Taking the High Road...Kinda

You know, my gut reaction, would be to rip into Steve's argument about my argument, but really, what's the point? The fact that it apparently took him five days to see my post is kind of funny, sad for me, but still kinda funny.

I do, however, want to address some of his comments, and I'm going to try my damndest to not look so juvenile, because the bottom line is, how one conducts himself online, particularly on their blog, is apparently representative of how they interact in real life situations, or, say, a work environment.

Damn, sorry, that was a cheap shot.

Stevie, Stevie, Stevie...

Man, I hate to break it to you, but I WAS talking to Rose, not sure why you got up on your high horse. In fact...I think we were all pretty much talking to Rose. If you're trying to be noble and "defend her honor" so to speak, well throwing more wood onto the fire really isn't the right way to go about it.

I don't think I ever said I wasn't part of the problem...in fact I'm damn positive at various points in my online history I've fully admitted to being part of the problem. I'll agree with you there, we're pretty much ALL part of the problem. That's where we part ways, which sucks because you really could have made some valid observations about me and the comics weblog-o-whateverthefuckwe'recallingitthesedays.

Blogging about comics is the nerd equivelant of the Monday Morning Quarterback. It's easy (well not THAT easy) to sit here and criticize the works of comic creators (and other bloggers even), but in the larger picture, unless you're discussing actual, imoprtant comics (like, say, Ice Haven) or blogs (likes The Comics Reporter), it's pretty much an idiotic quest. You calling it a wankfest pretty much sums it up accurately. There's A LOT to talk about when it comes to all of that, and with a title like "An Open Letter to the Comics Internet" I'd hoped for the best.

Do you think I'm the comics internet? Solely me? Wow man, I appreciate that kind of leap, but I'm barely even PART of the comics internet! I spend most of my time blogging about movies and TV and media, with the occasional comic thrown in. For future reference these guys are the comics internet...the best part of it, anyway.

I don't like the fact that you "don't worry about the forward momentum of the artform". Seriously, that bothers the hell out of me. Even if you ONLY read superhero comics, you should be worried about that. You, me, us, we all have a vested interest in where comics are going, we like reading comics and the mainstream is really circling the drainpipe, so I think we should ALL be worried about where the artform is going. If you don't, well then...why the hell are you blogging about comics? Or even still reading them?

For comparison, let's look at the movie industry: like comics, sales are down from the heyday of the medium, and analysts have plenty of theories about it, but I think the most accurate (on both comics and movies) is that people are really tired of seeing the same movie. Action movies, for a time, were the bread and butter of the movie industry, much like superheroes for comics, so that's a majority of what we got. Eventually people just said screw it and stopped going (or, for comics, reading), and sales started gradually slipping. But, the industry still thinks it can lure them back with their popcorn fliks, but it's not gonna work. Audiences are getting smarter, and if you don't give them something other than the crap you's shoveled down their throats for the last twenty years, well, they'll eventuially stop coming at all.

Fortunately for both movies and comics there are those out there who do care and still believe in the artform. People like Wes Anderson, The Coens, etc. etc. In comics it's people like Seth, James Kochalka, Dan Clowes...you get my point. Those people don't see a failing artform, they see an oportunity to tell great stories, and we, as readers, should be concerned about where the artform is going for no other reason than that, those guys need to succeed in their chosen profession because they get it right everytime, and if we are all just content to sit back and see what happens, well, they'll probably either starve or justr quit publishing (my guess would be starve because their passion is just too great to quite). So, Steven, please, BE concerned about where comics are going, you have a right to be.

"I think we can all agree that the final sentence of Rose’s post was ill-advised. A very bad idea."

Actually, I liked Rose's final sentence, it was everything in the paragraph that preceded it that I didn't care for. I just think her attack on Chris Allen was uncalled for, and in my opinion he deserves an apology, but I said my peace about that, and it's between Chris and Rose now, not between us, so I suggest we stay the hell out of it, agreed? Good.

All that stuff about Rose accusing ADD of whatever, written by me at least, was said/written in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, but no matter, her tone was clearly visible, and even though she claims otherwise, it just reads like so much accusation...wait, no, no it doesn't. Clearly my point there was that her stance doesn't feel accusatory, but rather "I want to taked a dump on the he-man club and I really have no other ammo...". In fact...I said as much. You obviously need to work on your reading comprehension skills there Stevie.

For the record, I don't think anyone was badly behaved in that incredibly hard to read comments thread, Chris maybe reacted harshly at first, but he apologized (something neither you nor Rose has done for him) and ADD was, as he said, startlingly civil. I honestly expected one of two things from him- complete silence or absolute rage. The fact that he handled it the way he did, well, bravo. You can't attack his baby and expect him not to defend. You and Rose seem to think that saying things like "Open Letter to the Comics Internet" and "Someone's finally asked about the existence of women comic bloggers" and then personally attacking particular sites makes it okay. It doesn't, that was one of my points.

If you're going to adress the issue, address the damn issue, don't turn it into "let's beat up on this site".

The question why we are protesting so much is laughable. You're joking right? Rose sets out to attack CBG for whatever reason and we protest, and somehow we're in the wrong...I don't get it.

Again, she didn't makes ONE ill-advised final sentence. It was a few, and they weren't here final sentence, I actually LIKED her final sentence. Apparently it is you who didn't read Rose's post. You do know you can bring up multiple windows and read them as you write a resaponse, right? I mean, I'm doing it right now, it's really not hard.

I think it's hilarious that you are "getting over it" by telling me and my "friends" to get over it.

:::runs and grabs his baseball bat:::

Hey, I'm perfectly content to beat this dead fucker into the pavement, you start at the head and I'll start at the tail. What can I say, I've always been an ass man. Or, just and ass, man.

-L

P.S. Rose's only mention of race in her post (not the comments...the actual POST)- "lots of writing from lots of white guys"...that's not exactly addressing the issue is it? Did you bother to reread her post before you started beating off? I mean beating the horse...

PPS: Again with the WE stuff? Man, are you and Rose the same person? Cuz a schizophrenic hermaphradite would definitely be a cool person to have on the staff. I could probably get Alan to agree to it!