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A month ago, *everything* pissed me off regarding comics and I explain
it all briefly, point by point. This was brought on by a few things; a
Comicon thread regarding Marv Wolfman's suit against Marvel, that
Marvel Teleconference I was in, interviews I was doing and just a
cynical/depressed mood I was in that particular week. I wrote about it on
the Warren Ellis Forum and I'm reprinting it here. Beware though, total
scorched fucking earth time coming up.
Retailers: Most of them have shitty stores, shitty selection,
shitty service and shitty . . . need I go into this rant? I'm sure
most of you shop at these stores.
Publishers: The big ones publish mainly superheroes and
regularly fuck the creators to their own determent (eg. Alan
Moore). Smaller ones ain't a whole lot better. Some are a
whole lot worse.
The Press: Wizard and CBG for shit eating corporate comic
coverage. No hard questions asked. Just hype what they are
selling now and get those ads. Journal for their snobbish
attitude and ignorance of important issues ala Marv Wolfman
case, simply because it involves a 'hack'. There is an
in between area but nobody wants to go there.
Freelancers/Creators: Freelancers lined up to testify against
Marv Wolfman, stabbing him, themselves and a whole lot of
people in the back. Also. after reading Jenkins story about
Tundras and McFarlanes treatment of Gaiman, I tend to wonder if
these guys are worth fighting for. I question this more and
more when you hear about the dirty politics and games that
go on, too. Plus, some of them are hacks who belittle those
that do creator owned work.
Distribution/Diamond: Rather spend a bunch of money buying
gaming companies and getting waist deep into the action
figure market than trying to open more stores. They charge
retailers for their 1-800 comic book locator number and then
they do a piss poor job with it. They are probably in the best
position to help the industry, but would rather find other temporary
lifeboats to hang on to than fixing their own ship. They are
digging their own grave and the whole industry will lie in it.
Fans: Maggots. Literally. Feeding their entertainment urge off
creatively dead 'properties' and complaining all the way about
how bad it tastes. When publishers fuck over creators they
cheer and applause (Wolfman again + Siegel's wife and kids)
saying they deserve it. Coming up with whatever excuse they
can to support the publishers dominance over all. DC/Marvel
management could rape and kill babies but those Zombies would still
buy their books and make up some excuse for why the babies
deserved it or something.
While there are exceptions in all these categories, that's all
they are, exceptions. The rule is that's the way to behave and
90+% of the people within the industry behave exactly like that.
It's fucking sickening.
But that was a month ago. I'm feeling much better now.
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