr, pre-social justice awareness, was very different in a lot of ways. I fully believe a leading male critic, could cripple her career. I mean, her Punisher: Butterfly one-shot was only a few thousand in sales, below the main and MAX titles, despite being a $4.99 comic. It didn't perform so badly that it'd justify her career withering on the vine. And she was a comics professional with years of experience, so I doubt she was terrible to work with.
I'm very curious to see where this story goes, in the coming days. Especially with regards to how or if Comics Alliance will cover it, or if it'll be quietly pushed aside.
And I'm curious to see what steps Sims will take, to not just apologize, but try to make it right. If any.
Tumblr Twitter
Having read the apology, I'm not sure what else one could do. What he did was definitely below board and completely inappropriate. I don't necessarily buy that he tanked her career and I don't think there's really any rational way to prove that out one way or another.
She's obviously extremely angry and hurt by the whole ordeal - and that's her right. I do think that people can change however and Sims should be shown some props for at least trying to apologize.
Agreed with you that I'm curious to see this play out.
I've mentioned it in the SE thread, but I've said pretty awful shit in my time. Not a lot of it is on the internet, but it's happened. I'd like to think I've grown as a person, but any amount of growth I've experienced doesn't erase the shitty things I've said or the hurt they might have caused. All I can do is to work on being better in the future, and try not to repeat any of that shitty behavior. And all I can reasonably expect or hope in this situation is that Valerie D'Orazio continues to recover from what happened and that the legion of shitheads that tend to follow stories like this leave her alone. How people react to what Chris Sims did is going to be a very personal decision, and if people choose to boycott his work or anything along those lines, it'd be hard to blame them.
I appreciate that he's learned, at the very least, not to pull anything like that anymore. His being an increasingly progressive and inclusive voice in the industry won't magically erase anything that he's done wrong, but having one less abusive personality in comics and one more progressive one is still a positive gain.
Presumably he should also come clean privately with his employer about what occurred and let them determine if they feel it is something they are comfortable with if she decides to air all the details publically in the future - but that is obviously between him and them and not ours to judge.
Honestly, I don't think there is anything he can do. Like you said, she wants nothing to do with him, so any kind of conversation to resolve the issue, is off the table. There's no reasonable recompense to give her, really.
But, I don't feel like he really deserves kudos, just for apologizing. First, he privately apologized to David Gallaher, comics writer and D'Orazio's husband. He only apologized publicly when D'Orazio directly called him out. And while he explains why, and I think it's valid, it still makes him look like he was cajoled into it. Then, he posted a link to his blog post, with comments disabled, sans explanation. He abandoned Twitter for the rest of the day, while people started ganging up on D'Orazio. Only this morning did he return, to tell everyone to stop attacking her.
I feel like he's tried to avoid having a conversation about it, which isn't a good look, on a guy trying to apologize and show he's changed.
Rue Walker's assessment, vis a vis the importance of earnestly asking the offended party what can be done to resolve the issue, is kind of interesting.
But yeah, I don't think there's really anything to be done. Just always try to do better, and keep moving forward.
Tumblr Twitter
This highlights a lot of the issue. She's STILL being attacked. All over again. Just for bringing it up. Hell, I've seen people on these very forums saying she's doing this for personal gain or something similar which...fuck. THIS is the problem.
What should Sims do? I don't know. But an apology doesn't actually matter. It doesn't change anything. We're willing to accept one because we're worried about being in his position, but that ENTIRELY IGNORES her. He's not a victim here, yet we treat him like one. And I'm not even saying his apology isn't sincere (though writing one like that after being publicly called on it is...not the best). I believe it IS sincere. But it doesn't matter. Because this shouldn't be about him, it should be about her. And everything about an apology is about him, including how everyone on the internet is talking about it.
It's a shit situation. There isn't really a good outcome here.
Beyond all of this, it brings two things to mind for me.
First, that we've got a large number of reviewers or bloggers or similar people all who have cultivated an audience based on them being 'funny' but in reality just being angry or mean. This doesn't help anyone. It makes an audience laugh, so we like it, but it doesn't do any real good when it comes to actually reviewing and it can be really easy to get lost in that and for things like this to happen. How often has it happened that we DON'T hear about? How many people just won't say anything for fear of getting attacked (see what's happening to D'Orazio now)? Discourse about comics is fucked in a lot of ways, and I can't help but think this has done more harm than good.
Second...I look at parallels here and in the Brian Wood situation and I'm bothered. While that has since been swept under the rug and mostly ignored, there was quite a large crowd that refused to buy his books anymore. Many of them still don't, from what I understand. And this was talked about loudly and in the open and now I see many of the same people just trying to pretend this situation with Sims didn't happen. It is, at best, uncomfortable.
So yeah...I dunno about this. People can change, people do change, but that doesn't change the past itself. And you know what? This shit is STILL HAPPENING in comics.
XBL: JyrenB ; Steam: Jyren ; Twitter
That's silly. If she doesn't want an apology or to talk to him, fine, she doesn't have to. But I know that if people were held to the fire for everything they've ever said having a negative impact on someone, in perpetuity, there would be a lot of people out of work and shunned by the community at large who are no longer engaged in those activities.
I also think that looking poorly on the fact that he didn't automatically dress himself in sack cloth publicly on the internet before her series of tweets is weird. Do you normally publicly announce your apologies to people you have wronged? Is it anyone's business other than the person wronged?
and the answer is nothing. The dude was mean, 8 years ago. He is no longer a negative public figure and has changed. He apologized, then he publicly apologized. He did not commit a crime, he did not lie about it. The end.
I highly doubt he would have worked with Marvel to put together a statement on this. This isn't generally the kind of thing Marvel would get involved with in regards to a freelancer. It's much more likely he wanted to step back and not make things worse or have to deal with what was likely a mess on his own twitter feed. All completely understandable things, really.
XBL: JyrenB ; Steam: Jyren ; Twitter
Anyway, as I was reading @Munch's post, I realized one of the big differences between saying/doing some crummy things offline and then changing your ways, and the same thing only with the Internet:
- If you do crummy things in real life, and then change your ways over time, your old offenses eventually fade away. Some things people forget, some things are eroded and softened by time, and generally they just fall out of the spotlight. Your current-day persona, your latest actions, have some chance of displace the memory of who you used to be.
- If you do crummy things online, you carve those actions into stone. You can be the sweetest soul, now, and say and do the nicest things on Twitter, but it's trivial for someone to go through your history and pull up something where you shit one someone - hell, even pull up something from when you had a bad day and vented on Twitter. Show someone those two Tweets side by side - the terrible one from five years ago and the sweet one from last night - and people will give them equal weight. Yeah, they have different timestamps, but here's you being jackhole. It's hard for your current deeds to displace who you used to be.