Worthy of a Repost...

I put this out on the Cockney Kung Fu Mailer a few weeks ago but seems like it’s still appropriate now? 

Apologies but we interrupt our regular programme.....

There is something going on in ‘Comics’ that may cause our demise. Not at sometime in the future but very soon.

I would like to state that I take no side whatsoever in this issue. I also refuse to give it a name. There are not just two sides to this comics argument/pissing contest/war/playground fight but I see many, many approaches. I refused to take part in any way (until now).

I eventually decided to come out and say something as a fan of many, many years. I do not say this to prove any kind of credential but rather to say that there really, really needs to be an adult in that playground. I am so bored with this supposed currency of synthetic outrage. People who believe that finding some foible or perceived ‘crime’ within the contents of a comic book and railing against the world as if it was some public school compulsory debating society. Then through this faux outrage gain some fleeting respect or following from those online drones we see every single hour of the day. Of course, and we all know this fact, nobody is ever wrong online.

It actually reminds me of a totally different situation but one that does have certain parallels. People talk a lot about the 1990s being the reason that they jumped out of comics either permanently or for at least a period of years. Complaints over the irregular nature of the comics had become widespread and that they were lacking the heart or intelligence they had often displayed previously and had instead voted for muscles and bums. This shallow grab for immediate bags of cash through the sale of (often) inferior product was the currency of the times.

A jumping off point? Hmm.

My opinion is that all this rubbish is becoming a jumping off point too. Just in a different way. Not one due to the contents of a comic but rather from constantly aggressive crap online.

When people open that doorway to the hobby they often do so often these days through postings on social media. I have some experience of this as my good and sensible son often gives the lowdown on comics through pages of art or articles he has seen on facebook or Twitter etc. It is an area of the world that is now open to us for a little dose of daily comics and many millions partake. The influencing power of social media is now second to none. It is used cunningly as a marketing tool and also for those feeling a need for recognition to be seen and heard.

But people are unsurprisingly pissing in that pool.

There are many people, like me, who have sat on the sidelines and refused to take part. I myself have muted words and phrases on social media and along with my podcast brothers Vince and Dan have kept away from the debate. There is also part of me both in my professional and personal life who has to deal with issues of much higher importance that threaten people. Genuinely. I whole heartedly believe that the path of positivity is much more preferable and is the only thing that will actually help. I have whenever possible tried to remain on that path, but like everyone I am a fallible being.

We are faced with a side world of fandom, a shouty minority, who pursue a knee-jerk automatic rhetoric. Their replies are obvious and shallow and often sculpted to obtain popularity. Twitter and YouTube and to a lesser extent Facebook are a sales marketplace through the adoration of whatever leading figure there is on the different sides of the different arguments that zing about daily, hourly. These people pander and leg-hump their perceived fans in order to create an almost cult like following. Through this following they then shill whatever comic/toy/movie/show they are pumping down their colon. Are we that stupid to believe and fall for this so often? I thought we had outgrown this transparency? Is cynicism our saviour? I think it might be. Are satire and sarcasm our weapons? Maybe.

But there is a growing problem with this polarisation of the stupid. One big problem.

It is now hurting us where it counts in any society based on money.

Sales are currently not great. So we need those new or reverted readers. But what do they say when they turn their smartphones on? They see a bunch of entitled children arguing and reacting to each other. These people are both inside and outside the industry and in many cases should know better.

I actually wish that the number of people arguing and spewing crap on line translated to numbers of comics sold. Imagine the sales numbers if that were the case!

So next time you feel like posting some Keyboard Warrior diatribe online think for a second. Head over to a comic you are reading, if in fact you even are a reader of comics as some of these people seem only in the hobby for the dust ups, and post about what is good about comics. There’s a lot of really great books out there. I am excited daily about what I read and I believe that everyone should be so invigorated. The practical effect of positive word of mouth trumps any acidic spewing of this vocal minority.

Find something you love and shout about it.

All this playground rubbish is hurting us.

One day soon if this continues comics will begin to creep away and all we will be left with will be patently rubbish tv shows that will also eventually roll over and die.

Some people really need to grow up.

Now fuck off and read a comic